Cataract patient stunned by surgery cancellation

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This article was published 18/07/2024 (537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ann Bowman was supposed to see clearly by now.

Instead, the 72-year-old Headingley resident still struggles to read or watch TV because the cataracts that cloud her vision have worsened.

“It’s extremely frustrating and demoralizing,” she said. “It’s my eyesight, for goodness sake.”

Bowman’s surgery to replace the clouded lenses in her eyes had been scheduled for July 17, but a letter she said she received from her surgeon’s clinic June 28 said the procedure would be rescheduled.

The letter states the provincial government hadn’t renewed its contract with a private facility where the surgery would have been done.

“Despite our efforts to appeal to the government to have the decision revisited, all surgeries scheduled out of the private facility have to be moved to a different location,” the letter states, without identifying the facility.

It goes on to recommend patients contact the province.

Bowman has been anxiously wondering how long she’ll wait to receive the life-changing procedure, which can be done in less than an hour.

“If there were a good reason, then I would swallow this and just wait,” she said.

Bowman is one of a number of Manitobans the provincial government says it’s working to help get back on track after surgeries at Vision Group facilities were cancelled.

The former Progressive Conservative government signed service contracts with private facility operators in 2021 to tackle the huge backlog of surgeries. One of the agreements was with Vision Group.

Vision Group did not immediately respond to questions Thursday, but a spokesperson has said surgeries are being postponed because the province has reduced funding.

The Tories funded more than 5,000 cataract surgeries with the company in 2023. This year, 1,250 are scheduled to be conducted. However, only 775 had been completed as of July 9.

“With over 7,000 cataract surgeries completed, we have consistently provided reliable surgery days for both surgeons and their patients,” Vision Group spokesperson Jessica Papineau wrote at the time, adding the company was in discussions with the province.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara has told reporters “bumps in the road” are part of evolving contracts.

The minister said on July 9 that the government would spread surgeries among “various private clinics that we have partnerships with, and in the public system.”

The government hasn’t said how many people are affected by what Asagwara called a “scheduling issue.”

The province’s wait times dashboard showed 3,684 Manitobans were waiting for cataract surgery as of May.

“We have about 13,000 Manitobans who will be receiving cataract care this year alone,” Asagwara told the Free Press Wednesday.

The government is “actively working” with public and private providers to ensure “all Manitobans who were slated for care receive that care in a timely manner.”

No timeline was provided.

“We have heard directly from some Manitobans who had concerns, and we’re working directly with them and their providers to ensure they’re going to get care in a timely manner,” Asagwara said.

Wayne Bowman, Ann’s husband, wrote to the health department in June after they were notified the surgery was cancelled.

The couple said representatives from the province twice reached out by phone to say they’re working on the issue but were non-committal on a timeline.

Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook sent a letter to the minister July 15 to advocate for Bowman, who lives in her constituency.

“She’s not the only one in this situation,” Cook said Thursday.

Cook said she doesn’t understand the delay.

“In early April, we became aware that a number of the private contracts that had been signed by the previous government … had lapsed on March 31,” she said.

“We tried to get some clarity around what the government’s intentions were with these contracts, and it’s been very unclear.”

jordan.snobelen@freepress.mb.ca