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McGuinty Government
Improves Access to Cataract Surgery for Northwestern Ontario
Residents
Funding will expand cataract surgery
capacity by 67 per cent at Thunder
Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
April 13, 2007
 The
McGuinty government is increasing access to cataract surgeries
for residents in the North West LHIN with a $702,000 investment
for Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre to expand
its cataract surgery program, Health and Long-Term Care Minister
George Smitherman announced today.
“We are building on our success in reducing wait times
for patients,” said Smitherman. “This investment
will allow cataract surgery patients to access the services
they need closer to home. We are very proud of the great progress
we have made working in partnership with our frontline health
care providers to increase capacity for more surgeries.”
The new funding will go towards training and educational initiatives
for staff as well as additional surgical instruments and supplies
to support an expanded cataract surgery program. It is expected
to increase the hospital’s ability to perform an estimated
1,900 additional cataract procedures per year. This represents
an increase in capacity of more than 67 per cent. The investment,
which is part of Ontario’s Wait Time Strategy, will
help the hospital and the North West LHIN make significant
progress towards meeting the cataract surgery wait time target
of 182 days.
“This funding will go a long way towards improving
wait times for cataract surgeries in our area,” said
Ron Saddington, President and CEO of Thunder Bay Regional
Health Sciences Centre. “We will be able to deliver
cataract surgeries more efficiently by running two dedicated
cataract operating rooms side-by-side with one ophthalmologist.”
“This is great news for residents in Northern Ontario,”
said Michael Gravelle, MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North.
“People will be able to get the surgeries they need
faster.”
“Our government is reducing wait times,” said
Bill Mauro, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan. “We are making
the necessary investments to improve our health care system
so it can be even more responsive to the needs of patients.”
Other elements of Ontario’s Wait Time Strategy include
significantly increasing the number of medical procedures
to reduce the backlog that has developed over the last decade,
investments in new, more efficient technology such as MRI
machines, standardizing best practices for both medical and
administrative functions, and collecting and reporting accurate
and up-to-date data on wait times to allow better decision
making and increased accountability.
Today’s initiative is part of the McGuinty government’s
plan for innovation in public health care, building a system
that delivers on three priorities – keeping Ontarians
healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to
doctors and nurses.
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