Cataract Surgery
April 12, 2010
Mrs. Forsyth: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last week I had the opportunity to meet with constituents in Calgary-Fish Creek and many Calgarians. They wanted to discuss with me what they considered a bad decision made by the government. It relates to the recent announcements by the government to reduce the number of operating rooms for cataract surgeries from 10 to four. My question is to the Premier. Can he please explain how awarding a cataract surgery contract to a company that doesn’t even have approved or accredited operating rooms is supposed to help Albertans?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, in the previous question I indicated that there’s actually an increase in the cataract surgeries. The minister can again outline the plan for cataract surgeries in the province of Alberta.
Mr. Zwozdesky: Mr. Speaker, there are a number of people providing fully medically insured ophthalmological services in Calgary. We’ll see how the bidding goes, but they will continue to have the opportunity to do that when we roll out the second blitz very soon.
Mrs. Forsyth: Given that you started with 10 operating rooms to perform critical cataract surgeries and you reduced that number to four, do the math, and you take away six. How does the Premier expect Albertans or Calgarians to believe that this will only have a minimal impact on those who are waiting for surgery to give them proper sight?
Mr. Zwozdesky: Mr. Speaker, I’ve received phone calls from some of the individuals involved at these surgical facilities, and the ones that called: I answered their calls, spoke with them. They said that every patient on their list has been phoned and has now been scheduled with a new time. In most cases they’re very close to where they were scheduled before. But let’s not make any mistake about it: every suite that is providing medically insured ophthalmological services is fully accredited.
Mrs. Forsyth: Mr. Speaker, they’ve been phoned, they’ve been scheduled, but it’s been delayed again.
Will the government do the right thing and continue to fund the current cataract surgeries, cornea transplants, and eye surgery providers until all of the new providers are accredited in September, Minister – approved, up and running – so that no Albertan is delayed in getting their critical eye surgery?
Mr. Zwozdesky: Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is probably talking to the expansion of two or three or four or more operating suites that are coming into one particular winning-bid facility. That being the case, I’m told that they’re expected to have that completed some time in May or June and that accreditation, which is done by the college, will follow very shortly thereafter.
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