More than 9,000 people on wait lists for cataract surgery in Waterloo-Wellington
CBC
There are more than 9,000 people on wait lists for cataract surgery at local hospitals.
That's more than half of the 16,000 patients waiting to have their elective surgeries or procedures rescheduled in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County.
Cataract surgery is considered an elective surgery and the procedure was most recently paused in hospitals across the province as the Omicron variant caused COVID-19 case numbers — and hospitalizations due to the virus — to surge.
Doctors and seniors advocates say they're concerned as longer wait times for cataract surgery can seriously impact the health and lifestyles of older people.
"I've had patients who have had struggles with depth perception because of cataracts and have fallen," Dr. Chryssa McAlister, an eye surgeon in Waterloo, told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. It can limit their ability to drive and take part in leisure activities they love.
"Golf or watching television or doing needlework, those are really important to patients as they get older," McAlister said.
McAlister is the co-division head of ophthalmology with the Waterloo Regional Eye Program and a staff ophthalmologist at St. Mary's General Hospital and Grand River Hospital, both in Kitchener.
She says each year thousands of cataract removals are done at St. Mary's General, Cambridge Memorial and Guelph General and even before COVID-19, patients often had to wait to have the surgery done.
Last week, hospitals in Waterloo-Wellington said nearly 16,000 patients were waiting for surgeries or procedures. Specifically, as of Feb. 8:
On Feb. 10, Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore lifted Directive 2, which allowed more procedures to resume in hospitals. In an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Health's media relations team said the province is currently at 70 per cent of 2019 surgical volumes.
Lee Fairclough, president of St. Mary's General Hospital, acknowledged patients have expressed frustration with the hospital about having to wait for all the procedures that were put on hold.
But occupancy in hospitals remains high, she said during a regional media briefing on Friday. As of Tuesday, there were 75 people in Waterloo region's three hospitals who were infectious with COVID-19.
"As we do plan that ramp up [of surgeries], it will be a gradual one," she said.
"All of our hospitals in the Waterloo-Wellington area will likely start with day procedures first as our starting point and as we're able to free some of the bed capacity, restart some of those other procedures."
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.
Daniel Jolivet, 68, had his first taste of freedom this weekend after spending the last 33 years behind bars.
Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson over allegations he failed to act in the best interest of the band and financially benefitted from breaches of duty — including claims that he enriched himself, his family and supporters.