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The Ontario Health Coalition is asking for more accountability from the province as it shines a light on hundreds of dollars in extra expenses that some patients are being charged as part of cataract surgery in a private clinic.
The OHC held a news conference in Windsor on Tuesday to voice concerns about the current system.
In January 2023, the Ontario government announced plans to expand the for-profit privatization of surgeries and diagnostics, including non-urgent eye surgeries such as cataract surgeries, in an effort to take pressure off hospital surgical resources.
One of the first sites approved was the Windsor Surgical Centre at 10700 Tecumseh Rd. E.
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan, or OHIP, covers standard cataract surgery, but according to the Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, diagnostic eye measurements, special feature lens implants, and certain surgical procedures, diagnostics, and lasers are additional expenses that patients can opt to pay out-of-pocket to receive.
Bruce Awad, a 75-year-old retiree from Windsor, says he had cataract surgery at the Windsor Surgical Centre in 2023 and was charged $280 for eye exams already performed by his optometrist, while he also opted for lenses not covered by OHIP at a cost of $900.
Awad says this whole process does nothing but undermine the public healthcare system and promote privatization.
“I feel like I was coerced or used and pushed to use the private clinic,” he says. “At the very least, it was made difficult to use the public health system at the hospital. I’m out $1,180 because the healthcare system is underfunded, and private clinics are being pushed on us as an alternative.”
Ann Lauzon, a 76-year-old from Windsor, had cataract surgery at the Windsor Surgical Centre in 2023 after being referred to the clinic. She says she was charged $50 for an eye exam, an eye measurement that cost $280, and then she opted for a set of over $900 lenses not covered by OHIP.
“In the meantime, we were told we had to have those eye drops, which wasn’t covered by OHIP either, so it had to come out of my pocket, so that was another couple hundred dollars for eye drops. I just don’t understand why they have to charge so much,” she says.
Patrick Hannon with the Windsor-Essex Health Coalition says this is not about the private clinics but about the system that allows it.
“We need to, when we go to the polls, we need to make this an election issue because the Ford government made this an election issue the last time around without letting us know about it, and they’re going to do it again,” he says.
People across the province will vote on Feb. 27, 2025.
AM800 News has reached out for a statement from the Windsor Surgical Centre but at the time of this article being published, a statement had yet to be provided.
