Regional News
October 02, 2008 10:09 PM
By: Adam Mc Lean
Cataract surgeries will no longer be performed at York Central Hospital, its board of trustees voted this week.
The service, instead, will be moved to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, a decision handed down by the province’s health care co-ordination agency, the Central Local Health Integration Network.
The move has angered 81-year-old resident Lois Hancey, who, last week, presented Richmond Hill council with a 1,200-signature petition against moving the procedure out of town.
“I am upset about the whole thing and so are more than 1,000 other residents,” the former regional councillor said.
Last week, council agreed to bring a residents’ petition to the hospital board, but the Central LHIN had already made its decision to move the service north to Newmarket.
Ms Hancey blames the board, calling them lame ducks and not representing the needs of the town’s many citizens who require the surgery, adding transportation, costs as top concerns.
“The board has acted so shamefully. They are being bulldozed and we don’t see any reason why Central LHIN should be dictating such a drastic move on our hospital,” Ms Hancey said.
The Central LHIN is charged with the task of centralizing specialized health services to designated hospitals in the hopes wait times will be shorter for cataract surgeries and add relief to crowded emergency and operating rooms for other procedures.
Ms Hancey, who underwent cataract surgery at York Central Hospital years ago, however, said she and many other residents are mortified by the board’s vote to move forward with the relocation.
While the decision would upset some residents, in this matter, you can’t make everyone happy, Mayor Dave Barrow acknowledges.
“This centralization isn’t just affecting residents in Richmond Hill, but residents across York Region. Some negatively, but I think more positively. Under Central LHIN, York Central Hospital is a dialysis and stroke centre, so if you live in Newmarket rather than going to Southlake, you will have to come down here,” he said.
“We are a community hospital, but we are a regional hospital, as well, and I understand the impact this will have on some members of the community. But, in the long run, you can’t keep the regional resources severed: this will benefit the region, not to mention our already overcrowded hospital,” he added.
According to York Central, the removal of cataract surgeries won’t affect its ability to treat eye conditions or provide eye care in other capacities, also enabling York Central to make operating rooms available to other emergency surgeries, such as hip replacements and cancer care.
“Our patients will receive efficient and expert eye care services from their local ophthalmologists who they already know and trust.
“The big difference is that these specialists will now be supported by state-of-the-art technology and a team of health care professionals dedicated exclusively to cataract surgery,” vice president of York Central’s programs, Jo-Anne Marr said.
“Cataract surgery is an elective procedure that does not require a traditional operating room. It does, however, require specific tools and expertise. The eye institute at Southlake was created, specifically, with cataract surgery in mind,” she added.
The gradual transition of cataract surgery services from York Central to the new facilities at Southlake began over the summer.
The hospitals and Central LHIN are addressing transportation issues for patients to and from cataract surgery.
A similar high-level cataract surgery site is also available at North York General Hospital-Branson site.
For more information, contact York Central Hospital at 905-883-1212 or contact Central LHIN staff
at 905-948-1872.
Or tell us what you think. E-mail editor Ted McFadden in Newmarket at
tmcfadden@yrmg.com or Jeff Bower in Aurora at
jbower@yrmg.com