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Winnipeg Free Press

Optometrists refuse to treat urgent cases over fee dispute with province

Manitoba optometrists have been refusing to handle urgent cases out of frustration with the provincial government, which hasn't signed a deal with them in years. Since March, the optometrists have referred all non-routine eye care cases, as well as patients who had surgery within the past three weeks, to the Misericordia Eye Clinic. They've been directed to do so by the Manitoba Association of Optometrists. The result is that Manitobans are taking the brunt of the job action because the clinic has become jam-packed with patients, forcing the clinic to scramble and enlist the help of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to find more staff. PAT MCGRATH / FREE PRESS FILES Since March, Manitoba optometrists have been refusing to handle all non-routine eye care cases out of frustration with the provincial government, which hasn't signed a deal with them in years. PAT MCGRATH / FREE PRESS FILES Since March, Manitoba optometrists have been refusing to handle all non-routine eye care cases out of frustration with the provincial government, which hasn't signed a deal with them in years. 'Patients are who the system is intended to serve and they are the most vulnerable,' said Winnipegger Mike Ellery, who learned about the labour dispute. The optometry services contract expired on March 31, 2019, during the third year of the Pallister government. Ellery admits he was confused when, back in May, his optometrist sent him to the Misericordia Eye Clinic for an issue when he had been treated for the same condition by that specialist a few years earlier. Ellery said there were so many patients waiting when he went in to the clinic one morning that, after he was not seen by the afternoon, he had to leave. He returned the next day and was treated. He said he wasn't the only one who left without being seen by an optometrist. 'Patients are who the system is intended to serve and they are the most vulnerable.'–Mike Ellery But Ellery said, before returning to the clinic, he spoke to the president of the association who confirmed job action was being taken. He said Dr. Averi Van Dam told him that optometrists had gone six years without a contract. 'I also learned that optometrists get paid shockingly little for providing urgent care and they have had no opportunity to renegotiate their contract.' Ellery said he told the association president it was not only 'inexcusable' for the province not to renegotiate a new contract, but the association's job actions were also 'both irresponsible and ineffective.' He said he hoped now that the public knows what is going on, the situation will be resolved. 'Avoiding harms to patients must always be our top priority… now that the secret's out, maybe we can all start the work needed to heal the desperately unwell health care system for which we are responsible.' Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. The association did not provide a statement about the contract issue before deadline, despite being told the government response and being sent a list of questions about the dispute. A Doctors Manitoba spokesman said physicians are concerned about the ongoing dispute and the effect on patients. 'We understand optometrists are withholding certain services from patients while they seek a new contract, and we're hearing from physicians who have seen more patients seeking urgent care for eye issues, and longer wait times too,' the spokesman said, adding it's hoped the two sides can resolve the dispute quickly so care can be restored. Mike Deal / Free Press files Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara. Mike Deal / Free Press files Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government 'has been actively working with optometrists over the past several months. 'The previous government refused to even take a meeting with optometrists and this understandably caused frustration,' Asagwara said in a statement. The minister said the contract covers optometric services, including eye exams and post-operative care, with optometrists being paid with a set tariff per service. As well, they said optometrists can also bill third-party insurers for additional services. 'We are aware of the increased demand for same-day eye care services at the Misericordia Eye Centre,' Asagwara said. 'In response, the WRHA has implemented temporary solutions, including reallocating staff and bringing in additional physicians.' Noah Schultz, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, said patients can't afford more delays. 'We're in a system-wide staffing and physician crisis in Manitoba health care,' Schulz said. 'We need more health care professionals across the board, including specialists like optometrists and ophthalmologists. Patients in Manitoba already face year-long wait lists for essential procedures like cataract surgery. 'The previous government refused to even take a meeting with optometrists and this understandably caused frustration.'–Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara 'This puts Manitobans on such wait lists at risk and weakens trust in public health care.' Schulz said Manitobans need quicker health care, not delayed. 'Eye care is health care and should be accessible to all Manitobans,' he said. 'We need expanded, fully public eye care services, and must push governments to provide more access, not less.' While Progressive Conservative Health critic Kathleen Cook didn't address the lack of contract negotiations during the previous Tory government, she took aim at the current government for not settling it. 'Over the last two years, Manitobans and health care professionals alike have been increasingly disappointed by the NDP's broken promises,' Cook said. 'Optometrists are joining other health care providers, from home care attendants to nurses, who have found that the NDP's words don't always match their actions. She said she had written to Asagwara twice to work with the optometrists association and resolve the dispute. Kevin RollasonReporter Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin. Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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