More cataract surgeries available for Nova Scotians in 2023
The number of cataract surgeries available in Nova Scotia is set to increase by over 60 per cent next year.
The expansion of surgery appointments, up to 6,000 compared to roughly 3,700 this year, is a result of an ongoing partnership between Nova Scotia Health and the Halifax Vision Surgical Centre.
"We know vision impairment can have a devastating effect on a person's life," said Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness, in a Friday news release. "This expanded partnership with Halifax Vision will help Nova Scotians who are waiting for much-needed eye surgeries see the world a little clearer and brighter, sooner."
The partnership will see the relocation of cataract surgeries from Nova Scotia Heath's Eye Care Centre to the Halifax Vision Surgical Centre in an effort to free up operating room time for more complex eye surgeries for patients across the Maritimes.
The surgeries offered at the Eye Care Centre, located at the Victoria General site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, include procedures on eye sockets, eyelids, tear ducts and the face.
The renewed partnership will cost about $5 million per year. The centre has been performing cataract surgeries for Nova Scotia Health since 2020.
Since the partnership began, Nova Scotia Health has paid about $4.2 million to the Halifax Vision Surgical Centre, not including physician fees billed directly to MSI.
Dr. Marcelo Nicolela, Chief of Ophthalmology at Nova Scotia Health, said in the release that the centre has helped nearly 4,000 patients receive surgery even while other procedures were restricted in hospital settings due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
"This expanded partnership will comprehensively address waiting times in all areas of ophthalmology, allowing patients from the whole province timely access to eye surgeries," Nicolela said.
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