Dear editor,
I write in support of Dr. Sadhana Kulkarni, our ophthalmologist who provides specialized eye care to the hundreds and hundreds of patients in the North and Central Island.
The province did make promises to fund minimally invasive glaucoma surgery for residents in the North and Central Island in 2014. It also made promises in May 2013 that anyone with macular degeneration requiring eye injections would be covered by MSP. That has not happened. If you want coverage and live in the Central or North Island, you have to get to Victoria and wait in line for monthly injections.
As Dr. Kulkarni says: “You go blind, or you cough up the money, or you travel.”
It is much more than an inconvenience to travel to Victoria for care when you have limited eyesight, you are a senior, you need a driver, and winter conditions are dangerous. The Ministry of Health would have you believe travel to Victoria is easy, not expensive, and a mere “ inconvenience.”
More than that: Dr. Kulkarni offers the Valley and well beyond much-needed services, and brings an expertise to her patients that is not easily replaced.
Marlene Zacharias,
Comox