As I type this Dr Curts has completed over 70 cataract surgeries since his return to the OR in late May. Most of our surgery time has been in Meaford so far so don’t be surprised if you are offered a Meaford spot when you are called. You DO NOT have to accept Meaford or Owen Sound, you can have your surgery at either location, but just be aware that you may have to wait a bit longer (at this point it is 1-3wks, depending on a few factors).
About 30% of our summer ORs have been extra ORs that we have managed to snap up from other surgeons who have decided not to use their OR time for one reason or another. We will continue to grab extra ORs when it is possible to fit them into our schedule.
I am currently calling patients who were seen for a cataract consultation in September 2023. If you have not heard from us and were seen in Aug 2023 or earlier you are welcome to call us and leave a message letting us know the best way to reach you. I will try to post regular updates about where we are on our list.
Generally speaking, your phone call will come based on when you saw Dr Curts for a consultation. The Ontario government has guidelines that surgeons are expected to follow when prioritizing patients for surgery. There are a few factors that might bump someone ahead by a month or two, but this is based on factors seen at the consultation.
We appreciate your patience with us as we try to get people through as quickly as possible. And we will do our best to keep things fair. We certainly can appreciate how frustrating it is to have your vision worsening without a solid date for improving it. The quality of cataract surgery in our area is excellent, but we have always been in need of more surgeons (which is true is most areas of medicine, but cataract surgery is no exception). Hopefully updates will have people still waiting to hear from us know where they are on our list.
At this time we ask that you do not call or show up at the office asking about updates unless your cataract consult was in August 2023 or earlier. What I’ve shared above is largely all that we can provide at this time.