Hon. Christine Elliott
Ministry of Health
College Park 5th Floor
777 Bay Street, M7A 2I3
Toronto, ON
September 22, 2021
To Minister Elliott,
Beginning on September 1, 2021, the Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) launched job action that has resulted in the withdrawal of vital eye-care services from OHIP insured patients in Ontario. Those who have been affected are largely young people and seniors, and as a result of your inaction to address the funding issues that have been plaguing Optometrists in Ontario, they are no longer able to access the services that they require.
Eye care must be a part of a robust health care system, and for those who are no longer going to be able to access these services, the implications will be severe. We are already hearing from parents across Ontario whose children need to access optometric services in order to participate fully in their classrooms, and from seniors who without proper eyecare will have their lives impacted greatly as well.
Your eyesight impacts your ability to interact with your world around you, and to have this extra burden placed on some of our most vulnerable, while the COVID-19 pandemic drags on is an abject failure from the Ford government.
This situation must be rectified.
Today, I am calling on you and this government to step in and ensure that Optometrists in Ontario are funded properly so that Ontarians can access OHIP-insured eyecare. This must be addressed with the utmost expediency.
Each passing day, the impacts of your inaction become more and more detrimental, and we need you back at the negotiation table now to turn this around.
Sincerely,
Jill Andrew
MPP for Toronto—St. Paul’s