Dear patients,
Welcome to the Spring edition of our newsletter! We hope everyone is well and staying safe. In this edition, we would like to introduce some new eyewear brands, and share a recent accomplishment of Dr. Rayman’s. We will also discuss the latest developments in the Ontario Association of Optometrists’ Save Eye Care campaign.
👓 SAINT LAURENT
This brand has been a staple in high-end fashion since the early 1960s. The Saint Laurent eyewear line adds a sophisticated, cool and classy aesthetic to our current collection of frames, and we could not be more excited to introduce you to these styles in our Richmond Hill and Bolton locations!
👓 TOM FORD
Thomas Ford launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2006, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. The brand is known for edgy, sleek and sophisticated styles, and that is certainly conveyed in their eyewear as well!
Call our offices to book an appointment to browse our selection of ophthalmic and sunglass frames! Try-ons are permitted, and our frames are sanitized after they are worn, before they are returned to our displays.
Over the past few years, Dr. Rayman has been working hard in addition to seeing patients and running both offices; and today we are excited to share that he is now a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (FCOVD)! This is a highly prestigious qualification requiring continuing education, case reports and written and oral examinations, that less than 1% of optometrists in Canada have attained, so this is no light feat! FCOVD optometrists are board-certified in the areas of vision development, vision therapy and vision rehabilitation. Dr. Rayman is looking forward to applying his advanced training to provide the best management and care to our patients in our vision therapy program!
Imagine you are a delivery driver that makes deliveries out of town for half of your day. These deliveries cost $85 in gas; however, you are paid only $44 to make the delivery. With additional costs such as truck maintenance and auto insurance, this system would not be sustainable for your delivery business.
This is what optometrists are going through with OHIP-insured eye care: OHIP payments cover only about half the cost of providing an eye exam; the remainder comes from our pockets.
Our first job action last summer resulted in a few meetings with the Ministry of Health, however no formal offer was made; our requests to meet have been ignored since December; and the 2021 provincial budget failed to include any changes for eye care funding.
Starting September 1st, 2021, optometrists will stop accepting all OHIP-covered services. This is the deadline we have given the government to agree to a formal negotiation process; and we sincerely hope the Ministry of Health will work with us before this deadline to form a solution where optometrists are no longer forced to pay out of pocket to see children, seniors, and patients with medical issues.
We encourage everyone to follow us on social media and the Ontario Association of Optometrists to stay informed of any developments. To support your optometrists, please contact your local MPP and urge them to have the government prioritize eye care, or visit www.saveeyecare.ca to submit an auto-generated letter to the Premier, Minister of Health, and your local MPP. We hope you will stand with us so that you and your family can continue to access high quality eye care that is timely and close to home.
Thank you for reading this edition of our newsletter! We look forward to writing to you all again in the summer, and hope for brighter days ahead!
