Cataract surgery wait times down in Waterloo Region thanks to local partnership [Video]

Wait times for cataract surgeries in Waterloo Region are down, as more publicly-funded surgeries are being done in private clinics instead of hospitals.

It’s a partnership that began in May 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and one that expanded once the province gave the greenlight to increase the number of procedures.

Cataract surgeries, that are not complicated, can be done at the Kitchener Waterloo TLC Laser Eye Centre.

Christiane Dijong had surgery on both her eyes at the clinic in June, a procedure that took just a few minutes.

“It went great,” she told CTV News shortly afterwards, adding she felt nothing during the surgery and only saw bright lights.

She was cared for by Dr. Chryssa McAlister, who performs surgeries at both TLC and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener.

“All of the surgeons in our region, including myself, do surgeries at both [locations],” McAlister said.

Some patients prefer …