Eye-care centre to get 2nd look as dozens rally in Corner Brook

A protest in Corner Brook Friday afternoon drew about 75 peoplemany holding signs and chanting, "Don't lose Dr. French!" and offered a glimmer of hope for a proposed eye-care centre that appeared all but dead.

Ophthalmologist Justin French had been in talks with the province to open a private surgical clinic that would focus primarily on cataract procedures, which residents have complained they wait too long for.

However, the Department of Health and Community Servicesrejected the application, with Minister John Haggie saying there isn't sufficient proof that building the clinic would save government money or reduce wait times.

But Premier Dwight Ball and ministers Eddie Joyce and Gerry Byrne were at the rallyand confirmed they will be having ameeting with French next Wednesday in St. John's to discuss the eye centre again.

"This is the meetingthat we need, to go through the proposal to discuss all the aspects of where those gaps are, and we'll do that," said Ball, who admitted he is not familiar with thedetails of French's plan.

"We want to make sure we get a real good understanding of what the real wait times are."

French said the meeting with governmentis a goodsign.

"I think if we can sit down in the same room, we can certainly address a lot of the concerns and put those to the side and hopefully come up withasolution that works for everyone," he told reporters.

French: I want to stay

French said he wants to stay in the province, but not at anycost.

"I'm a homegrown boy, I'm from SpringdaleIlove the area, Ilove the people, Ilove everything about Newfoundland," he said Friday at the protest in front of the Sir Richard Squires building.

"But if we don't come up with a model that is going to allow us to improve the access and delivery of eye care on the west coast, there is no doubt that Iwill be forced to consider [another] option."

French said his three-month hiatus is still happening, and he has received two job offers in the last couple of days from Vancouver Island after his story travelled via the media.

He said opening a private surgical clinic isn't simply about allowing him to remain in his hometown province, but would go a long way for recruitment efforts to make the health-care system better.

"Being able to work in a purpose-built facility with purpose-trained staff is a very,veryappealing thing. It's beingdone in about six provinces across the country right now and that would drastically facilitate our ability to recruit one or two more ophthalmologists to the west coast," French said.

"That'swhere the bigdifferenceisgoingto come for waittimesforpatients and for access to care and preventing burnout for me personally."

Ball said retaining health-care professionals like French is a priority.

"What we want to get to is how people like Dr. French [how] we can make their livesbetter so that they will actually continue to live in western Newfoundland, continue to work hard for people in this area," he said.

"It's really about not where the location is, but about how we deliverthose services."