|
Last fall, Micheline Maginsky, who is profoundly deaf, watched from the
gallery of the Ontario Legislature as MPP Shelley Martel questioned Health
Minister Tony Clement on the evergrowing list of deaf Canadians who are
waiting for cochlear implants and the chance to hear. New technology is
allowing more deaf Canadians like Micheline, a 37-year-old mother of four,
to hear again but she now must stand in line for four years for that
life-altering operation.
Micheline, who began to lose her hearing as a child and was profoundly
deaf by her mid-twenties, has been approved for the procedure that will
change her life and allow her to finally hear the voices of her children.
Defending his ministry’s funding policy, Clement said his government has
been “increasing year over year the funding for
cochlear implants.”
In Ontario, implants are done in Toronto, Ottawa and London with current
funding allowing for 47 procedures a year. There are
now more than 175 adults waiting for the operation in the province.
In British Columbia, yearly funding allows for only 10 adults and 6
children to receive a cochlear implant, while the growing
waiting list now has 30 adults, and astonishingly, 25 children who will
wait 3 to 4 years for an implant, losing the most valuable years to
acquire language and speech.
The Hearing Foundation of Canada urges you to write or phone your MPP or
your minister of health, to advocate for increased funding for this
life-altering procedure.
Hon. Tony Clement
Minister of Health & Long
Term Care 80 Grosvenor St,
10th Floor Hepburn Block
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1S3
Hon. Colin Hansen,
Minister of Health
PO Box 9050
Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9E2
Reprinted with permission from The Hearing Foundation of Canada
Web Site:
http://www.hearingfoundation.ca
Telephone: 416-364-4060 voice
416-364-9446 TTY
Toll-free: 1-866-HEAR-YOU or (1-866-432-7968)
Fax: 416-364-9638 |
