I had an eye examination scheduled for tomorrow. When I didn’t get any kind of confirmation call, I called them only to find out it had been cancelled weeks ago and nobody bothered to inform me.
Eye Associates had stopped all routine appointments when the governor closed non-essential businesses, and was only handling emergencies and on-going injection programs.
I had no real problem with that policy. I can’t imagine how a technician could sterilize all the equipment used in a refraction between patients.
My problem was with the lack of service in general. Española did not recover from the economic problems of 2008. Population growth leveled off, [1] as 4,240 people left the area. [2] The number of children in the schools declined, [3] while the rest of the population continued to age. That means more people change from private insurance to Medicare.
Demand for ophthalmologists would have remained steady or increased. I don’t know how many were assigned to Española by Eye Associates, but the one I saw was only available a few days a week. I always had to wait weeks for an appointment.
My eyes changed last fall, perhaps as a consequence of glare from my new computer’s screen. I should have called for an appointment immediately, but didn’t do so until February. When I drove by their office to schedule an appointment, it was closed. Eye Associates stopped servicing us last year.
When I did call the office in Los Alamos, I still had to wait seven weeks for an appointment.
When I called this morning, I was switched to the outlet in Santa Fé. The woman I talked with said they had blocked off all appointments through August to new patients. They were reserving the time for people like me whose appointments had been cancelled.
She also told me I should have been notified.
That brings me to another problem we all suffer from in the valley. We are a long distance call from Los Alamos and Santa Fé. People in those cities don’t realize that and don’t dial the area code. When they get the message they need to redial, they just assume, because it’s Rio Arriba County, the person they’re contacting is another deadbeat who gave false information.
My physician tells me he never gets test results from the place in Santa Fé that does my mammograms and bone density exams. I have to drive to them to request a copy of the results for myself, and ask them to please resend them to the doctor. At that time I mention the area code, and the doctor’s office receives them.
The woman I talked with this morning said they would contact me when they were able to schedule appointments again. Since I knew I would never happen, I asked if I should call Los Alamos.
She told me no, that they might not have brought back all their staff by then, and I should call Santa Fé to schedule the appointment in Los Alamos.
I’ve read reports that physicians are worried their practices may not survive the extended closure. [4] Eye Associates is not some benign Dr. Welby. It’s a corporation headquartered in Albuquerque that has bills to pay.
It’s been obvious over the years that it schedules the time of the ophthalmologists as tightly as possible. It’s already decided Española wasn’t a viable cost center.
I may decide, as much as I like the person I’ve been seeing, it’s time for me to find an ophthalmologists in Santa Fé. I don’t much fancy navigating the road from Los Alamos with dilated eyes.
And really, waiting seven weeks to find out if a change in my vision was routine or a symptom of a serious medical problem really isn’t acceptable.
Sources:
1. Española Public School District Facilities Master Plan 2013-2017. Architectural Research Consultants, February 2013. It said Española grew by 500 between 2000 and 2010, but Rio Arriba County’s population dropped by 1,000. [page 2-12]
2. Master Plan. 2-12.
3. Master Plan. 2-15. The drop was 1,507 people.
4. Tierney Sneed. "Why The Pandemic Is Putting Primary Care Docs In A Major Financial Pinch." Talking Points Memo website. 26 March 2020.
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