New information for Canadians

Hey there everybody,

I wasn't going to post today but got an interesting email from DiminishingDawn regarding OHIP and denials in Ontario that are on the rise. Here is the email as sent to me. Wayne
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Hi Members,

I thought I would send you an email to let you know of the current change in OHIP and what seems to be a BIG change in the OHIP process. This is good information for you to pass on to newbies or new people that you know of.

We are currently finding new information from sources in Hamilton about the big change.

Currently, within the last week people seem to be getting more and more denials for out of country surgery. This tends to be people that have NO major comorbidities or those whose bmi's are lower (say in the early 40s range). Patients are now being more commonly denied and referred to Toronto or Hamilton.

This is both good and bad news.

There is now some exciting news for Canadians - bariatric specialization! The bad news is that they are turning down more patients to go out of country so Michigan is going to become less and less of an option.

The good news is that they are now forwarding them to the new bariatric Canadian program starting in January. This will take place at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton Ontario.

They will be performing up to 3 a day! The rumour is that they will become a centre for WLS with a total support program. This is a big deal and means that Canada will finally have specialists in BARIATRICS!!! No more just general surgeons.

The surgeons for Hamilton are rumoured to be Dr.Mehran Anvari and Dr. Misra - both specialists, surgeons and highly respected. The rumour is that they will become a centre of excellence and will be primarily operating on patients with diabetes. They will funnel patients now to them so that the Toronto program will be eased and surgery in Canada should become far more accessible and faster.

The bad news of course is that the option of going to the States will be slowly melting away as Canada starts to finally "get with a bariatric program". I think this is very important news to pass along for newbies. Thanks!

Dawn