Our mission and advocacy
ACCESS is committed to improving the delivery of surgical vision services for all Canadians, and to establishing evidence-based national surgery facility standards in ophthalmic care.
National accreditation standards in eye surgery
ACCESS supports the development of a nationally consistent accreditation model for ophthalmic surgery, rooted in evidence-based practices and patient safety.
By promoting standardized regulatory oversight across all provinces, we aim to ensure that both insured and uninsured procedures are delivered in high-quality, accredited facilities—regardless of location.
Expanding access through community-based surgical facilities
We champion the shift of eligible eye surgeries from hospital settings to purpose-built day surgery centres that specialize exclusively in ophthalmology. These facilities offer:
- Greater efficiency
- Reduced wait times
- Enhanced patient satisfaction
- Lower burden on public hospital infrastructure
This model has already demonstrated success in multiple provinces and supports better alignment between surgical demand and capacity.
Faster care, stronger system
By outsourcing routine, lower-risk procedures like cataract surgery to accredited CSFs, we create capacity for hospitals to focus on more invasive and urgent surgeries—such as cancer, gynecological, and orthopedic procedures.
This not only shortens wait times for cataract patients, but also has a broader societal impact: freeing hospital resources to reduce delays for patients with life-threatening or complex surgical needs. Outsourcing to CSFs benefits both individual patients and the healthcare system as a whole.
