British ColumbiaElderly people living on the Sunshine Coast who need eye injections in order to maintain their sight are having to pay out of pocket or drive for sight-saving treatment.A provincial program only covers the cost when eye injections are done at specific clinicsAlanna Kelly · CBC News · Posted: Oct 08, 2025 6:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoRonnie Uhlmann is thankful a medical procedure is saving her vision but she’s having to drive a far distances to get the cost covered. (Alanna Kelly/CBC)Ronnie Uhlmann, 83, spends as much time as she can in her garden, though without routine eye injections, she wouldn’t be able to see her flowers and vegetables.“I’m grateful that [the treatment] exists and I can save my eye,” said Uhlmann.What she and her husband Peter are not thankful for, is having to travel all day in order to get the eye drug for the injection covered by the province. The Lund, B.C., resident has a blocked retinal vessel occlusion and needs eye injections every few weeks to prevent her from going blind. There are no retinal specialists in the area, so Sunshine Coast residents are forced to decide between making the trip to Vancouver or Nanaimo, or paying out of pocket for eye injections done by local ophthalmologists.In Uhlmann’s case, the ophthalmologist in nearby Powell River could do the procedure if she chose to pay.The Ministry of Health said in a statement that the treatment is only covered when the drugs are prescribed and administered by a retinal specialists.Ronnie and Peter Uhlmann are travelling a far distance to access sight-saving treatment. The ferry cost is covered, but they have to pay for gas and overnight accommodation. (Alanna Kelly/CBC)The Provincial Retinal Diseases Treatment Program (PRDTP) has 39 clinics across B.C. where the drug treatment is covered — none of the clinics are on the Sunshine Coast.The Uhlmanns are driving all day, taking two ferries and staying overnight in Vancouver, about 140 kilometres southeast of Lund, so Ronnie can get the drug Eylea covered.They are living on a pension and have travelled to Vancouver five times and twice to Nanaimo to have the eye injections.”It’s very tiring, stressful and I hate it actually,” said Peter, 84, who says the provincial program is unnecessarily limited. “It’s not a matter of skill, it’s not a matter of anything else other than the government not wanting to pay money.”WATCH | Pay or drive all day? Elderly patients forced to decide:Pay or drive all day? Elderly patients forced to decideElderly people living on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast are being forced to decide between travelling all day or paying out of pocket to get treatment that preserves their sight. As Alanna Kelly explains, patients are disappointed that the cost for the same treatment available for free in Vancouver is not covered on the coast.According to the Ministry of Health, Eylea costs $12,762 for nine injections in the first year and is required every four weeks for the first five doses.“It’s a sight-saving medication. So we can’t sit there and say, ‘Well, you know, we’re going to, you know, forget about it. We can’t afford it and we don’t want to travel. So let her go blind in one eye.’ I mean, no, that’s not an option,” said Peter. A Lund, B.C., family is travelling all day to Vancouver or Nanaimo to get the cost of the eye injections covered under the provincial program. (Alanna Kelly/CBC)Eylea isn’t the only sight-saving treatment that isn’t covered by the province’s Medical Services Plan (MSP) that’s causing travel woes for Sunshine Coast residents. A woman living in Sechelt has decided to pay out of pocket for the drug Avastin, which is roughly $500 each year. Bev Davies was diagnosed with macular degeneration in December 2023 and has the eye injection done by her local ophthalmologist every eight weeks.“I don’t go to Vancouver. I go here, but I have to pay for the drug,” said Davies. “My point of view is it’s wrong. I’m not being covered by MSP as the people in Vancouver are and I think it’s borderline illegal and it has to change.”“It’s the principle for me more than anything. We are part of the Vancouver Coastal Health system, and yet because we live on the Sunshine Coast, we’re, in my opinion, being penalized,” she said. Davies started a petition that has more than 1,000 signatures calling for the drug to be covered. Randene Neill, the NDP MLA for Powell River – Sunshine Coast, says she’s working on a solution. “I think it’s incredibly important that everybody have equal access to healthcare, especially our seniors,” she said. “Nobody should have to drive to get an eye injection on the ferry, not once, but multiple, multiple times.”Dr. Glen Hoar, president of the B.C. Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, confirmed ophthalmologist can preform the procedure and that eye injections are a “core competency procedure.”In an email, the Ministry of Health said it is actively working with Provincial Health Services Authority on a strategy to improve equitable access to treatments for retinal diseases provided through the PRDTP.ABOUT THE AUTHORAlanna Kelly is a CBC News journalist based in Squamish, B.C., covering the Sea-to-Sky region, including Whistler, Pemberton and the Sunshine Coast. You can email story ideas to alanna.kelly@cbc.ca.
Elderly patients living in remote parts of B.C. forced to travel to save their sight or pay
