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Alberta health minister wants answers on long waits for cornea transplants

EDMONTON – Alberta’s health minister says he’s surprised and concerned that wait times for cornea transplants in the province are the longest in Canada.

Fred Horne says he has asked his department to review what’s going on and report back in a couple of days.

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Horne says there could be a supply shortage or there may not be enough time in operating schedules.

Albertans are waiting two years on average for new corneas, which is twice as long as Manitoba and five times longer than British Columbia.

One reason for the delay is that Alberta doesn’t import corneas from the United States and Horne says he’ll look into that.

NDP Leader Brian Mason say the cornea problem shows the province can’t get its priorities straight on providing service to Albertans.

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