Thomas Kwiatkowski | Support HB349

I work in the public-health, non-profit sector in the North Country. By far the biggest barrier to care we experience in almost every facet of healthcare is a lack of providers, leading to a lack of access. Expanding the number of professionals who can perform these minor surgeries will, for many people up here who can't travel hours south to find a an ophthalmologist who is accepting new patients and performing theses procedures, be the difference between patients receiving the care they need and simply not receiving the care they need. There is nothing about these procedures that can't be taught and regulated just as well as everything else optometrists do, and expanding access to this care would improve the lives of many residents of the state who would otherwise go untreated.