Alberta Health Optometry Changes

Welcome AAO Members!

We have prepared a variety of resources for use when engaging your UCP MLA, information that you can share with your patients, and some additional resources should you need them.

Chair Cost Calculator Tools

In response to the recent Alberta Health cuts, the AAO has developed Chair Cost Calculator Tools to help members assess their clinic's financial health. These tools provide multiple methods to calculate chair costs, allowing you to choose the approach that best suits your practice.

How to use:

Tab 1 – “Fill In These Numbers” – Fill in the fields in the first spreadsheet. This can be adjusted based on your clinic’s financial statements.

Once the first tab is completed, you will see three separate results:
Tab 2 – Chair Cost done by Overhead/square foot/exam hour
Tab 3 – Chair Cost by Expenses/Total Number of Appointments
Tab 4 – Fixed Chair Cost Per Appointment (Without paying doctor or clinic)
Tab 5 – “Equipment Loan Calculator” is also included, if needed.

Download the Chair Cost Calculator

*Disclaimer: These chair cost tools are provided for your education and individual use. The AAO does not claim they are completely accurate nor provide for all potential costings. Any decisions you make relative to your practice based on the information provided by these tools are done at your sole discretion.

Reaching out to your UCP MLA

For optometrists that live in UCP ridings, we have the following information available for you to access and reach out to your UCP MLA:

  1. Instructions and Helpful Tips to meet with, call, or email your UCP MLA
  2. Customizable Letter Template that you can send to your UCP MLA
  3. Key Messages to use when speaking with UCP MLAs
  4. Find Your MLA tool to search for and confirm your UCP MLA and their contact information

As a final step, please let us know when you have contacted your MLA. Please email alberta.association@optometrists.ab.ca so we can track the efforts of our membership in communicating with the government.

ODs in NDP Ridings

To those doctors who live in an NDP riding, we are holding off on contacting the opposition MLAs.

In the interim, if you want to look up a UCP MLA where you have your clinic, or a UCP MLA who is close by in your community/city/town, please feel free to reference the materials in the “Reaching out to your UCP MLA” and let them hear your concerns. Just adjust the letter to indicate you are a concerned optometrists or your clinic is in their riding, etc.

If, and when, we need you to reach out to NDP MLAs specifically, we will send you some information.

Additional Resources

Information for Your Patients

  • Patient Handout: Download and print to place in your clinic and give to patients
  • Patient Backgrounder: Download and print to share with your patients
  • Patient FAQs: Download and print these common patient FAQs - updated February 2, 2025