“I couldn’t get help from anybody,” said George Akturk, a supermarket worker who was injured on the job. Akturk fell off a ladder at his store and badly injured his eye. He’s been trying to find a capable eye surgeon on the New York Workers’ Compensation health provider website, but has had no such luck.

Workers comp pays 100% of medical expenses for employees injured on the job, as well as cash benefits for work lost after a three to seven day waiting period following the injury. Akturk — and many other New York City injured workers — have had trouble over the past year accessing the workers’ comp website and getting the compensation they deserve.

No eye surgeon would agree to perform the macular pucker surgery Akturk needed to regain his vision.

According to NBC New York, eye surgeons aren’t the only medical professionals dropping out of the workers’ comp program and turning patients away. Dozens of doctors who once accepted workers’ comp insurance have dropped out of the program. The problem, however, is that New York State still lists them as participants on the website, making it nearly impossible for patients to find the medical attention they need.

“Ophthalmology, oncology, pulmonology, cardiology,” listed attorney Robert Grey. “These are all areas where if you’re an injured worker with a workers’ compensation case you’re very likely to have a problem finding a doctor who is willing to treat you.”

Brain Keegan, a New York Workers’ Comp spokesman, said that the state updates its list of participating doctors every week, but failed to explain why so many doctors remain incorrectly listed as participants.

Dr. Benjamin Chang, a Long Island eye surgeon, finally accepted Akturk’s workers’ comp insurance and performed the eye surgery.

“My concern now is if it took him [Akturk] a year to find a retina specialist to do macular pucker surgery, what if you needed neurosurgery?” said Chang. “God forbid. You can’t wait a year for something like that.”