Dr. Paul Imperia and Dr. Matt Oliva treat hundreds of cataract patients in Ethiopia.
One hundred blind patients in threadbare robes sit shoulder to shoulder against the wall in a converted warehouse in rural Ethiopia. They wait for surgery that will allow them to see again.
Tomorrow, a new group of a hundred will wait.
An ophthalmologist makes quick incisions into the eye of a patient and removes a cataract. The procedure is efficient, sterile and takes about seven minutes. Medford doctors Matthew Oliva and Paul Imperia recently worked side by side in this fashion with an Ethiopian doctor, treating hundreds of patients over the course of a weeklong visit.
Dr. Oliva and Dr. Imperia volunteer their time and expertise for the Himalayan Cataract Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 dedicated to creating a model for sustainable eye care in the developing world.