Medical Eye Center in the News

Watching cataract surgery is like witnessing a miracle.

His patients stagger and grope their way to him along mountain trails from remote villages, hoping to go under his scalpel and see loved ones again. A day after he operates to remove cataracts, he pulls off the bandages—and, lo! They can see clearly. At first tentatively, then jubilantly, they gaze about. A few hours later, they walk home, radiating an ineffable bliss. Dr. Sanduk Ruit, a Nepali ophthalmologist, may be the world champion in the war on blindness. Some 39 million people worldwide are blind—about half because of cataracts—and another 246 million have impaired vision, according to the World Health Organization. Read the full article…

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Providing eye care to a population particularly vulnerable to blindness.

Dr. Paul Jorizzo, Dr. Paul Imperia, Dr. Rory Murphy and three assistants from Medical Eye Center returned from Christmas Island in the central Pacific Ocean. They spent a week prescribing treatments, giving away sunglasses, and training local doctors to provide eye care. Drs. Jorizzo and Imperia performed 74 cataract and 10 pterygium surgeries, helping restore vision to a local population that is particularly vulnerable to blindness. Read the full article…

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Our Doctors Deliver Gifts to Christmas (Island)

It turns out living in paradise has its drawbacks. Residents of Christmas Island in the Pacific are prone to a “surfer’s disease” caused by exposure to dust, wind, and abundant sunlight. Medical Eye Center surgeons Dr. Paul Imperia and Dr. Paul Jorizzo noticed the situation on a fishing trip years ago. Now they return on a regular basis to treat patients with a variety of eye diseases using modern techniques otherwise unknown in the area. Dr. Paul Imperia talks to Jefferson Public Radio about his medical mission to Christmas Island. Listen to the interview…

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Medical Eye Center Sponsors Medical Mission to Christmas Island

In August 2015, Medical Eye Center ophthalmologists Paul Jorrizo, MD, and Paul Imperia, MD along with optometrist Rory Murphy, OD are traveling to Christmas Island (also known as Kiritimati) in August to perform more than 120 life-changing eye surgeries that will treat debilitating eye diseases in the local population. Click to read the full article.

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Keith Shirley Supports Five Ethiopian Hospitals

Maintaining ophthalmic equipment is vital for any hospital, especially where services are few and far between. Keith Shirley, Medical Eye Center’s biomedical engineer, recently traveled to Ethiopia to provide two weeks of training to local biomedical maintenance technicians. On behalf of the Himalayan Cataract Project, Keith worked with nine local technicians at five institutions to examine equipment, make repairs, and provide hands-on guidance and training. The first medical device Keith tackled was a Pachymeter which had a missing power connector. It would have been impractical to replace the connector due to the age of the device, so Keith cut the connector off and attached the cable directly to the circuit board. The Pachymeter was immediately placed back in service. “I like these types of repairs,” says Keith, “because it shows you can often work around a problem.” Unfortunately, access to parts for aging equipment frequently plagued Keith’s ability to help the Ethiopian hospitals. In the US, a biomedical engineer can easily get technical support via the internet, and then have replacement parts shipped directly to the facility. Keith quickly learned that’s not so easy in Ethiopia. He wondered if there were any electronic component suppliers in Addis Ababba or general repair facilities where things could be rebuilt. Keith asked the local technicians, “but they always seem to be confused. It’s as though a supplier that specializes in such a narrow market is nonexistent.” Keith believes that finding a way to order parts off the internet will be a key to supporting the

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Nepal Earthquake: Supporting the Relief Effort

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the Himalayan country of Nepal. The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) is taking a leading role in the medical and humanitarian relief efforts throughout the country. HCP has been providing medical services in Nepal for over 20 years. Their remote eye teams have a long-term relationship with many of the rural communities most affected by the earthquake. The Himalayan Cataract Project’s co-founder Dr. Sanduk Ruit and all of HCP’s partners and friends at the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology are safe. The eye hospital is still standing and functioning. Unfortunately, several colleagues have lost their homes and countless acquaintances have died. Many outlying communities and villages are completely destroyed. Power, water, and transportation are devastated. Partners at Tilganga are working around the clock to treat patients with eye trauma and other injuries. We need the worldwide ophthalmology community to help Nepal recover. The Himalayan Cataract Project will fund direct relief and free treatment for trauma victims with a special account called “Nepal Relief.” 100% of the funds raised will go directly to the relief efforts coordinated by Dr. Ruit in Nepal. To make a donation, please click here. To learn more, please visit www.cureblindness.org

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Dr. Matt Oliva Receives Humanitarian Award

On June 6th, Dr. Matt Oliva was awarded the 2014 University of Washington School of Medicine Alumni Humanitarian award. Watch a video that played at the ceremony: As a medical student, Dr. Matt Oliva did a rotation in Nepal. There, he saw an international team perform 300 cataract surgeries in four days. “It was the genesis moment for me,” says Dr. Oliva. After settling into practice at Medical Eye Center, Dr. Oliva began volunteering with the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), which collaborates with local doctors in the developing world to improve eye care. Working in temporary clinics in remote areas, highly efficient physician-nurse teams provide cataract surgery and restore sight to those in need. Read the full article. Dr. Oliva has been an HCP board member since 2007. In May, he spoke at the America-Nepal Medical Foundation’s (ANMF) 2014 conference in Portland. Highlighting the Himalayan Cataract Project’s work in Nepal, Dr. Oliva discussed outreach efforts, training, and innovative solutions that help realize HCP co-founder Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s dream to provide stare-of-the-art eye care to the world’s poorest people. Watch a video about HCP’s work in Ethiopia. Congratulations, Dr. Oliva!

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The World is our Community

Every community has individuals who are called to take on global challenges and make a difference in the world. Jefferson Public Radio’s Jeff Golden interviews Medical Eye Center’s Dr. Matt Oliva about his experiences with the The Himalayan Cataract Project. Watch the interview

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