The
year 2006 marks The Jules Stein Eye Institute’s (JSEI)
40 years of excellence as a world-class facility for patient
care, vision research and the training of future eye specialists.
It also marks JSEI’s four decades of reaching out to
the community.
“Since
its birth in 1966, the Jules Stein Eye Institute quickly evolved
into a world-class facility recognized for providing the best
in eye care, surgery, research and education,” says
director Bartly Mondino, MD. Though one of the youngest eye
centers in the country, the Jules Stein Eye Institute has
been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best in
the western United States for 16 consecutive years.
Much of
the Institute’s reputation springs from its innovative
vision research, which translates into first-class patient
care, including for those in underserved communities. Throughout
its 40 years, members of the JSEI family including its volunteer
organization, the JSEI Affiliates, staff, donors, faculty,
fellows and residents have combined their talents to provide
eye care to those who would normally find it difficult to
afford contact lenses, glasses, eye care and surgery. “Having
the opportunity to make meaningful differences in peoples’
lives is an added plus to being part of JSEI,” says
Gloria Jurisic, JSEI marketing and contracting director. Some
of JSEI’s opportunities to make a meaningful difference
include:
UCLA Mobile
Eye Clinic provides free eye examinations to underserved community
members throughout Southern California. Funded entirely by
private donations, the clinic – a specially equipped
bus — typically examines 4,000 children and 1,000 adults
annually.
In partnership
with the Venice Family Clinic (VFC), volunteer eye specialists
in the Retina Division connect with clinic patients through
its Telemedicine Program. JSEI physicians remotely monitor
digital retinal photographs taken by VFC staff during normal
diabetes examinations to prevent long-term visual loss .
The Indigent
Families and Indigent Children Programs provide ophthalmic
surgeries for economically challenged community members.
In addition
to supporting JSEI’s outreach programs in the Los Angeles
area, some members organize clinic missions around the world
to help the visually impaired in economically disadvantaged
countries. The JSEI Affiliates offer free preschool vision
screening and in-school educational programs about the eye.
To learn
more about JSEI, please visit www.jsei.org.
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