“The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation and Devers Eye Institute have a rich history working together to provide our community’s vulnerable populations with invaluable gift of sight. Devers is proud to continue this important partnership and to applying our expertise to the Mission Cataract Program and its recipients.”
- Dr James T Rosenbaum
Chenoweth Chair & Chief of Ophthalmology, Legacy Devers Eye Institute
Since the 1940s, part of Good Samaritan Hospital’s (now Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center) mission has been to serve indigent people in need of vital medical care. In 1959, the Lions Clubs of Oregon initiated their first program ever, the Patient Care Program, in partnership with Good Samaritan. This partnership provided access to vital medical care of Oregonians in need throughout the state, not just in the Portland area. The partnership was made possible by virtue of the close relationship of members of the Downtown Portland Lions Club and the leadership team at Good Samaritan.
The partnership continues today, in fact, the Lions Foundation offices are located in the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital campus. Our office space is rent free in perpetuity by virtue of the generous contribution of Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.
The Devers Eye Institute opened nearly 55 years ago. It was funded by Arthur Devers, a successful Portland coffee merchant who developed an eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which eventually caused him to become blind. Upon his death, Devers bequeathed $1 million to Good Samaritan Hospital to develop an eye clinic for the underemployed and uninsured. Soon after the Arthur Devers Memorial Eye Clinic opened in 1959, it established an ophthalmic residency training program and it has been growing in scale and prominence ever since.
From routine eye exams to the most sophisticated surgeries, Legacy Devers Eye Institute offers comprehensive eye care supported by a world-renowned research institute. We’re located on the Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center campus and our eye care ranges from comprehensive ophthalmology to vision rehabilitation. Our providers include board-certified ophthalmologists, nurses, social workers and technicians with special training in the management and prevention of eye disease.
World-renowned for research
Legacy Devers is a private, nonprofit clinical and research eye institute – one of only a handful in the United States.
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