Patient Care Program

Patient Care Services

The Patient Care Program was created to help Oregonians receive the sight and hearing surgery or treatments they need but cannot afford. With generous partners such as Ashland’s Retina & Vitreous Center, Legacy Devers Eye Institute, EyeHealth NW, and Pacific Cataract and Laser, and our other healthcare providers in our statewide network, we help people regain their sight and hearing through our Patient Care Program.

Services include medical eye exams, treatment and testing for glaucoma, macular degeneration, and new advanced treatments like corneal cross-linking.

The Patient Care Committee meets monthly to review applicants referred to the program from across the state. Each case is reviewed for a fit with established qualifications and guidelines. Our Committee works hard to make the best use of its funds. Thanks to the generosity of doctors and hospitals across the state, OLSHF pays for services at significantly reduced rates for each procedure we sponsor. This allows us to help more people each year.

The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation (OLSHF) represents the Oregon Chapter of the Mission Cataract USA Program, which, with its partners, delivers free cataract surgeries to people of all ages who lack the means to pay for this critical care, or do not have qualifying insurance. OLSHF helps identify residents in need and then partners with ophthalmologists, like the Legacy Devers Eye Institute, to perform sight-saving surgeries.

Each year, OLSHF provides free cataract surgeries thanks to partnering doctors and hospitals throughout the state. Additional Mission Cataract partners include EyeHealth NW, Dr. Mathew Neale with Pacific Cataract and Laser, Dr. Martin Balish with Oregon Eye Specialists, and Dr. Douglas Merritt and Dr. Mark Maffett at Cascade Eye Care Center.

History

Mission Cataract USA was started in 1991 by Frederick A. Richburg, MD, Medical Director of Valley Eye Institute in California. He decided to donate one day for free cataract surgery and launched the program with a group of local volunteers in Fresno.

Oregon Participants

In 1993, the Mission Cataract USA program expanded nationwide, and Jon-Marc Weston, MD, of Weston Eye Center, Roseburg, started the program in Oregon. As a Roseburg Lion, Dr. Weston’s goal was to have clubs in every Oregon community partner with surgeons and facilities for an annual free program. “Having participated in international surgical missions, I saw a great unmet need where people in my community couldn’t access this vision-restoring procedure because of inability to pay. I decided to take a more proactive approach and provide surgery to an average of 20 people yearly,” said Dr. Weston.In 2008, Martin Balish, MD, of Oregon Eye Specialists, was recruited to Mission Cataract by the Beaverton Lions Cub. Dr. Balish, anesthesiologist Dr. Todd Tolan, and the entire staff donate their expertise, equipment, supplies and facility annually to assist at least eight people yearly.”So many eye doctors are doing mission work in other countries… I feel more can be done at home. I hope to bring the latest technological advances in eye surgery to those most in need who don’t have the means to pay for it,” stated Dr. Balish. Doctors Mark Fay and Scott Stevens of Klamath Eye Center also find their participation in Mission Cataract very fulfilling.