Eye clinic gets new home

A $1 million facility has been granted by the Mexican government to house a clinic for the IU School of Optometry in the region. The center, named the IU School of Optometry's Centro de Rehabilitacion Visual -- or as it is know in Indiana, the Guanajuato Eye Care Center -- will move this month into its new home, according to a press release. \nSince 2000, the clinic has served the local population by offering vision care and services at little or no cost, according to a press release. According to the clinic's Web site, University officials are hoping the new facility for the clinic will improve its ability to treat people and allow the clinic to use more advanced methods.\n"We were seeing a lot of patients, and the president of Department of Infants and Family was so pleased with us that they raised the money to build this new facility," said Gerald Lowther, dean of the IU School of Optometry, in a statement. "Our previous clinic was just four exam rooms and a reception area, so the new facility will give us a much better opportunity to care for the patients." \nAccording to the clinic's Web site, the new center will feature five large examination rooms, a special testing room, an edging lab, and an office for the supervisor for the optometry side of operations. And the ophthalmology side, which is still being fully constructed, will contain four consulting rooms. A surgery center with two surgery beds with extra space for pre- and post-operation patients is planned.\nWith so much space, University officials have high expectations for the future of the clinic. \n"We are hoping to actually double the daily patient load from 50 to 100 or more," said director and optometry professor Jennifer Page in a statement. "The new facility will have a significant impact on the greater Guanajuato state because the new location and combination of optometry and ophthalmology will lead DIF to transport more economically challenged patients to our clinic for eye care."\nDespite the improvements made already, additional plans to expand the clinic are already underway. According to the press release, there are ideas to offer more support for cataract surgery and other types of specialized eye operations. \nWhile the primary mission is of course treating patients, an added benefit IU utilizes is the hands-on training fourth-year students in the optometry school receive during their 12-week rotation, which the Web site states provides the students with an opportunity to gain clinical experience and also cultural experience by working in the area. \n"This clinic provides the students with a unique clinical experience, and as importantly, a great cultural experience," Lowther said in a statement. "Following the rotation the students have a better understanding of the culture and are able to perform vision examinations in Spanish"