Nevis Eye Care Program, West Indies
site
Island of Nevis, West Indies
Launch date
1996
Major PARTNERS
Nevis Island Health Ministry
Alexandra Hospital
Volunteer eye surgeon Dr. Bruce Bleiman examines a patient in Nevis, West Indies.
Since its inception in 1996, the Nevis Eye Care Program has provided preventive services and eye care services to a population of more than 10,000 people on the island of Nevis in the Western Caribbean. Dr. George Bresnick and Ms. Geri Hendriksen began the program with the Health Ministry of the Nevis Island Administration in 1996, and directed the program until 2008.
Dr. Ray Hubbe, Director of the Nevis Eye Care Program, performing ophthalmoscopy on a patient in the program's Eye Clinic at the Alexandra Hospital.
In 2008 the program direction was assumed by Dr. Ray Hubbe and his wife, Ginger Burn. They have continued the same services and added new volunteers, updated equipment, and new state of the art procedures. The Nevis program continues to be supported by the Health Ministry, with supplementary help from many private and corporate donors in Nevis and the U.S.
Screenings for vision impairment and vision-threatening eye diseases (glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataract, pterygium) are conducted in the island’s six community health centers and in the schools, and follow-up care is provided at the Eye Clinic at Alexandra Hospital. A cadre of volunteer eye care professionals from the U.S. and the West Indies performs cataract surgery, laser for diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, and pterygium surgery for hundreds of patients in the program.