Area Doctors Clear the Way for Cataract Patients

Many people in southwest Virginia are seeing better than they have for some time, thanks to an initiative by several area eye doctors who donated their services at the Vistar Roanoke Valley Center for Sight in Salem, where they performed cataract surgery for free. Friday, Dec. 4th was set aside to do the procedure on 12 patients who were pre-screened to be sure that they qualified for the program.

Beth Kolnok, Director of Marketing with Vistar, said that cataract surgery “is not a long procedure—it lasts about 10 to 15 minutes per eye.”

Patients can often see “dramatic improvement, fairly quickly,” according to Dr. Mark Robinson (Vistar Eye Center), who served as liason and coordinated the event, and will be doing the bulk of follow-up care, also free of charge.

The doctors and staff on hand were clearly thrilled to be able to offer this service for people who otherwise cannot afford the procedure. Robinson says they hope to make it “an annual event” with one of their challenges being getting the word out to area free clinics who don’t know where to refer patients. As part of that effort they have supplied fliers to optometrists, clinics and practices in the area. There is a minimal screening process once the patients are referred through Vistar Eye Center.

Robinson pointed out that “some people don’t realize that they have a cataract – they may not be going to an eye doctor to begin with,” and especially never dream that they “can have it done for free.”  In some cases, patients “wait until they can’t see” which is the result of a “white cataract,” which causes their vision to be completely obstructed.

According to Robinson, “these patients are especially excited, because after the procedure they can now see – it’s pretty immediate.”

Some patients came from as far away as Danville; Scott Epperly traveled from Christiansburg, accompanied by his wife Lisa, and their youngest son, a 17-month-old.

While the typical candidate for cataract surgery is usually older, Epperly is a young man of only 35. His doctors speculate that he had a cataract at this age because he is outdoors and in the sun a lot; he owns a concrete refinishing business. According to Epperly’s wife, her husband first noticed a problem when one of his co-workers asked for his assistance in reading a measurement and “Scott noticed he couldn’t read it either, so he called to ask me to set up an eye appointment.” When they found out he was qualified to receive the surgery for free, they were elated. Then, she added, “He got scared and a little nervous about having it done.” Epperly was resting and feeling fine post-surgery, apparently no worse for the wear.

Another patient, Antoine Fontus had one eye done during his visit. He had been to a doctor who “sent me to Dr. Kinsler. When that other doctor told me I might have a chance to have the operation done [for free] it made me feel very good.” He said the operation was easy; “I didn’t even know he [the doctor] was doing it.” Just a short while after surgery he happily exclaimed “I can see better now!”

The idea for this community outreach originated with Dr. Frank Cotter, who saw it being undertaken in Florida and thought it was a remarkably effective program. He felt doctors in Roanoke needed to step up to the plate and do something similar. He passed the idea along to Dr. Mark Robinson who put the program together and recruited the help of other doctors.

The doctors who donated their services included Dr. William Thompson  of Eye Care and Surgery, and Dr. David Kinsler and Dr. John R. Wood of Vistar Eye Center. In addition to Dr. Mark Robinson, Dr. Jon Brisley (also of Vistar) is involved in follow-up care.

Based on the success of this year’s program everyone involved is hopeful  it can be  implemented again next year and reach even more people. This is an exciting prospect for Vistar and the volunteer doctors and staff, but especially for the patients who stand to benefit so greatly from their expertise and generosity.