Middletown free eye clinic expands hours after ‘unprecedented demand’

The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation’s free Middletown vision clinic for underserved adults is expanding its staff and hours.

Credit: Ralph Barrera

Credit: Ralph Barrera

The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation’s free Middletown vision clinic for underserved adults is expanding its staff and hours.

The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation’s free Middletown vision clinic for underserved adults is expanding its staff and hours.

The moves come after unprecedented demand for services at the clinic, which opened in April, acoording to Patrick Ward, president and CEO of The CEI Foundation.

FIRST REPORT: Middletown's only free vision clinic for adults now open

Clinic staff provide eye exams, prescribe prescription glasses and diagnose potentially vision-limiting diseases. It’s the only free vision clinic for adults in Middletown.

“We’ve seen an exceptionally high demand for prescription glasses among patients coming into the Middletown clinic,” said Amy Jones, The CEI Foundation vice president. “Since our doors opened, we’ve seen 29 patients, and 26 of them needed eye glasses, which we found rather surprising. Eleven diabetic patients were also tested for eye diseases caused by their illnesses.”

Patients seeking care at The CEI Foundation’s four free vision clinics in greater Cincinnati live at or below 200 percent of the poverty line and have no public or private eye insurance.

The Middletown vision clinic operates in the Supports to Encourage Low-Income Families (SELF) agency at 930 9th Ave. with the support of Atrium Medical Center; the AK Steel Foundation; the Middletown Community Foundation; an anonymous foundation; Primary Health Solutions; Haag-Streit Holdings U.S. Inc. and Reliance Medical Products Inc.; and the Oswald Company.

The CEI Foundation’s Middletown vision clinic is open the third Monday of each month. Appointments can be made by calling 513-207-6140.

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