Eye care centralized at St. Joe's celebrated
The opening of Canada's largest eye-care centre will give patients in London and the region one-stop shopping, the head of the Ivey Eye Institute said Wednesday.
"Regardless of what's wrong with their eye or what type of physician they need to see . . . everything can be done at one place," said Dr. William Hodge.
The institute had been divided between the London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's.
On Wednesday, staff and volunteers celebrated the opening of the new centre at St. Joseph's hospital.
The Ivey Eye Institute now occupies close to 70,000 square feet on the first floor of St. Joseph's Hospital and serves about 300 patients a day. It has about 100 staff.
The centre is organized into pods of sub-specialties -- retina, pediatric, general/ocular plastics, cornea/anterior segment, optometry low vision, glaucoma and ophthalmic diagnostics.
Renovations to create the centre cost about $50 million. The Ontario government is picking up 90% of the bill.
More than $2 million for diagnostic and other equipment was donated by individuals and organizations across the region.
Hodge said there's a big advantage for patients.
"If you had trouble in the front of your eye and needed a diagnostic test in the back of your eye and then had to come back to the doctor for the front of your eye, in the past, you would start at St. Joe's, go get the tests at London Health Sciences Centre and then come back to St. Joe's," he said.
The consolidation of the Ivey Eye Institute at St. Joe's is part of the restructuring of health care in London, with LHSC handling acute care patients and St. Joe's concentrating on ambulatory care.
"Regardless of what's wrong with their eye or what type of physician they need to see . . . everything can be done at one place," said Dr. William Hodge.
The institute had been divided between the London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's.
On Wednesday, staff and volunteers celebrated the opening of the new centre at St. Joseph's hospital.
The Ivey Eye Institute now occupies close to 70,000 square feet on the first floor of St. Joseph's Hospital and serves about 300 patients a day. It has about 100 staff.
The centre is organized into pods of sub-specialties -- retina, pediatric, general/ocular plastics, cornea/anterior segment, optometry low vision, glaucoma and ophthalmic diagnostics.
Renovations to create the centre cost about $50 million. The Ontario government is picking up 90% of the bill.
More than $2 million for diagnostic and other equipment was donated by individuals and organizations across the region.
Hodge said there's a big advantage for patients.
"If you had trouble in the front of your eye and needed a diagnostic test in the back of your eye and then had to come back to the doctor for the front of your eye, in the past, you would start at St. Joe's, go get the tests at London Health Sciences Centre and then come back to St. Joe's," he said.
The consolidation of the Ivey Eye Institute at St. Joe's is part of the restructuring of health care in London, with LHSC handling acute care patients and St. Joe's concentrating on ambulatory care.