Contact: Jessica Berry 720-848-5878; [email protected]
AURORA, Colo. — After an extensive expansion and remodeling project, the UCHealth Eye Center has now reopened and is one of the largest eye centers in the nation. Located on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the academic-based eye center offers highly specialized care for patients and nationally renowned research.
The 67 full-time faculty members who practice at the UCHealth Eye Center already treat over 100,000 patients a year, and after an expansion project that almost tripled its size, the 135,000 square foot Eye Center now has room to care for far more patients.
“Over the past several years, the demand for our eye specialists has grown so rapidly that, even after extending our clinic hours, we were still barely able to care for all the patients who requested appointments,” said Naresh Mandava, MD, Executive Director of the UCHealth Eye Center, Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Chair in Retinal Diseases. “Now the UCHealth Eye Center will be a resource for the entire Rocky Mountain region, serving patients with the most complex, sight-threatening conditions as well as those who need less complex care.”
The physicians at the UCHealth Eye Center, all faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, are at the forefront of discovering and researching the most advanced treatments for eye diseases and have received numerous patents for their ground breaking work. This innovation is critically important as the numbers of people affected by diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration are rapidly increasing.
“We are very proud of the translational research that has developed from within our department and are excited to see that research come to fruition with new vision-saving and restorative treatments not only for our own patients but for patients throughout the world,” said Dr. Richard Davidson, Vice Chair for Quality and Clinical Affairs for the UCHealth Eye Center.
The UCHealth Eye Center is home to three dedicated operating rooms, an eyeglass retail shop, a full-service ocular diagnostics and imaging center as well as a complete suite for LASIK and other vision-correction procedures.
At the center of the project is a research area and state-of-the-art laboratories that will build on the recent discoveries by the ophthalmologists and scientists in the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The CU Department of Ophthalmology was the first to research stimulation of the retina with photovoltaic nanoparticles, which have the potential to restore sight to patients with blinding retinal diseases. The UCHealth Eye Center was the first academic medical center in the United States to commercially perform femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.
The Eye Center has four, satellite patient-care centers located in Boulder, Cherry Creek, Downtown Denver, and Park Meadows. Additionally, the Eye Center’s physicians have been ranked among 5280 Magazine’s Top Doctors.
About University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the Rocky Mountain region’s leading academic medical center. UCH is best known as an innovator in patient care and often as one of the first hospitals to bring new medicine to the patients’ bedside. University HealthSystem Consortium named UCH the #1 Academic Medical Center in quality in the nation in both 2011 and 2012, and U.S. News & World Report named University of Colorado Hospital the best hospital in Colorado in 2012 and 2013. UCH is one of five Colorado hospitals that make up University of Colorado Health. The hospital’s physicians are affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, part of the University of Colorado system. Based on the expansive Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, CO, the hospital is where patient care, research and education converge to establish the future of health care delivery.