Community Spotlight Community Spotlight: Center For Sight Accepting Applications for Free Mission Cataract Surgeries

SARASOTA — Center For Sight, one of the leading eye care practices in the United States, is now accepting applications for free cataract surgeries through the Mission Cataract 2015 program. Patients are encouraged to call 941.480.2143 or visit www.CFSfoundation.org for more information and to download an application. Deadline for submission is Friday, May 1, 2015.

This is the 20th consecutive year in which Center For Sight has provided free cataract surgeries through Mission Cataract. More than 100 eye vision-restoring surgeries are expected this year. The surgery dates for Mission Cataract 2015 are planned for July 8 and 15 at the practice’s state-of-the-art AAAHC-accredited surgery facility in Sarasota. To qualify for participation in Mission Cataract, patients:

• Must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien (green card)
• Cannot have insurance or be enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid
• Must be living at or below the poverty guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

According to the official Mission Cataract USA website, Center For Sight is the only ophthalmology practice in the state of Florida to participate in Mission Cataract. In Mission Cataract 2014, Center For Sight performed more than 120 free vision-restoring surgeries at a value of nearly a half a million dollars. Under the direction of David W. Shoemaker, M.D., Center For Sight’s nationally acclaimed ophthalmologic surgeons – William J. Lahners, M.D., Joshua W. Kim, M.D., and William L. Soscia, M.D. – along with a full team of optometric physicians, nurse-anesthetists, medical technicians, nurses and administrative staff donated their time and experience to the cause.

“Mission Cataract is a special time when everyone at Center For Sight has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people within our community,” said Dr. David Shoemaker, Founder and Director of Cataract and Lens Replacement Surgery at Center For Sight. “For many, we’re helping restore lives, to where they can return to work, see the faces of loved ones, and do all the things they enjoy once again.“

To ensure the ongoing funding for their commitment to the annual Mission Cataract program, Center For Sight formed the Center For Sight Foundation in 2012. A donor-advised fund of Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the Center For Sight Foundation gives 100% of the donations it receives to support Mission Cataract and partners with non-profit Virginia B. Andes Volunteer Community Clinic for the purchase of pre-operative, surgical and post-operative medications and supplies, including the artificial lenses that are implanted into patients’ damaged eyes.

About Center For Sight

With seven locations throughout Southwest Florida, Center For Sight is one of the nation’s leading multi-disciplinary physician groups providing patients worldwide with advanced medical and surgical vision care. Under the clinical direction of David W. Shoemaker, M.D., and William J. Lahners, M.D., F.A.C.S., Center For Sight serves Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties. For more information, visit CenterForSight.net

About Center For Sight Foundation

Center For Sight Foundation is a donor-advised fund that is maintained and operated by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, a section 501(c)(3) organization. The fund is composed of contributions made by individual donors. David W. Shoemaker, M.D. established Center For Sight Foundation as a mechanism to reach more people and transform more lives. The primary initiative supported by the Foundation is Mission Cataract, which identifies and restores vision at no cost for people who are living at or below the poverty level and are suffering vision loss due to cataracts. For more information, visit CFSFoundation.org.

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