CAY HILL–St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) will be introducing ophthalmology (eye care), as a new service for the public with the official opening of its Eye Care Clinic as of September 3.
SMMC said in a press release on Tuesday that “an impressive team” of eight qualified eye specialists have been recruited from Suriname and the Netherlands and are scheduled to deliver the complete eye care package to patients in St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.
To establish the in-house Eye Care Clinic, SMMC purchased brand-new state-of-the-art eye care equipment which was installed in the designated eye care facility at the SMMC Care Complex.
“Ophthalmologist Dr. Jerrel Pawiroredjo and his team are ready to start and look forward to elevating the Eye Care Clinic at SMMC,” the press release stated.
“Our group consists of eight ophthalmologists with an average experience of 10 years (range 2-25 years). The strength of this group is that we all have one or more additional in-depth sub-specialisations in, amongst others, cataract, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, paediatric eye care, eyelid and lacrimal surgery (and) corneal disease,” Pawiroredjo said.
“Furthermore, in the past few months, SMMC nurses and technical ophthalmic assistants have been trained in the Suriname Eye Center. This means that a wide spectrum of eye diseases will be diagnosed and treated in the SMMC Eye Care Clinic according to latest standards and developments in eye care.”
Population surveys conducted in the Caribbean have shown that the most common causes of visual disability and blindness are refractive errors (people who only need spectacles), cataract, glaucoma (significant because of irreversible damage), diabetic eye disease, trauma and corneal scars.
“Part of our responsibility is to educate the community in these common diseases and in the prevention of blindness. We will also partner and consult with all general practitioners and internal medicine specialists to establish an efficient referral and feedback procedure,” Pawiroredjo said.
“We expect the situation in St. Maarten to be no different from the rest of the Caribbean and our team is very enthusiastic and prepared to give the best possible eye care to the community of St. Maarten. We are ready to start.”
This will be the first time SMMC will be able to provide such treatment options within its roster of care. “These new advancements in the Eye Care Clinic further underline the continued progression of SMMC’s commitment to growth as it prepares for the new hospital,” it was stated in the release.
The Eye Care Clinic is located in SMMC’s Care Complex. Patients who wish to see the new eye specialists can make an appointment at the Outpatient Department by calling tel. 543-1111 ext. 1300/1310/1334/1345. Appointments can be made Mondays to Fridays between 8:00am and 4:30pm.
Social and Health Insurances SZV patients are requested to obtain a referral letter from their family doctor before visiting the eye specialists.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80046-smmc-eye-care-clinic-starts-on-september-3
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