Retina Specialist

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Caridad Center, Florida’s largest free clinic, has put out an urgent plea for ophthalmologists specializing in retina care. Without immediate care, some of the over 1,000 eye patients face blindness. While Caridad, located in Boynton Beach, has other vision experts, a retinologist is needed for patients with diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration who face blindness without vision-saving injections. A retinologist who provided this care recently left and now, patients have no place else to go because they are low income and without insurance.

Caridad depends fully on volunteer medical staff to treat the over 4,500 poor, uninsured, and underserved individuals and families who depend on the center for medical, dental and eye care annually. Now, due to Covid-19, the Center is facing a challenge as the number of available volunteers is still limited. The need for the retinologist is the most pressing.

Jezabel Maisonet, Clinical Director, said the sight-saving injections that these patients require cost $2,400 to $3,000 per dose. She said Caridad has funds that pay for the medication, but no professional to administer them. "For eight years, these patients have had access to a retina specialist here, but we are now without one and they face blindness. They have nowhere else to go."

Dr. Steven Koenig, a retired ophthalmologist who volunteers at Caridad, explained that the retina specialist is needed to volunteer one day per week at Caridad to serve those patients requiring the specialized eye care. " I can’t stress enough how urgent this need for a retina specialist is."

All interested physicians, retired or active, are asked to contact Rosa Lores, Director of Volunteer and Eligibility Services at rlores@caridad.org or 561-853-1621.