Celebrating 40 years of expanding vision

03/10/23

Staff at the Lions Eye Institute are seeing a clear future ahead after celebrating the organisation’s 40th birthday recently.

Its CEO, Dr Glen Power, said the Perth-based institute was proud of its record of medical research and the care and dedication of its staff.

“We’re so lucky we have committed and loyal staff, many of whom have been with us for decades and are part of the story of the success of the Lions Eye Institute,” he said. 

“Nice buildings are lovely, but it’s really our staff who are most important, they demonstrate a model of care for our patients that is kind and supportive and clinically aware.

“We deal with people with deteriorating vision, and our staff are just fantastic in regard to models of care.”

Since its establishment in 1983, Lions Eye Institute has become recognised as a global centre for quality eye care and scientific research, with around 60,000 patient visits each year.

“We’ve expanded to outlying areas, east and south of Perth, so we are looking at a broader footprint,” Dr Power said.

“There’s a very modest coverage of ophthalmology services in the rural and remote areas here in Western Australia, so we established the Lions Outback Vision visiting service, which tours the regions, including the Goldfields.

“And in October last year we opened a hub in the Kimberley, in Broome, which is fantastic in its scale and vision. 

“We also work to some degree in the Pilbara, and we are looking to expand our reach there more dramatically.”

Lions Eye Institute has clinics in Nedlands, Murdoch, Midland and Broome, and treats a full spectrum of eye conditions. 

The day surgery centre in Nedlands offers vitrectomy, cataract micro-surgery and lens implantation, plastic surgery of the eyelids, ptosis repair, pterygia surgery, conjunctival grafts, and corneal grafts.

“It’s critically important to be aware of your eye health,” Dr Power said. 

“Primary care comes from your optometrist, or sometimes your GP, but most of our referrals come from optometrists.

“It’s so important to have proper diagnosis of conditions that affect your sight – things like cataracts, glaucoma and retinopathy, it’s important to keep track of progression of eye conditions, particularly for people who are diabetic.”

Dr Power said the institute had plans to expand soon.

“We have strategic plans to redevelop our facilities, and are looking initially at perioperative expansion of our facility.

“We’re looking to where else we might be able to go to service patients,” he said.

“We’re proud of our record of medical research – we helped develop the first glaucoma stent device, and we were part of the first artificial cornea to get approval. And we aim to continue that vital research work in the future.”