HEART OF LIONS
Dr. Gail Tanner, left, and Valerie Burningham check out new ophthalmological equipment Wednesday at Windsor Regional Hospital after a $100,000 grant from the Downtown Windsor Lions Club, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Windsor Regional Hospital is getting new equipment to assist with “better, quicker care” when it comes to eye health, thanks to a grant from the Windsor Downtown Lions Club.
Marking 100 years of service, the Windsor Downtown Lions Club presented a $100,000 donation made in conjunction with the District A1 Lions Sight Conservation Foundation also known as Eyes Right, will go toward new ophthalmological equipment for the emergency departments at both the Met and Ouellette campuses.
“We can reassure people quicker and we can get them the help that they need,” Dr. Jody Stasko, medical director of emergency services at Ouellette campus said Wednesday. “They can see an ophthalmologist or an optometrist that much quicker because we have functioning, really high end, wonderful equipment now — so it’s huge.”
The Windsor Downtown Lion’s Club raised $50,000 through local fundraising events and Eyes Right matched their efforts. The organization receives annual donations from Lions, Lioness, and LEO clubs in several Southwestern Ontario counties to go toward eye treatment in hospitals.
“We donated equipment to the hospital in the past and every time we do it feels fantastic,” said Windsor Downtown Lions Club president Sean Hunt.
“We’re never really going to know how many lives it touched and how many people it helped,” Hunt said. “But we can think and sleep at night and say ‘we did some good things for some people.”
The new eye care equipment includes two slit lamps, which allow for a look inside the different chambers of the eye, two tonopens that are used to measure pressure inside the eye, and 30 ophthalmoscopes used to test eye health during an exam.
“A lot of times when you buy equipment for a hospital it’s used in very small, specialized areas,” said optometrist and Eyes Right chair Dr. Gail Tanner. “But with this anybody that comes into either hospital with something wrong with their eye — this equipment they are going to be using to assess those patients. So it’s really a ground level impact.”
Stasko called the upgrade the “Rolls-royce” of eye equipment. While both hospital campuses do have slit lamps they aren’t in the best condition. She said the new machines would allow physicians to make an easier diagnosis.
“It’s better, quicker, care. Way more efficient,” said Stasko. “People feel so vulnerable and helpless when they can’t see properly and they’re worried about loosing their vision. This means that we can quickly see them, quickly assess their eye.”
The upgraded tools can be used to various emergency room situations, from serious eye injuries to general exams.