Warfighter Eye Surgery Center opens for business

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  A new capability at the JBER Medical clinic will help many Arctic Warriors see things in a much clearer focus.

The Ophthalmology Clinic held the grand opening Sept. 29, for its Warfighter Eye Surgery Center. Medical personnel at center will specialize in performing refractive eye surgeries on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson patients.

Patients who needed those procedures in the past had to be sent to another medical facility, said Lt. Col. Patrick Kelley, element leader of the ophthalmology department.
"It is a really great opportunity to be able to offer this service to our patients," he said. "It expands our practice and allows us to do things we are trained to do."

Refractive surgery is used to correct common eye disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Refractive surgery is designed to alter the shape of the cornea in order to improve the patient's vision.

Lasik and PRK are common types of refractive eye surgeries. While the procedures are new to JBER, Kelley has extensive experience in performing them from previous assignments. He said that there have been numerous advancements in the procedures in recent years.

In the past one of the major complaints about the procedures were that they caused errors in vision like glare and halos around objects. New advances in the field minimize these side effects.

"We have new technology now that will allow us to correct for those problems," he said. "It's mainly software upgrades and formulas that predict what the treatment should be and are great at correcting higher order aberrations."

Kelley said the actual treatment of the eye by the laser is done in seconds.

"We spend the majority of the time during the procedure ensuring that we are doing the proper procedure in the correct eye," he said. "The laser is faster and more efficient. The cornea is not exposed as much and the treatment by the laser is much more focused."
For now, the procedures are only available to military patients. One of the first patients was Tech. Sgt. Richard Gagnon from the 703rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

The sergeant said he has wanted the procedure done on his eyes from the first moment he heard about it and he added that he is thankful to not have to travel to get it.

"It is definitely easier to have the procedure done here instead of having to travel somewhere else to get it done," he said. "I would have had to spend two weeks away from home recovering instead of being able to use the support system of my family here."

Gagnon said the procedure will have a dramatic effect on his quality of life.

"The biggest problem for me was wearing glasses, they were very annoying to me," he said "It will also be nice to not have to wear the inserts for the gas mask."

Kelley said that extensive work is done in researching patients, and some people are not good candidates for the procedure. He warned that even patients with a low risk of adverse reaction may have complications after the procedure.

"As with any surgical there is risk," he said. "The crew we have here does a great job in working up the patients."

For more information about the procedure call the Ophthalmology Clinic at 580-1150 and select option two.