The Lions Eye Institute is unique for several reasons:
• It provides acute eye care for residents in 25 counties in New York State, as well as Southern Vermont and Western Massachusetts—a population of nearly 3 million.
• It maintains state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment equipment and utilizes the most modern technology and clinical practices available today.
• It is the only program in the region that focuses its basic and clinical research on the causes and in the pursuit of new techniques to improve eye care.
• It educates and trains new ophthalmologists each year, and provides important continuing medical education for many community ophthalmologists in the region. It also trains medical students in the field of primary care, who are often the first to screen a patient for vision problems.
• Its regional, national and international reputation helps to attract ophthalmology specialists of distinction.