2022 Catatract-A-Thon
On June 4th, 2022, physicians at the Hamilton Eye Institute and associates from Hamilton Eye Institute Surgery Center donated their time in the fifth-annual Ivan Marais Cataract-A-Thon to restore sight to approximately two dozen individuals.
The all-day outreach offers free cataract surgeries to individuals who otherwise could not afford the procedure. Since the first Cataract-A-Thon in 2017, more than 130 individuals have had their sight restored during the event held annually.
Support for the event comes from the Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing Service, Alcon, Methodist Healthcare-Solus Management Services, UTHSC Anesthesia, LifeLinc Anesthesia, Dutch Ophthalmic, Medline, Duncan Eye, and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
The Lions Club assists in identifying individuals from Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri in need of cataract surgery. Those receiving the surgery were examined at an earlier date before being scheduled for the Cataract-A-Thon.
The Cataract-a-Thon honors ophthalmologist and cataract surgery innovator Ivan Marais, MD, who died in 2017. Dr. Marais was a longtime ophthalmology instructor at Hamilton Eye Institute.