St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) is pleased to announce the Eye Care Clinic has started eye surgery procedures. This marks the first time in over 6 years that the hospital has performed such a procedure. The first surgeries in the brand new Eye Care Clinic were carried out on December 4th, 2019 by Ophthalmologist, Dr. Jerrel Pawiroredjo and his eye care team.
A total of four successful procedures were performed which included three cases of Cataract surgeries and one case of a minor eyelid surgery. Each surgery was performed in an outpatient setting within the Eye Care Clinic under topical anaesthesia. The newly installed - state of the art- eye care equipment allowed the team to perform each procedure efficiently and in a short amount of time.
According to Dr. Pawiroredjo: “Initiatives in health care, like this one, demonstrate the innovation and collaboration that continue to improve the health services offered to our patients. This is a terrific example of some more great work to offer better service to patients. We used a new topical anesthesia which is a new alternative to patients with any other medical issues”.
The Eye Care Clinic will now provide surgeries on a continuous basis to patients. Procedures performed include Pterygium, Pediatric procedures, Eye lid surgery, Auto- transplantation and Cataract. Cataract surgeries are noted as the most common condition in treated patients.
These new advancements in the Eye Care Clinic further underline SMMC’s commitment to expanding medical services on island, as it prepares for the new hospital and to deliver quality care, close to home.
The Eye Care Clinic is located in SMMC’s Care Complex. Patients who wish to see the new eye specialists can make an appointment at the Outpatient Department at Tel: 543-1111 ext. 1300 / 1310 / 1334 or 1345. Appointments can be made from Mondays-Fridays between 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. SZV patients are requested to obtain a referral letter from their family doctor before visiting the eye specialists.