Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Clinic

Rotary Eye Care Center in the Karol Bagh District of New Delhi focusing on surgeries for preventable blindness, with local support from Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital and financial and technical support from the International Eye Foundation. The project will initially benefit approximately 2,000 in the first year, with a goal of 11,000 Karol Bagh patients over a 5-year period. 80% of these patients will receive outpatient (OPD) screening, cataract surgeries, and follow-up care. The Karol Bagh Eye Care Center will also offer optometry and eye glasses services. Longer term, the Center aims to evolve into a tertiary eye care center, adding sub-specialty services such as glaucoma, retina, and pediatric eye care. Patients may also be referred to the main hospital (Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital) for specialist treatment. The Center will target a balance of 35% of patients in the more expensive private clinic and 65% in the free or subsidized clinic. In addition to patients who seek care on their own (walk-ins or referrals), the Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan will partner with local NGOs and existing long-term community service project participants to organize educational outreach programs aimed at increasing awareness of eye problems, especially diabetic retinopathy, and the availability of free or subsidized treatment at the Center. The Club will work with neighborhood leaders in the Karol Bagh district to target locations in underserved communities in the district to actively recruit patients for screening, especially those who may need cataract surgery (in so-called 'cataract camps'). Karol Bagh Rotary Eye Care Center and Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital specialists will assist in screenings on specific days (monthly) to select surgical cases and provide transport back to the hospital for surgery. The project is co-funded as a partnership between the Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan and its partners and the International Eye Foundation (IEF). It is jointly conceived, designed, and implemented for the purpose of expanding both Rotary and IEF strategic goals for promoting sustainable eye care services. The Rotary Eye Care Center at Karol Bagh will be an extension eye care and surgical center focusing on diagnostics and cataract surgeries, with specialist tertiary services available at Dr. Shroff's Charity Hospital main hospital at Darya Ganj. The cross-subsidies model allows for free services for the poorest patients and subsidized services for patients who can pay a little. Dr.Shroff's Charity Hospital mandate is to provide 50% free or subsidized care. Up to 70% of patients at the Rotary Eye Care Center in Karol Bagh will receive free or subsidized care, including surgeries and specialist treatment. Rotarian involvement in the project will empower community leaders to cooperate in neighborhood outreach and recruitment mass mobilization of potential patients (such as eye camps for cataract surgery screenings). The socio-economic profile of the patient population to be served at the urban Karol Bagh Eye Care Center is a diverse mix of people from the very wealthy to the poorest of the poor. This mix profiles a basis for the IAPB/IEF social enterprise model, with revenue generation from wealthy and middle-class patients supporting cross subsidies for services for the poor. The new Rotary Karol Bagh Eye Care Center is envisioned as an alternative high quality service that cares for all patient populations using a sliding scale fee structure that offers patients a choice of services based on ability to pay. Wealthy patients receive services in a private setting while middle, lower middle and poor patients are served in a subsidized clinic. The poorest patients are served free through cross subsidization and charitable organization support. The business model proposed for the Rotary Eye Center will guarantee a double bottom line – equitable services and financial sustainability.IEF & Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital will take responsibility for training staff in clinical and management protocols for the new Rotary Karol Bagh Eye Center. Training will be organized in phases. Clinical staff will receive training at both the Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital and the Rotary Eye Hospital at Palampur, Himanchal. Staff will spend 6-14 days to update their skills based on their role and function at the hospital. The training of the ophthalmologists and surgical nurses in high volume cataract surgery, training the nurses and technicians using protocols, and the training of a counselor will receive special attention. The manager/administrator will also receive personal training in management systems and the Management Information System that will be installed. IEF will organize additional training for all staff of the new Rotary Karol Bagh Eye Care Center in a one week orientation workshop to familiarize them with sustainability strategies for increasing efficiency and patient volume, and improving quality of services and clinical care. The outcome of this training is improved teamwork, strategies, and work plans that are critical to the initiation of the new services. Periodic continuing education will be conducted at the Center during visits by IEF to ensure staff are performing as planned and to conduct problem solving and quality improvement as needed. IEF and And Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital will have primary responsibility for this intervention. Outreach and 'eye camps': The Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan and its NGO partners will support and facilitate outreach to surrounding communities. Dr. Shroff's Eye Hospital and IEF will train the outreach teams of hospital staff and Rotarian volunteers to conduct an outreach campaign or mass 'eye camp' drive at least twice a month. The purpose of the outreach is to establish specific locations in underserved parts of the Karol Bagh District, with community involvement from local leaders, especially Rotarians. Outreach teams will actively recruit patients for diagnostic screening, especially those who may need cataract surgery. Medical teams will conduct the screening of patients on specifics day to select operable patients and provide transport back to the hospital for surgery. Community outreach will also target neighborhood leaders who may be interested in participating directly in charitable eye care by receiving formal training as paramedical, such as Dr. Shroff's training for Vision Technicians or Ophthalmic Assistants. The Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan and its Rotary partners will have primary responsibility for this intervention. At the community level, mobilization and education programs through direct participation by Rotary Club volunteers in distributing IEF materials adapted for local neighborhoods and Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital publications, assisting in eye camps, sponsoring media spots, and fundraising will all enhance the effectiveness of community mobilization, and increased awareness of eye care and treatment options. Eye camps will be held primarily for the purpose of identifying candidates for eye surgery (primarily cataracts) and more intensive training in eye health care for families and friends of the patients. The program will also provide a venue for medical and paramedical personnel to improve diagnostic and surgical skills, and for health management specialists to participate in charitable medical activities. It has a Total budget of $183,055.00.