Free Glasses and Eye Surgery Offered to Uninsured Workers

Members of the California Optometric Assn. are urging the uninsured working poor to take advantage of a statewide program this month that offers them free eye examinations, glasses and surgical care.

Applications for the California Vision Project are being accepted through the end of November, and eye exams will continue through December, said Robert Gordon, president of the association.

About 2,000 optometrists, in cooperation with the Salvation Army, are participating in the project, donating their time to examine patients who are working but not insured, Gordon said.

“The goal of the project is to examine 10,000 to 15,000 uninsured working poor and their families and to provide them with eye exams and glasses, if needed,” he said.

According to a report published in 1986, there were 2.5 million uninsured working poor people in California, Gordon said.

“We decided we wanted to put on a charitable program,” he said. “People who are unemployed get medical care from welfare. People over 65 get medical care also. Somebody needed to show the Legislature that there was a need to help the uninsured working poor.”

Gordon predicted that the eye examinations will also detect a number of diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, that affect the entire body.

If the project is successful, the optometrists plan to repeat it every year, said Dr. Lynn Caffrey Gabriel, president-elect of the association.

“We just wanted to give something to (the poor),” she said. “So many of them just make enough money to provide for food and rent but can’t afford medical care.”

Planning for the California Vision Project began in September, 1988, Gordon said. The California Lions Clubs of Lions International will absorb the cost of treating patients who require more than basic eye examinations. The Optical Manufacturers Assn. and the Optical Laboratory Assn. will donate frames and lenses.

San Gabriel Valley residents who need eye care can apply at Salvation Army offices in Pasadena, (818) 795-8639; Covina, (818) 331-4871, and Pomona, (714) 623-1579.

The Salvation Army will forward the applications to the Optometric Assn., which will assign patients to the nearest available doctor.