Construction will begin this spring on a $1.2 million Center for Visual Rehabilitation on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus. The center, which was approved earlier this month by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, will be the only non-profit provider of comprehensive visual rehabilitation services for children and adults in the region.
The center will be named the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation, thanks to a lead gift from Harry W. and Mary E. Weigel of Auburn, Calif., and Robert D. and Alice V. Williamson of Omaha. Harry Weigel (pronounced WHY-gull) is a 1958 UNMC College of Medicine graduate.
The new building will replace the existing Low Vision Clinic, which was established in 1983 and provides annual services to 240 new clients. These services currently are provided in inadequate space shared with other ophthalmology department services in a building at 40th Street and Dewey Avenue. It also is expected to replace the need for many community eye care professionals to provide low vision services in their private offices. The new building would be built directly south of the Ronald McDonald House on the southwest corner of 38th Avenue and Jones Street.
“We are grateful to the private donors who recognized the growing need for comprehensive visual rehabilitation services, especially considering the region’s aging population,” said Gerald Christensen, M.D., adjunct professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and interim director of the Low Vision House. “This community-based center will help people with impaired vision have more independence in their lives.”
Carl Camras, M.D., professor and chairman of ophthalmology and visual sciences, agreed. “The Low Vision House will provide a much-needed resource for the exponentially growing number of Nebraskans who are visually impaired. It will be the only Center for Visual Rehabilitation within a several state area.”
When a patient’s vision can no longer be helped with glasses, contact lenses, medications, laser or surgery, their ophthalmologist can still offer hope, Dr. Camras said, by referring the patient for low vision rehabilitation services. “These services represent valuable aids for Nebraskans who are losing their independence and quality of life as the result of profound visual loss,” he said.
The 4,540 gross square foot, single story building with residential characteristics will model the renowned Deicke Center for Visual Rehabilitation in Wheaton, Ill. That center annually helps more than 1,300 children and adults maximize use of their remaining sight and learn to cope with the challenges of living with vision loss.
The building at UNMC would include low vision adapted rooms including a kitchen, bath, living room and office to help clients and families learn how to modify their own home and work environments to meet low vision needs. Modifications may range from learning to use various high-tech devices to learning how to paint interiors in contrasting colors to aid sight recognition.
The state-of-the-art center also would include offices and support facilities for staff, exam rooms, interview/counseling and testing/training rooms, a room equipped with assistive technology, a low vision store where low vision devices will be available for clients to borrow before purchase, a conference room and a classroom.
Dr. Christensen said optometrists, ophthalmologists, occupational therapists and nurses would be members of the team of providers for low vision services at the house.
Nearly 14 million Americans — about one out of every 20 people — have impaired vision. According to Lighthouse, Inc., New York, the older visually impaired population is the third fastest growing group of people needing rehabilitation services in the United States, outpaced only by arthritis and heart disease. The most common conditions causing visual impairment are macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, stroke and a variety of hereditary diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.
“We’re pretty confident this will be a magnet for people with low vision problems,” Dr. Christensen said.
Groundbreaking will be in April. Completion of the project is expected this fall.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology, ophthalmology and arthritis. UNMC’s research funding from external sources is now nearly $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes more than 460 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties. They practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC’s teaching hospital. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.