News and Events
Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation donates $100,000 to Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation’s Statewide Tele-Optometry Program
Transforming Comprehensive Vision Care in Georgia
Atlanta, GA (February 2024) – Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation donates $100,000 to Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation’s statewide Tele-Optometry vision program to serve uninsured and underinsured Georgians.
Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc launched the first-ever, nonprofit, statewide tele-optometry vision exam pilot in April 2022. This pilot was focused on one goal – serving patients who need us most where they live. As of today, the program has executed 202 tele-optometry clinics, working with more than 32 statewide partners serving 2,183 patients in 30 counties.
According to Larry Wynn, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation, “Meeting Georgians where they live and providing vital health services to those in need resonates with our mission. We anticipated a strong return in the quality of life for Georgians who receive vision services through this innovative state-of-the-art program delivered.”
“There is a shortage of optometrists and ophthalmologists in Georgia” explains Beth Ehrhardt, executive director, of Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc., “Today, 52 counties in Georgia have little to no vision services.” By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation coordinates services in areas of the state with no access to vision services, in partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers and Public Health Departments throughout Georgia.
Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc. operates a full-service vision clinic in metro Atlanta (Chamblee). With strategic clinical partnerships, mobile clinic services, and their Vision Care for Children program, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation covers all of Georgia, providing the full continuum of vision care – from vision screenings to full eye exams; the fitting of low- cost prescription glasses (made in-house) to funding support for cataract, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy surgeries; and referrals to needed vision specialists.
Access & Affordability
• Average patient cost exam/glasses = $25/person vs $300/person for-profit
• 52 Georgia counties currently lack a vision care provider
• 30% of Georgia counties lack eye care services
• 1.4M Georgians were uninsured in 2019
If anyone reading this wishes to partner or donate to the tele-optometry fund you can do so by following the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.
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About Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.
As one of Georgia’s most comprehensive statewide non profit vision services provider organizations, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation is the trusted leader in providing improved sight to Georgians who need it most. Our mission is to provide vision with education, detection, prevention, and treatment. Through strategic partnerships and mobilizing healthcare professionals, research, and technology, we enable greater independence and increased quality of life for Georgians in financial need. Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation is one of the largest vision care providers for uninsured and underinsured residents in the state, managing 18,757 patients this past year at a full-service optical clinic, mobile clinics, Title 1 elementary school vision screenings, and state-of-the-art statewide tele-optometry program to address the unmet vision needs of Georgians. Consistently ranked among the top non-profit organizations in Georgia, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation has impacted the lives of Georgians for nearly over 75 years thanks to generous support from the community. LEARN more by visiting our 2023 IMPACT REPORT
