Archive: Around Town

The Ithaca Lions Club and Ithaca Free Clinic have formed a partnership to establish and operate an optometry and optician program to be housed at the Ithaca Free Clinic located at 521 W. Seneca St. in Ithaca. The Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic will offer free eye care services to Ithaca and the greater Ithaca community. The clinic will operate one day each month, providing free eye care services to uninsured and underinsured community members. The Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic will open on Wednesday, April 17, 2019.

Since 2006, the Ithaca Free Clinic has delivered free health care services to our community through 100% volunteer providers. In keeping with this volunteer-driven model, licensed optometrists and opticians in our community will perform free eye care services in the Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic. Members of the Ithaca Lions Club will volunteer to support the eye clinic throughout the month, provide management support of the eye clinic, and provide capital to operate the service. This ongoing Lions Club service project is a benefit to the Ithaca community because it provides free eye exams and eye glasses to uninsured and underinsured individuals in need of affordable and quality eye care.

Ithaca Free Clinic Executive Director, Norbert McCloskey says, "The Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic is a tremendous boon to our community. Eye care is an essential component to a healthy life, and this type of free service doesn't exist anywhere in the region."

Dr. Ted Bryant, local optometrist and eye clinic program chair of the Ithaca Lions Club, says, "The Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic opens on Wednesday, April 17, and the Ithaca Free Clinic is accepting appointments today. Our partnership with the Ithaca Free Clinic has been two years in the making. We are excited to bring this service to Ithaca."

"I'm enthusiastic about our partnership with the Ithaca Lions Club," adds McCloskey. "Their mission for diabetes awareness and eye care services are aligned with the Ithaca Free Clinic, and we could not have developed this program without them. They brought the expertise, and we are excited to see this service thrive in our community. This program sets the stage to widen our impact in our community, together."

For uninsured and underinsured community members interested in scheduling a free eye care appointment, please call the Ithaca Free Clinic at 607-330-1254 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Eye exams require an appointment, and exams will be scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Being a resident of Tompkins County is not required to use the free eye care services offered by the Ithaca Lions Eye Clinic or any of the other free health care services offered by Ithaca Free Clinic.

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