Causes: Disabilities, Eye Diseases, Blindness & Vision Impairments Research, Health

Mission: The cincinnati eye institute foundation's (ceif) mission is to preserve and improve sight. Ceif provides access to eye care services for the most vulnerable and the underserved the region. It also advances the education of eye care professionals, it educates the public about vision-related issues, and it funds eye-related research. Ceif has found that the most effective and efficient way to achieve its mission and goals is through the sharing of resources, the exchange of information, and the forging of collaborative partnerships with other community groups, agencies and like-minded individuals. Ceif has come to realize that it takes a community-wide effort to ensure that all individuals living in greater cincinnati have access to the eye care they need.

Programs: The roselawn eye clinic is a free eye clinic serving the uninsured adult population of greater cincinnati/tri-state community. The household income of patients seen at roselawn must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. The clinic provides patients with comprehensive, dilated eye exams, tests for eye disease, assistance with pharmaceutical indigent care applications for free or reduced price medications and vouchers for free prescription eye glasses including lenses and frames. For 2014, the clinic cared for 972 patients, providing 730 vouchers for free eye glasses and assisted 10 individuals obtain free eye medications for their eye conditions. 68 of the 972 patients seen in the clinic were diagnosis with pathology requiring surgery, additional testing or follow-up care. Referrals were made to the university of cincinnati for specialty care. Since opening in 2008, roselawn clinic has seen 4,599 patients. It is the only adult fee care eye clinic in the region.

the kerstine vision outreach program provides free preventive eye screenings and lectures on maintaining eye health and eye disease throughout the greater cincinnati community. The vision outreach program targets all adults aged 60+ and adult african americans and latinos because of their higher prevalence rates of eye disease due to diabetes and other diseases. The program works directly with local nonprofit agencies, community centers, senior center, churches, and retirement communities to provide onsite screening and lectures on preventing and treating eye disease. Follow-up services are provided to participants needing additional testing or care, including assistance in obtaining medical appointments with local eye care providers, or through charitable agencies including the cei foundation's roselawn eye clinic. For 2014, the kerstine vision outreach program screened approximately 2,392 individuals through 48 screening programs. The program also provided 40 community lectures on eye health with 1,725 participants.

the cincinnati eye institute foundation (ceif) continues to support the education of eye care professionals in the region through continuing education programs for doctors of optometry, through promotion of professional certification of ophthalmology technicians, and ceif's continued support of medical residents in the department of ophthalmology at the university of cincinnati's college of medicine. Ceif has helped increase the number of ophthalmology residents from 9 to 12. The hope is that once their residency is complete, these residents will remain in the cincinnati area to practice. In 2013, ceif joined with the onesight foundation, the cincinnati public school system, the cincinnati health department and the ohio optometric association to establish the onesight eye clinic at oyler school in the lower price hill area of cincinnati. The cei foundation provided the design and business model for the clinic which became the country's first, financially self-sustaining eye clinic within a school based health center. For the 2013-2014 school year, the clinic screened and provided glasses and follow-up care to over 2,800 of the over 32,500 students within the cincinnati public school system. The ceif continues to provide operational support for transportation to make these services available to the entire cincinnati public school system.

in addition to the support of the ophthalmology residency program at the university of cincinnati, ceif promotes the quality of eye care in our community be conducting 4-5 continuing education programs for doctors of optometry that average 90 o. D. S per session.