Updates from the Division of Ophthalmology

A Message from Division Chief Monte D. Mills, MD

Published on

A Child's Sight

Monte Mills After 16 years at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Division of Ophthalmology, I’ve become used to the constant changes as our clinical practice, research and training programs have grown and developed, but the past year has been exceptional. We’ve started a completely new practice site at the Brandywine Valley Specialty Care and Surgery Center in Glen Mills, PA, moved into a spectacular new clinic and surgical center in King of Prussia, PA, and expanded our clinics at the Wood Center in Philadelphia. We’ve also completed planning for our move into the incredible new Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care located on the Raymond G. Perelman Campus, which will more than double our space on the Philadelphia campus when we move in 2018.

Driving this expansion has been the growth in our clinical practice and research programs, including our new Pediatric Neuro-ophthalmologist Rob Avery, Pediatric Ophthalmologist Priyanka Kumar and Orthoptist Salvatore Bellante. With the help of our dedicated administrative and support staff, our clinical team has taken care of more than 27,000 patient visits in the past year, with almost 3,000 surgical procedures provided.

Support for our research and academic programs has expanded at a similar pace this year; generous benefactors have created two new endowed chairs to support these programs. Grant Liu has been named to the Raymond Perelman Chair for Pediatric Neuro-ophthalmology, and Gil Binenbaum to the Richard Shafritz Chair for Pediatric Ophthalmology Research, allowing us to continue our endeavors in pursuit of knowledge and innovation in our field.

Ultimately, it isn’t about the buildings or equipment, or even the generous support of research we’ve developed that will be our most significant achievement. Rather, the capacity to make our young patients better: See better, feel better and function better. Touching the lives of patients and families through our care, clinical training and research is what makes CHOP such an exciting place to be.

Thank you for your support and referrals. We look forward to ongoing communication and collaboration as we work toward our commitment to providing the best care and visual outcomes for our patients.

In this issue of A Child's Sight: