At the UPMC Vision Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh, we are advancing a coordinated set of initiatives designed to expand access to vision care, strengthen community partnerships and build the ophthalmic workforce. The work combines paid technician training, mobile and community-based services, retinal imaging in outpatient settings, permanent clinical capacity and education for community health workers.
A central component is a 13-month paid training program that prepares individuals with no prior ophthalmology experience to become ophthalmic technicians. The program has graduated four classes and 13 trainees, recently launched its fifth cohort and is now registered as a Pennsylvania apprenticeship program. As the initiative grows, trainees will increasingly support mobile clinics, Community Vision Days and a planned eye suite at the Alma Illery site in Pittsburgh.
Community access efforts extend across Pittsburgh and surrounding parts of western Pennsylvania. Mobile clinics, partner locations and Community Vision Days provide screening and care, with the most recent Community Vision Day serving more than 120 patients. Additional plans included an eyeglasses event in the Washington County area of southwestern Pennsylvania and participation in a health fair organized by Brothers Brother Foundation on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
The initiative also uses retinal imaging to bring diabetic eye screening closer to where patients routinely receive care. More than 40 retinal cameras are operating in community settings, particularly primary care and endocrinology practices serving patients with diabetes. Two recently placed cameras in Armstrong County in western Pennsylvania were already among the network’s most heavily used, and additional placements were under consideration in Washington and Greene counties in the same region.