Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
| Bascom Palmer Eye Institute | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 25°47′27.72″N 80°12′38.25″W / 25.7910333°N 80.2106250°W |
| Organization | |
| Funding | Private |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine |
| Services | |
| Beds | 56 |
| Speciality | Ophthalmology |
| History | |
| Founded | January 20, 1962 |
| Links | |
| Website | bascompalmer |
| Lists | Hospitals in Florida |
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, is a center for ophthalmic care, research, and education. Faculty and staff treat patients from around the world in facilities in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Collier County. The Institute’s full-time faculty encompass many ophthalmic sub-specialties and has been consistently ranked as the best eye hospital in the country by US News & World Report.
The Institute’s clinical faculty treats more than 250,000 patients each year, provides 24-hour emergency care, and is the only community-based ophthalmic care for indigent and low-income patients of Miami-Dade County.
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was founded by Edward W.D. Norton, M.D., a neuro-ophthalmologist, retinal specialist, administrator and teacher, who joined the University of Miami School of Medicine with dreams of building a regional ophthalmic center in South Florida. The Institute was named after Dr. Bascom H. Palmer, a Miami ophthalmologist who settled in Miami in the 1920s.
Ophthalmology at the School of Medicine began in 1955 and attained departmental status in 1959 one year after Dr. Norton became the first full-time chairman.
The “founding five” physicians of the Institute included Dr. Norton and four others: Dr. Victor Curtin, the first faculty member who was hired in 1959. He established the Pathology Laboratory and the Eye Bank, which through the auspices of the Florida Lions, has provided ophthalmologists with donor eye tissue for more than 30,000 patients since its founding in 1962. Dr. J. Lawton Smith, a neuro-ophthalmologist created the nation’s first post-graduate neuro-ophthalmology course. Dr. J. Donald M. Gass, a macular degeneration specialist developed the use of fluorescein angiography as a diagnostic tool, and Dr. John T. Flynn, a pediatric ophthalmologist established the Institute’s Children’s Clinic. The Institute was officially opened on January 20, 1962.
John Clarkson, M.D., a vitreoretinal specialist and surgeon, succeeded Dr. Norton in 1991 and chaired the Institute until 1996. Richard Parrish, M.D., a glaucoma sub-specialist, became the Institute's third chairman in 1996 and served for three years. Richard Forster, M.D., a cornea and external disease specialist served as interim chairman from 1999 until 2001. Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., a vitreoretinal specialist and surgeon, was appointed chairman of the Institute and medical director of Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital in July 2001 and served until October 2007. Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., a cornea and external disease specialist is currently leading Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as its chairman.
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