About Our Program
Funded solely by donors, the Moran Eye Center's Global Outreach Division provides care to underserved Utahns at no cost and trains doctors and nurses in low-resource countries to expand access to care.
In Utah, the division provides eye care, eyeglasses, and surgeries to residents who are uninsured, have low incomes, are unhoused, or are former refugees in need of access to affordable eye care and assistance navigating the health care system. Volunteers also make regular trips to the remote Navajo Nation to provide free or low-cost services.
The Problem: Preventable & Curable Blindness
The scope of worldwide blindness is daunting.
According to figures from the World Health Organization there are 39 million blind individuals worldwide and 285 million with some form of visual impairment. Ninety percent of them live in poverty in under-resourced nations. Up to 60 percent of blind children die within one year, and a blind adult will only live two-thirds as long as sighted peers.
Four out of every five blind people could be cured at any modern eye clinic, but those in under-resourced nations lack access to modern eye care—sometimes due to expense, but most often because there aren’t enough doctors. While the United States has 61 ophthalmologists per million people, most developing countries have only one or two per million.
The economic impact is staggering: for every blind person, 2.5 individuals are lost from the workforce as others must stop work or school to care for their vision-impaired relatives. Lost productivity adds up to $2.7 trillion each year.
Our Solution: Train More Doctors
The Moran Eye Center trains doctors, nurses, and other eye care professionals in more than 25 countries. We bring the most promising international surgeons to Utah for intensive training and send our own American residents abroad.
At medical camps in the field, Moran surgeons restore sight to hundreds of patients in a single week, while also helping local trainees gain experience.
In Utah, we provide charitable care to thousands of individuals without adequate access to care. Our local outreach work is focused primarily on Salt Lake and Summit counties, as well as on the Navajo Nation in southern Utah. Learn more about our work around the world in the map below.
The John A. Moran Eye Center is a proud member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.
Local Outreach Services
International Outreach Services
Education Program Resources
Physician & Resident Education
International Observership
Global Ophthalmology Fellowship
Global Ophthalmology Fellowship Directory
Latest News
Contact Us
Senior Medical Director
Craig J. Chaya, MD
801-213-4152
Director
Lori McCoy
801-213-3410
Education Coordinator
Erika Ruiz
801-587-1829