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Joining Forces in our fight against preventable blindness

Published: 09.01.2023
Fatemah Al Shamlan Chief Operating Officer
Dhahran Eye Specialist Hospital
Joining forces in our fight against preventable blindness
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Our Story

Dhahran Eye Specialist HospitalDhahran Eye Specialist Hospital (DESH) launched its services on Feb 16th, 2006, in Dhahran city, Saudi Arabia. We are the only tertiary ophthalmology specialized hospital in the eastern region.  Our hospital has an 80-bed capacity and is furnished with the latest state of art medical equipment and supported by a highly qualified subspecialized medical team to provide the best patient care.

The hospital runs a residency program in ophthalmology and subspecialty fellowship programs in cornea and refractive surgery, medical retina, pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, neuro-ophthalmology and oculoplastics.

It is the only hospital in the region providing anaplastology services and is considered a center of excellence in corneal transplants.

The Hospital is accredited by Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI). In addition, we are a member of the World Association of Eye Hospitals (WAEH).

Community Awareness and Decreasing Ophthalmology Surgical Waiting List

As a leading tertiary hospital in ophthalmology, we conduct an annual volunteering campaign to perform ophthalmic surgeries in all ophthalmic subspecialties to decrease the waiting list of the region which reaches almost 100-120 cases/ year. This drops the waiting list in the region to almost nil.

In addition, the hospital is leading the ophthalmology services in the Eastern Health Cluster (EHC) to ensure equitable access of care and standardized clinical practice guidelines that meets the international standards.

Community awareness is a great part of what DESH’s mission is about; to provide human-centered health care. We conduct support group sessions for families and patients with vision disabilities or those with chronic eye diseases affecting their everyday life. Furthermore, the hospital celebrates all ophthalmic health days by launching community awareness campaigns in public places such as malls, gardens, etc. to ensure that the message reaches the largest number of people.

The hospital has participated in two packages launched by the WHO

  1. Package of eye care interventions.
  2. Eye care competency framework.

Conclusion

DESH is committed to join forces and share experience to help organizations and healthcare facilities around the world to eradicate preventable causes of blindness.