Founded by a missionary doctor over 75 years ago, Wheaton Eye Clinic is committed to preserving his legacy of compassionate eye care. Today our dedicated doctors serve the needs of others, both locally and globally, outside the business nature of our ophthalmology clinic. Wheaton Eye Clinic leads in three distinct areas of service.
Community outreach and patient education are an important part of the Wheaton Eye Clinic heritage. It is an active member in its community as well as a long-time supporter of the Spectrios Institute for Low Vision.
The Spectrios Institute for Low Vision was founded in 1986 by P. Kenneth Gieser, MD, the same ophthalmologist who established the Wheaton Eye Clinic. Dr. Gieser himself experienced low vision problems associated with macular degeneration. Because of this common heritage, Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors have always offered their time and expertise, as well as their monetary support, to the Spectrios Institute and its patients.
Formerly known as The Deicke Center for Visual Rehabilitation, Spectrios helps people learn to cope with low vision disabilities by offering specialized low vision tools and training. Adults and children from throughout Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana learn how to live on their own and attempt to regain their abilities to do all that they love to do.
Spectrios is one of the Midwest’s most highly regarded low vision centers and is recognized by the National Eye Institute; it has met rigorous standards to achieve accreditation by the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving Blind and Visually Impaired.
The custom-built, state-of-the-art Spectrios facility is located adjacent to the Wheaton Eye Clinic in Wheaton.
Medical mission trips are a common occurrence for many Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors. Our physicians travel to national, as well as international, destinations representing a wide variety of organizations. Each trip varies but, invariably, Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors are asked to lecture and provide clinical teaching for local doctors as well as meet and treat patients through outreach clinics. Often our doctors perform surgeries while local doctors observe and learn new techniques.
As part of the medical mission trip preparation, Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors can spend months collecting instruments, medicines and medical journals/textbooks which will be left behind at the end of a trip. Sometimes doctors will hand carry donated eyes, from the Midwest Eye Bank or the San Diego Eye Bank, for corneal transplant surgeries.
After going out into the world, Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors have a vast array of stories to tell. Fascinating sights from many of these travels are captured in photographs which are displayed throughout our Wheaton clinic offices.
Although the number of countries visited by Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors is constantly growing, a list would include:
| Bahamas | India | Nigeria | Thailand |
| Brazil | Indonesia | Pakistan | Togo |
| Bulgaria | Jordan | Paraguay | United States |
| Burundi | Kenya | Peru | Vietnam |
| Congo | Kuwait | Rwanda | |
| Dominican Republic | Liberia | South Korea | |
| Egypt | Mexico | Sudan | |
| Haiti | Nicaragua | Syria |
Dr. Richard Gieser travels to Sudan to hold patient clinics and teach retinal surgery to local ophthalmologists. Eyes, donated by American eye-banks, are hand carried by Dr. Gieser so Sudanese doctors can perform sight-saving corneal transplants.
Licensed to practice medicine in Kenya, Dr. Ed Sung sees patients and teaches modern approaches to eye diseases to local doctors and medical students. By donating current medical journals and textbooks on CD’s, Dr. Sung offers a new level of expertise to that country’s ophthalmologists.
Dr. Jeffrey Haag joins a team of traveling doctors to bring much-needed medical care to people living in the outlying areas of Ensenada, Mexico. Between 50 and 60 patients see Dr. Haag each day as he works in portable clinics set up in small town schools and community centers.
Wheaton Eye Clinic actively partners with local, national, and international organizations to support research and humanitarian eye care services. Whether raising money to combat retinal diseases, recycling patient-donated eyeglasses, or caring for underserved patients, Wheaton Eye Clinic has a long history of excellence in compassionate eye care. Our doctors, as well as our dollars, travel far beyond clinic walls to bring hope and relief to those at risk of eye disease and vision loss.
The urgent mission of The Foundation Fighting Blindness is to drive research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for the more than 10 million Americans who suffer vision loss by retinal degenerative diseases. Since 1971, the Foundation has raised more than $370 million.
Foundation Fighting Blindness has over 50 volunteer-led groups across the U.S. These dedicated volunteers raise funds, increase public awareness and provide support to their communities. The signature event of The Foundation Fighting Blindness is the annual VisionWalk, a 5K walk-a-thon style fundraising program which sponsors events in cities throughout the country.
These walk-a-thons give the visually impaired community a unified voice in order to raise public awareness and education about retinal degenerative diseases. Wheaton Eye Clinic supports the Chicago VisionWalk, held each June along Chicago’s magnificent lakefront.
As Wheaton Eye Clinic patients replace old eyeglasses with new, they generously donate their old pairs of glasses to the Wheaton Eye Clinic. Approximately 1,500 pairs of eyeglasses are collected each year and made available to charitable organizations to refurbish and give to people in need of prescriptive eyeglasses.
Most recently Wheaton Eye Clinic has donated eyeglasses to Most Ministries, sponsored by the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, for use in eyeglass clinics in countries such as the Ukraine, Guatemala and Honduras.
Occasionally Wheaton Eye Clinic is contacted by local church groups asking for used eyeglasses which can be distributed during their own medical mission trips. Whenever possible, Wheaton Eye Clinic supplies eyeglasses for these worthy endeavors.
Eyeglasses which are not used by mission groups are donated to Lions Club International which recycles eyeglasses worldwide through its SightFirst Program. Today Lions Club is best known for fighting blindness through the efforts of its 1.3 million members in 200 countries. As the world’s largest service club organization, Lions Club efficiently and effectively conducts vision screenings, equips hospitals and clinics, distributes medicine and raises awareness of eye disease.
Every Wheaton Eye Clinic doctor is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology so it is natural that many partner with the public service program of the Academy, EyeCare America. As part of a corp of 7,200 volunteer ophthalmologists dedicated to serving their communities, Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors provide eye care to those who are medically underserved and for those at increased risk for eye disease. Wheaton Eye Clinic doctors participate in glaucoma and diabetes programs as well as programs for seniors and children.
Through the EyeCare America program, volunteer ophthalmologists provide eye exams and up to one year of care to U.S. citizens and legal residents, often at no out-of-pocket cost to those who qualify. Since 1985, EyeCare America has helped more than 860,000 people
Wheaton Eye Clinic’s unparalleled commitment to excellence is evident in our continued growth. Today we provide world-class medical and surgical care to patients in six suburban locations—Wheaton, Naperville, Hinsdale, Plainfield, St. Charles, and Bartlett.
(630) 668-8250 (800) 637-1054
