Quirino Memorial Medical Center Department of Ophthalmology

The Quirino Memorial Medical Center-Department of Ophthalmology is a young department, dating back to 1998 when it officially separated from the Department of EENT. With a hand full of dedicated consultants and resident staff, an OPD clinic with a slit-lamp and a refracting unit, and an admitting ward shared with the Medicine department, it has slowly taken its course into becoming the department that it is today.

It is located along the increasingly busy C5 highway, a catchment area that covers not only residents from Quezon City, but also from the cities of Marikina, Antipolo, San Mateo, Montalban, Caloocan, Novaliches and even nearby provinces of Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, Quezon Province, Romblon and Mindoro.

In 2012, plans for expansion began in response to the increasing patient volume and demand for specialized ophthalmic care. Through the initiatives of the department officers and support of the QMMC administration, the QMMC Eye Center was established, a facility with three major units: the Out-patient clinic (OPC), the Laser & Diagnostics Room (L&D) and the Ambulatory Surgical Unit (ASU). In partnership with the Odyssey foundation, a library and a Learning Resource Unit was built that provided a venue for conferences and case presentations, ensuring the residents an environment of learning and academic excellence.

The Department has transformed into a center that now offers comprehensive eye care and subspecialty services.

Cataract is the leading cause of reversible blindness in the country. The QMMC Eye Center has addressed this public health concern by training skilled and proficient residents in the surgical management of this condition. Theatre instruments are constantly upgraded by acquiring the latest phacoemulsification machines and microscopes that provide efficient and safe surgeries. The center has also developed and streamlined its unique cataract program. Day ambulatory surgery is packaged with international standard intraocular lenses, ophthalmic viscoelastic devices, and supplies for all patients at minimal cost.

This center and its highly skilled staff manages diverse trauma cases from the community or referred nearby provinces in the form of orbital reconstruction, anterior segment repair, vitreoretinal surgery for foreign bodies and vitreous and retinal damage. Management can extend to rare cases of trauma-related inflammation and infections.

Complex eye diseases are treated with an array of modalities. The center provides intravitreal injections of medications, chemotherapy for ocular inflammation and infusions of immune suppressive medications.

This center can treat a full range of anterior segment disorders, from severe eye infections and ocular surface disease to conjunctival tumors and blinding corneal pathologies. It also has the surgical expertise to offer full thickness and lamellar corneal transplantation.Patients suffering from acute and chronic forms of glaucoma are assessed properly through a myriad of diagnostic tests. Pressure lowering procedures are routinely done thru laser and valve surgeries.

Childhood visual development is crucial, and treating eye diseases among these patients is critical to prevent permanent visual impairment and amblyopia. In this center, pediatric patients are carefully and meticulously examined and monitored. Referrals for vision and life-threatening conditions such as retinopathy of prematurity and intraocular tumors are regularly evaluated. The QMMC Eye center is capable of performing ophthalmic surgeries on these young patients with procedures such as muscle surgery for strabismus and lensectomy for childhood cataract.

This year marks a significant milestone for the department. The QMMC administration provided the department the latest surgical and diagnostic equipment. It has acquired the Zeiss OPMI Lumerai Surgical Microscope. The microscope is further complemented by an array of diagnostic equipment such as: Cirrus 5000 Optical Coherence Tomography, Humphrey Field Analyzer 750i, Visucam 500 Fluorescein Angiography Unit, IOL Master Optical Biometry and a RetCam Shuttle. Machine-to-machine intercommunication is facilitated by the Forum software, a unique technology that will ensure patient records are up-to-date and electronically stored.

In line with the World Sight Day Global Action Plan to train eye care professionals, the hospital feels it cannot stress further the importance of research and academic excellence. The department has consistently participated and has been recognized in various society academic activities. The department is looking to solidify relationships with established international ophthalmologic institutions and organizationssuch as the National University Hospital Singapore and Orbis International. This aims to complement the residents’ training and provide them a global perspective in improving current eye care systems and paradigms that deal with prevention of blindness and eye diseases.

The QMMC Eye Center has now opened its doors to provide state of the art diagnostic and therapeutic ophthalmic care. From our humble beginnings, we have grown to a group of highly qualified professional staff, equipped with cutting edge technology. The QMMC Eye Center endeavors to reach out to all sections of our society and is committed to our patients in providing "accessible expert eye care"