Dr. Bucci presented Clinton with an engraved silver plate during the former president's visit to the Eye Institute Clinton spent nearly an hour touring the Eye Institute with Dr. Bucci Source: Frank A. Bucci, Jr., M.D. Dr. Bucci (left) and Manuel R. Perez Martinot, M.D. (right), medical director, Eye Institute, met with Clinton in June Source: Frank A. Bucci, Jr., M.D. " M ake blind people see." The mission statement of the Eye Institute of the Sacred Heart in Lima, Peru, is so simple yet so significant to those suffering from cataract blindness. Founded in 2006 by Frank A. Bucci, Jr., M.D., Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the Eye Institute recently received a momentous visit from two of its benefactors: former President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Frank Giustra. Clinton and Giustra came to check in on one of their projects. The William J. Clinton Foundation is known for its dedication to finding solutions to seemingly insurmountable issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria in the developing world, global climate change, and economic development in Africa. But the foundation has also set its sights on ridding developing nations of cataract blindness. The Eye Institute is one of 13 private clinics participating in the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative/Fundacin Carols Slim (CGSGI/SLIM) cataract project in conjunction with the Clinton Foundation and the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA). Last year, Clinton, SLIM, and MINSA committed to a program that would complete 50,000 cataract surgeries in four years. To help offset the cost of the surgeries, which run about $200 a case, CGSGI and SLIM both contributed $5 million to the program. It's not often an ophthalmologist gets an hour to personally talk with a former U.S. president and one of the richest men in the world. But on June 8, thanks to an enormously industrious effort by the doctors and staff at the Eye Institute, Dr. Bucci did just that. "Clinton was making a trip to Peru to see how the program was going," Dr. Bucci explained. "He visited our clinic because we were the most productive out of all the private clinics involved." Of the participating clinics, the Eye Institute has completed about 1,500 of the 5,000 surgeries finished under the program. "We're averaging about 225 cases a month," Dr. Bucci said. Dr. Bucci and the Eye Institute team knew Clinton was coming but thought it would be a flash-in-the-pan visit of 8-12 minutes tops. Instead, Clinton spent nearly an hour with Dr. Bucci, touring the facility, meeting with patients, and ruminating on Third World cataract surgery. "He was just very engaged," Dr. Bucci said. Dr. Bucci took Clinton into the screening room where 50 people were waiting to be seen. "They just burst into cheers," Dr. Bucci said. "They knew the Clinton Foundation had something to do with their surgery." Clinton and Dr. Bucci went into the operating room where Clinton viewed the equipment and Dr. Bucci got to explain how cataract surgeries were done. Clinton "stopped at one point and said 'Thanks for making my day,' " Dr. Bucci explained. In addition touring the facility and briefly meeting with patients, the Eye Institute held a ceremony. Dr. Bucci presented Clinton with an engraved silver plate that read: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus Bless William Jefferson Clinton With humble gratitude we thank President Clinton for assisting us in fulfilling our mission statement to "MAKE BLIND PEOPLE SEE." Contact information



Bucci: buccivision@aol.com