TCCH has provided primary health care in Indian River County for 28 years. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, TCCH develops programs and services that meet the existing needs of the community. The vision program provides necessary vision services to underserved children with affordable, high quality eye exams, eyeglasses and early referrals for ophthalmology, resulting in a stronger, healthier community.
Literacy is the number one predicator of individual and community prosperity. It is much more challenging to learn if you cannot see well; often, children are judged as “slow” readers, when the problem is blurry vision. Half of IRC children are not kindergarten-ready and those not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out or fail to graduate from high school. For lower socioeconomic Black and Hispanic students, that likelihood increases. There are over 18,000 students within the IRC School District. Children who receive early vision intervention are better prepared to focus during school, feel confident and meet developmental milestones.
There is an important distinction between a vision screening and exam. A vision screening detects ocular or visual health issues, which results in a referral to an optometrist to complete a comprehensive eye exam. The TCCH optometrist performs vision exams and can diagnose eye alignments, amblyopia or “lazy eye,” focusing problems and refractory errors like near or far sightedness, which are correctable with glasses. TCCH works with ophthalmology groups in IRC who will accept patient referrals for more advanced surgical or eye treatment needs.
TCCH medical staff and Health Navigators can direct underinsured and uninsured patients to the vision program, as can our community partners. The TCCH wellness coordinator at Dodgertown Elementary works within the entire SDIRC system to help teachers identify children in need of vision exams and then schedules appointments with TCCH.
For the majority of TCCH’s patient population, obtaining vision services and products comes down to affordability. In 2021, 82% of TCCH’s 26,358 patient population (who declared income; 65% of total) was at or below 100% of FPL of $12,880 per person. Of the 9,149 children (age 0-17) seen at TCCH during 2021, 616 (6.7%) were uninsured, 7,469 (82%) were covered by Medicaid and 753 (8%) have private insurance. Many families, regardless of their insurance status, cannot supplement extra health care beyond what private or government insurance covers. TCCH is the only vision services option for uninsured, and at an affordable, sliding fee discount scale.
TCCH anticipates an average of 44 children and adults a week during the first six months of the program totaling 1,144 patients. The following six months we anticipate an average of 60 patients per week for a total of 1,560 patients, equaling 2,704 patients the first year.
An Impact 100 grant will help fund optometry staff and the necessary ocular equipment for the centrally located Gifford location: $57,500 for ocular testing equipment, $33,800 for salary for a part time optometrist, $8,700 for eyewear.
This project will be sustained beyond Impact 100 funding through insurance payments, year-end appeal campaigns and new fundraising endeavors, including philanthropic support at a local and national level. The grant will continue forward momentum in literacy, creating a meaningful impact on the overall health and prosperity of Indian River County.