Dr. Susannah Rowe leads the Exceptional Vision Service at Boston Medical Center in collaboration with Dr. Manju Subramanian and Dr. Jean Ramsey. For the last five years, the mission of the Service has been to provide the highest quality eye care for people with a variety of special needs that might interfere with ordinary eye exams. Patients who come to the Exceptional Vision Service have a range of diagnoses, some of which create unique challenges during regular eye exams or surgery. These conditions in both adults and children include intellectual disabilities, dementia, mental health issues, communication difficulties, autism, Asperger syndrome and physical impairments. Many patients who were considered poor candidates for eye surgery elsewhere have successfully undergone cataract surgery at Boston Medical Center. Some of these people have experienced dramatic improvements in quality of life, social engagement and independence following cataract surgery.
The Exceptional Vision Service team comprises a multidisciplinary group of subspecialty surgeons, anesthesiologists, technicians, nurses, surgical schedulers, administrators, and administrative assistants who enjoy working with these exceptional patients, their families, and their caregivers. Based on years of experience and an understanding of many of the challenges facing such patients in a hospital setting, the EVS program aims to offer eye care that is as fast, safe and easy for everyone as possible.
