Project Vision Hawai'i

Project Vision Hawai`i was founded in 2007 by Dr. Michael Bennett, a local ophthalmologist who specializes in retinal surgery. With his oversight, the foundation for the program was developed by Hawai`i’s top experts in vision care. In 2011, under the guidance of a board and then Executive Director, Elizabeth “Annie” Valentin, Project Vision Hawai`i became a 501(c) 3. As a community driven organization, expansion of Project Vision has been guided by need. Since 2007, it has grown from one mobile screening unit to four mobile screening units serving Hawai`i Island, Kaua`i, Lāna`i, Maui, Molokai`i and O`ahu. Project Vision has the only mobile health screening programs in Hawai`i that provide statewide services in communities with significant access-to-care challenges related to income, lack of insurance, geographical location, or cultural conflict. To date, Project Vision has provided free medical screening services to more than 115,000 patients across the state, including high populations of seniors, children from low-income families, immigrants, and individuals with disabilities. The organization’s three mobile screening units travel to communities statewide and serve as vehicles to better health. These mobile units are equipped with digital imaging equipment that takes high-quality photos of the inside of the eye in less than 10 minutes. Using these photos, ophthalmologists who review the images can detect eye conditions like diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. In schools and the community, PVH provides vision screening for our children using state-of-the-art technology and is working with state agencies to create a statewide screening program.