Jamgon Kongtrul EYE CENTRE (JKEC)

The Eye Centre, a world-class community eye hospital offering high-quality ophthalmic care and treatment, opened in 2005. It serves patients in Kalimpong District, Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Procedures include cataract and other eye surgeries, as well as retinal and glaucoma examinations and laser treatments.

JKEC is dedicated to its mission of increasing awareness of cataracts as a treatable form of blindness and alleviating this condition among impoverished and underserved communities. Except during the monsoon season, when access is difficult, Remote Outreach Programs are conducted at poor, remote villages where eye care is unavailable. Patients diagnosed with cataracts are transported to JKEC for free surgery and intraocular lens implants.

Today, JKEC is financially self-sufficient and self-supporting. It offers free cataract surgery and lens implants to patients living in poverty, and also provides subsidized treatment to low-income individuals. JKEC’s goal of providing 30% free and subsidized treatment for the poor and needy has been met.