With a grant from United Healthcare, Prevent Blindness Georgia (PBGA) is pleased to be able to offer eye exams and free prescription glasses for children in Hall County. “Two years ago, When PBGA began vision screening children in Hall County, we noticed that the average number of children who could not pass the vision test was higher than the state average,” said Shavette L. Turner, Vice President of Children’s Vision Services. “The state average is about 10%, but about 23% of Hall County children were failing the vision screening.”
Ordinarily, when a child is unable to pass the vision screen, the staff of PBGA refer the child to an eyecare professional for further evaluation. Often, those children need glasses. PBGA helps parents who have financial need and do not have Peach Care or other insurance with vouchers for free eyeglasses. But there seemed to be a breakdown with the children from Hall County schools. After failing vision screens, they weren’t getting to the eye doctor or receiving glasses. There were apparently barriers keeping their parents from getting them the prescriptions and glasses they needed.
So PBGA decided to take the doctors and glasses to the children. See the AccessWDUN coverage of the PBGA partnership with the Hall County Schools to ensure that Hall County children are getting the vision coverage they need.