Department of Ophthalmology Awarded Grant To Update Pediatric Playroom At Hampton Oaks

Tammy Toskes, Orthoptist with Hampton Oaks Eye Specialties pediatric team, recently submitted a grant proposal to The University of Florida Medical Guild and, on November 30, 2012, during a luncheon ceremony, was awarded a $1,800 grant to make the pediatric waiting room more fun and attractive for our smallest patients.  Here is the winning proposal Tammy (Front row, 2nd from Left) submitted.  Congratulations, Tammy!  We are very proud of you and grateful for your compassion for our patients.

“Every day the Hampton Oaks Eye Specialties Pediatric Team, which includes a pediatric ophthalmologist, an optometrist, 2 orthoptists and technicians, get to make a difference in the lives of children. On a yearly basis, we provide eye care to over 5000 children from all walks of life with a variety of eye problems.  It is a privilege to change the way a child views the world. We help correct many forms of strabismus (misaligned eyes), lazy eye (when one eye does not see as well as another), treat retinopathy of prematurity as well as prescribe glasses to improve the quality of vision. We help improve depth perception, restore vision and prevent blindness. On any given day, we will see a wide range of problems from brain tumors, retinoblastomas (cancer in the eye), congenital cataracts, glaucoma to basic everyday concerns like eye infections and blurry vision.   We serve a very large population of children that need our help.  Children come from all over North Florida to be treated by our team. Unfortunately, because we see such a large volume of children, our waiting room often times becomes full. The children become restless and the wait can be long. We try to provide toys, books and movies for them but over time these things wear out. The current television in the waiting room is small and the children huddle under the small 19 inch screen to see it. We often donate gently used toys from our own homes, collect books from friends and patients’ families often bring us used items. We share the books with the exam rooms to help keep the children entertained.

We are requesting a grant to help refurbish our waiting room. We have been very fortunate this year that we have received new furniture, paint and flooring in our clinic. We would like to provide more unbreakable toys such as wall mounted play stations, new books and updated movies. We would like a larger television to help our children with limited vision sit further away to enjoy it.

Our budget would include:

We are requesting a total amount of $1800 to update our waiting room and provide entertainment to our pediatric patients.  Receiving a grant, from the Medical Guild would be a huge blessing to our patients. Every day the children would be able to enjoy the benefits the grant provided. Thank you for considering our application.”