The Duke Eye Center dedicated its fifth Operating Room (OR) November 14, 2005. The addition of the state-of-the-art OR is part of the Eye Center’s renovation plan that is designed to accommodate faculty growth and the increase in patient volumes at the Eye Center. Since 1990, Eye Center patient visits have doubled with 70,000 visits at Wadsworth (the main campus on Erwin Road) and 30,000 visits at satellites.

A fifth OR minimizes patients’ waiting time for scheduling surgery and increases the number of patients who can have surgical procedures. This year the Eye Center added four physicians. Eye Center administrators expect the additional OR to bring an increase in the number of surgical procedures to more than 6,000 in ‘06, up from 3,900 in ’02. The cost of construction and equipment was approximately $4 million.