Moran Eye Center

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John A. Moran Eye Center
University of Utah Health Care
Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah medical complex
Geography
Location	65 Mario Capecchi Drive[1] Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Coordinates	40°46′09″N 111°50′13″W / 40.76917°N 111.83690°W / 40.76917; -111.83690Coordinates: 40°46′09″N 111°50′13″W / 40.76917°N 111.83690°W / 40.76917; -111.83690
Organization
Care system	Public
Affiliated university	University of Utah
History
Opened	c. 1993
Links
Website	https://healthcare.utah.edu/Moran/
Lists	Hospitals in Utah

The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah serves as the largest ophthalmology clinical care and research facility in the Mountain West with more than 60 faculty members and 10 satellite clinics.

Physicians provide comprehensive care in all ophthalmic subspecialties, making the Moran Eye Center a major referral center for complex cases with over 145,000 patient visits and about 7,000 surgeries annually.

Moran supports 15 research laboratories to develop sight-saving treatments. Faculty also train 12 residents, four interns, and up to 13 fellows a year in one of the nation’s most selective and highly-regarded academic programs.

U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the Moran Eye Center among the nation’s best eye centers on its Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology report. Ophthalmology Times which conducts annual surveys evaluating residency programs, clinical care, and research has ranked Moran among the nation’s top 10 best overall programs.

CEO Randall J Olson, MD, leads more than 500 employees working to achieve the Moran Eye Center’s vision that no person with a blinding condition, eye disease, or visual impairment should be without hope, understanding, and treatment.

History[]

The Division of Ophthalmology at the University of Utah began as a one-person operation in 1979 with ophthalmologist and cornea specialist Randall J Olson. In 1982, the division received departmental status, and a year later Olson was selected as the first chairman of the department. Today, he retains his position as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. In addition, he is the CEO of the John A. Moran Eye Center.

The first Moran Eye Center building was constructed in 1993 with a lead gift from University of Utah alumnus John A. Moran. The 85,000-square-foot facility quickly became too small for the growing department, and in 2006, the Moran Eye Center moved to its current 210,000-square-foot location on Mario Capecchi Drive. Lead donors to the new building included John Moran, the ALSAM Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and the E.R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation. Moran now has 10 additional satellite clinical locations.

Clinical Care[]

John A. Moran Eye Center physicians provide comprehensive care in all ophthalmic subspecialties, making Moran a major referral center for complex cases. Services include:

Cataracts

Cornea & External Eye Disease

Electrophysiology

Emergency Care

Glaucoma

LASIK and Vision Correction Surgery

Neuro-ophthalmology

Ocular Oncology (coming in July 2021)

Oculoplastic and Facial Plastic Surgery

Optometry

Patient Support Program

Pediatric Ophthalmology

Pediatric Retina

Retinal Diseases

Strabismus

Ultrasound

Uveitis

Utah Lions Eye Bank

The Utah Lions Eye Bank is part of the Moran Eye Center and serves as a coordinating center for eye tissue donated by Utahns upon their death.

Patient Support Program

The Moran Eye Center offers its Patient Support Program for patients facing vision loss and their families. This program provides the following services: the Orientation to Vision Loss Seminar, individual and family counseling, health and behavior assessment and intervention, support groups, and referrals to many agencies that assist the blind.

Research[]

The John A. Moran Eye Center supports 15 laboratories conducting basic and translational research. Moran has more than 60 PhD researchers addressing several conditions, including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt disease, optic neuritis, retinal stroke, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, Usher syndrome, and retinopathy of prematurity. The Moran Eye Center has ranked as high as seventh in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding.

Key research initiatives at the Moran Eye Center include:

Intermountain Ocular Research Center

Moran is home to the Intermountain Ocular Research Center, a nonprofit, independent laboratory that performs basic, in-depth scientific research on intraocular lenses. The Center also provides services and education to surgeons, clinical ophthalmologists, their patients, and intraocular lens manufacturers worldwide.

Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine (SCTM)

The Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine works to more quickly and cost-effectively turn scientific discoveries into clinically effective diagnostics and therapies for blinding eye conditions. The SCTM, directed by Gregory S. Hageman, PhD, is currently developing a new therapy for age-related macular degeneration.

Awards and honors[]

The John A. Moran Eye Center offers some of the best patient care in the country. It is consistently identified as a high-performing eye center on the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology report, and in 2020 the magazine ranked Moran No. 13 in the nation.

An Ophthalmology Times survey of ophthalmology chairs and residency program directors has also ranked the Moran Eye Center among its Top 10 for Best Overall Program in the nation when it comes to clinical care, research, and education.

Education[]

Home to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, the John A. Moran Eye Center offers one of the nation’s top educational programs, providing didactic training and extensive surgical experience.

Moran faculty provide ophthalmology training to medical students from the University of Utah, medical schools from all over the country, and visiting residents and fellows. Each year, faculty educate four interns, 12 residents, up to 13 fellows, and many international observers.

Residency Program

The Moran Eye Center residency program is fully accredited by the ACGME. More than 650 applications are received each year for the center’s highly competitive residency and fellowship positions. An Ophthalmology Times survey of chairpersons and residency program directors at eye centers across the country has ranked Moran at No. 9 in the nation for Best Residency Program. Doximity.com has ranked Moran No. 9 in the nation and No. 2 in the West for residency education.

Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation Scholarship

Each year, at least one Moran Eye Center resident is awarded a $15,000 scholarship from the ARCS Foundation, a nationally recognized nonprofit started and run entirely by women to boost American leadership and aid advancement in science and technology. Moran matches this award, providing a total of $30,000 to allow a promising resident scientist to pursue a research focus and lay the groundwork for a productive academic career.

Fellowship Program

The Moran Eye Center offers the following ophthalmology fellowship programs to patients who have completed residency in the United States: cornea, retina, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, uveitis, pediatric, pathology, and international ophthalmology.

Moran CORE

Moran CORE (Clinical Ophthalmology Resource for Education), morancore.utah.edu, was the first multimedia ophthalmology education resource of its kind. The site is not only open-access and peer-reviewed, its content complements the field’s main curricula from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and International Council of Ophthalmology. Moran CORE is produced by the Moran Eye Center in partnership with the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library.

Outreach Division[]

Funded solely by donors, the John A. Moran Eye Center Global Outreach Division carries out its mission on a global scale. In low-resource countries, the division works to create sustainable eye care systems by teaching and training local doctors and nurses. In Utah, the division increases access to care for underserved populations.

In a typical year, the Global Outreach Division provides about 1,000 sight-restoring surgeries, 5,000 eye exams, and 2,000 free pairs of eyeglasses while training 30 international physicians and nurses; some 120 volunteers perform 12,500 service hours.

GLOBAL PROGRAMS

Eye Care Missions

Working in carefully selected low-resource nations, volunteer medical providers perform eye exams and distribute custom eyeglasses while physicians conduct sight-saving surgeries to train local doctors and nurses.

Observerships

International ophthalmologists and nurses receive up to six months of training at Moran and return home to teach others. Moran doctors then visit them in their countries to provide additional mentoring and training.

Online Education

No-cost curriculum through morancore.utah.edu educates trainees with peer-reviewed lectures and videos.

UTAH PROGRAMS

Utah Navajo Health Systems, Inc. Partnership

In regular eye care missions to the remote Navajo Nation, Moran volunteers and doctors provide services, including vision screenings, eyeglasses, and sight-restoring surgeries at local hospitals.

Community Clinics and No-Cost Surgeries

Physicians conduct vision screenings at Salt Lake City’s Fourth Street and Maliheh clinics and the People’s Health Clinic in Park City. Patients needing surgery are referred to twice-yearly Operation Sight Day events at Moran and partner locations statewide. Operation Independent Sight offers vision correction surgery for spinal cord injury patients.

Eye Care for People Experiencing Homelessness and Refugees

Moran provides vision screenings, distributes eyeglasses, and makes referrals for charity surgery as part of Project Homeless Connect and through its Refugee Eye Care Clinic.

References[]