Pediatric Ophthalmology available at NHB starting in December 2024

Story by Douglas Stutz

Naval Hospital Bremerton/Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Bremerton

There will be pediatric ophthalmology available starting December 2024 at Naval Hospital Bremerton.

According to Lt. Cmdr. Maggy Mitzkewich, NHB Specialty Care department head, in joint collaboration with Madigan Army Medical Center, Dr. Steven Ballard, pediatric ophthalmologist specializing in diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders of younger patients – from newborn to age 17 – with be onboard on a monthly basis.

There are several reasons why parents should consider scheduling their child for an appointment, insists Lt. Cmdr. Lan Anh Nguyen, comprehensive ophthalmologist assigned to NHB.

When pediatric patients should see an eye doctor:
1) Family or personal history of eye issues. “Generic eye issues that run in the family, or if your child had a history of eye issues,” explained Nguyen.
2) Misalignment or wandering of eyes. “If you notice the eyes do not line up when looking at an object, or an eye is wandering,” said Nguyen.
3) The child communicates vision issues.
4) Standing too close to television, screens, or other objects, or failed a vision test at school.
5) History of headaches or eye pain.
6) Red irritated eyes or rubbing of the eyes.
7) One or both eyes constantly tearing, or eyes producing a yellowish white substance.
8) Light appearing pupils. “If one or both pupils are no longer black or appear gray/white,” said Nguyen.
9) Any change(s) to the eyes, such as visible alteration to sizes of pupils, droopy eyelids, difference in the size of the eyes, or anything else concerning.

If a parent notices any of the aforementioned reasons, they should contact their primary care manager for a referral to ophthalmology.

“While Dr. Ballard will be coming once a month, we may not be able to accommodate all pediatric ophthalmology appointments here. Some may need to go to Madigan Army Medical Center to obtain an appointment within a 28 day window,” added Nguyen.

NHB’s Ophthalmology and Refractive Surgery clinic mission is to provide state-of-the-art surgical vision correction to active duty, eligible retirees and dependents with an emphasis on visual performance enhancement for the warfighter to improve operational readiness and safety by reducing the need for glasses and contact lenses.

In 2023, the clinic performed 156 surgical cases and handled 4,424 patient appointments.