New building will increase clinical examination space and enhance the patient experience

Duke Medicine officials ceremoniously broke ground recently for a new, state-of-the-art Duke Eye Center building that will add clinical examination space and enhance the patient experience.

Planning for the clinical eye center building began in 2010, when Duke received a $12 million donation from Durham-based LC Industries, the largest employer of visually impaired people in the country.

The new building will be constructed in the parking lot adjacent to the current Wadsworth Eye Center building along Erwin Road, and will be connected on the clinic and operating room levels to provide access to existing services. A new circular, covered drop-off area will connect the new facility to the parking deck, and a new outdoor courtyard is planned between the current and new building. Plans call for a 127,000-square-foot, four-story facility that will house expanded clinical services designed to improve workflow and maximize patient care and convenience.

The new facility comes at a time when demand for increased services are being felt at the Duke Eye Center, which consistently ranks among the top 10 eye centers in the country. During the past five years, the Duke Eye Center has grown eight percent annually in both surgical procedures and clinic visits. Today, roughly 50 physicians see more than 80,000 patient visits each year. The construction project is expected to take three years to complete.

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