Dr. Bret Wagenhorst, an ophthalmologist with Tift Regional Ophthalmology, recently returned from a five-day medical mission trip to Belize, where he joined two fellow U.S. eye surgeons and 18 medical professionals to provide specialized eye care to patients with limited access to treatment.
The mission was organized by Benevolent Missions International, a Houston-based nonprofit organization. Working alongside volunteers from a local Methodist church, the team served patients at an affiliated clinic in a small town in northern Belize.
During four days of clinical care, the team performed 103 sight-restoring and sight-preserving eye surgeries, including cataract and pterygium procedures, and provided more than 450 eye examinations.
Wagenhorst said medical mission work allows him to combine his passion for serving others with the specialized skills he has developed throughout his career.
“On working trips like these, I not only get to use my skills to help others without easy access to advanced eye care and surgery, but I also continue to refine my skills treating advanced eye disease,” Wagenhorst said. “The advanced cataracts and pterygia we see in Central America are rarely seen in South Georgia, but they are becoming more common.”
For the past 25 years, Wagenhorst has participated in medical mission work throughout Latin America. His volunteer service has taken him to villages along the Amazon River, communities high in the Andes Mountains and underserved neighborhoods in Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Belize. Closer to home, he also volunteered for several years at the former Lions Lighthouse charity eye clinic in south Tifton.
Wagenhorst said restoring a patient’s vision is one of the most rewarding aspects of his profession.
“Taking someone who has to be led in by family members because cataracts have left them unable to work or care for themselves, performing cataract surgery, and then seeing them walk out on their own and return to living independently makes all the long hours and years of training worthwhile,” he said.
At Tift Regional Ophthalmology, Wagenhorst provides comprehensive medical and surgical eye care, including routine eye exams, cataract surgery, glaucoma care, treatment for diabetic eye disease and other conditions affecting vision. He practices alongside optometrist Dr. Trevor Shealy.
To learn more about the services offered at Tift Regional Ophthalmology, click here or call 229-386-2181 to schedule an appointment.