The Jones Eye Institute, a Center of Excellence on the UAMS campus, was founded in 1994 with a dedication to patient care, education and research. Today, we are looking forward to the next decade of excellence in serving the state of Arkansas through teaching, healing, searching and serving. The Department of Ophthalmology, which is part of the College of Medicine at UAMS, along with the Pat & Willard Walker Eye Research Center, a state-of-the-art clinic and other educational programs are located within the 100,000 square-foot facility.
Arkansas ranks third in the nation in new cases of blindness each year, so the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute’s main mission is to fight blindness in our state through patient care, education and research. Patients come to the Jones Eye Institute from every county in our state and even from surrounding states and other countries.
Our faculty represents every ophthalmic subspecialty, and our patients can enjoy a multitude of services ranging from our unique optical shop to our LASIK surgery program. The Jones Eye Institute also educates doctors and technicians to become skilled ophthalmic practitioners through the residency program and the Ophthalmic Medical Technology program. The Pat & Willard Walker Eye Research Center is involved in sight-saving research, particularly regarding viruses of the eye.