Profiles in Clinical Excellence: Ophthalmology

UH Clinial Update | Junen 2026

Douglas Rhee, MD

By Douglas Rhee, MD
Chair, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
James and Dolores Kleinman Chair in Ophthalmology
Director, UH Eye Institute
Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

We in the Department of Ophthalmology at University Hospitals are dedicated to our three-part, UH mission: To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. Clinically, we’ve more than doubled our patient volumes. Twelve years ago, we saw 34,000 patient visits, and this year, we are on track for 90,000, managed by a faculty group that has grown from 13 to 31.

We’ve also always been a leader in providing the most cutting-edge technology, both diagnostic and therapeutic. In fact, we’re often the first ophthalmology center in the region and state to offer our patients the most advanced technological options – sometimes in the entire upper Midwest region. We enjoy being on the leading edge, at the “tip of the spear.”

For example, in the past few months, we’ve deployed the latest technology to remove cataracts – crucially important because the procedure is the most common surgery in the U.S. This new tool is the safest and most minimally invasive means to perform the procedure. It was released by the manufacturer in April 2025, and when we received ours in fall 2025, we were the first of anyone in Ohio, private practice or academic, to be able to offer this option to our patients. We’re also one of three centers in the United States with new technology that measures the entire cell layer of the cornea – which improves on previous technology that only measured the center portion.

Importantly, these options are available not only at UH Cleveland Medical Center, but also at our other surgical sites around the UH system - UH Parma and UH Lake West medical centers, and UH Westlake and UH Suburban surgery centers. While our buildings may be more unassuming than some, rest assured that the technology inside and the clinicians who put it to good use are of the highest caliber – all to better serve our patients.  We invest in providing the best technology in the hands of the greatest talent.

In the teaching arena, we have a highly sought-after residency program with six positions per year, attracting a large and talented application pool from CWRU School of Medicine and other leading medical schools. In professional ophthalmology circles, we have a reputation of producing not just the most technically skilled surgeons, but those who are extraordinarily hardworking and willing to go above and beyond for the patient, where science meets compassion. We also offer three relatively new fellowship programs in pediatric ophthalmology, retina and glaucoma, as well as an advanced training program for optometrists.

But it’s perhaps in research and discovery we truly hit above our weight class. Our UH Department of Ophthalmology faculty make up less than 2% of the total faculty of University Hospitals, yet we are the fourth largest at UH in terms of research dollars. What does this mean for patients? Access – and hope. Most of the modern devices used in glaucoma today were pioneered or tested here. And that research excellence is ongoing. We are part of some of the most important clinical trials happening in ophthalmology in all the different subdisciplines of eye care, providing our patients of Northeast Ohio and beyond early access to these advanced treatments. You can read more about some of that groundbreaking research in the stories below.

Cutting-edge ophthalmology of the variety we practice at UH is needed now more than ever. The three leading causes of irreversible blindness in the U.S. -- macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy – are currently incurable. Our research portfolio, spanning from bench to bedside, attacks those problems at all different levels. We are well-equipped for the challenge.

Please know that when you choose to trust UH Ophthalmology for your care, your family's needs, or your referred patients, you are getting the highest level of talent and technology available – in the U.S. or around the world.