Florida Senate - 2012                            (NP)    SR 2140
       
       
       
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       33-04249-12                                           20122140__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the successes and
    3         humanitarian efforts of the Bascom Palmer Eye
    4         Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of
    5         Medicine, and expressing appreciation for the Bascom
    6         Palmer Eye Institute’s relief efforts in Japan in the
    7         aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami
    8         that struck the region in March 2011.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University
   11  of the Miami Miller School of Medicine is the largest ophthalmic
   12  care, research, and educational center in the southeastern
   13  United States, where more than 250,000 patients with nearly
   14  every ophthalmic condition are treated each year and more than
   15  12,000 surgeries are performed annually, and
   16         WHEREAS, in its annual “best hospitals” edition, U.S. News
   17  & World Report has, for the past 8 years, consistently ranked
   18  the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as the nation’s best in the
   19  field of ophthalmology and has ranked it the number one or
   20  number two eye hospital in the country each year since the
   21  rankings were first published in 1990, awarding it the number
   22  one spot 10 times, and
   23         WHEREAS, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute’s doctors and
   24  scientists are recognized international leaders in their fields
   25  of expertise in every subspecialty in ophthalmology, including
   26  macular, retinal, and optic nerve diseases, cataracts, eye
   27  infections, eye cancers, and eye diseases in children, and
   28         WHEREAS, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has mobilized its
   29  resources and staff to offer eye care following catastrophic
   30  natural disasters in several parts of the world, and
   31         WHEREAS, on April 14, 2011, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
   32  embarked on an international rescue mission, deploying its
   33  physicians and Vision Van in the Japanese city of Sendai, just a
   34  day after Sendai’s airport reopened following the catastrophic
   35  March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and
   36         WHEREAS, the relief efforts of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
   37  in Japan enabled Japanese ophthalmologists to provide emergency
   38  medical relief to their people by equipping them to offer
   39  emergency vision screenings and treatments for people suffering
   40  from eye injuries incurred during or after the earthquake, as
   41  well as infections and inflammations from contaminated water and
   42  other hazards, and to replace eyeglasses lost while fleeing the
   43  earthquake, and
   44         WHEREAS, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has been
   45  instrumental in making a lasting difference by its provision of
   46  medical care to the people of Japan as well as by training and
   47  providing resources that allow Japanese ophthalmologists to
   48  better serve those in need, NOW, THEREFORE,
   49  
   50  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   51  
   52         That the members of the Senate recognize the humanitarian
   53  efforts of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of
   54  Miami Miller School of Medicine and commend its steadfast
   55  dedication to excellence.