Their vision has always been to keep Sailor’s and Marine’s sight in the fight.
They are now magnifying their line of sight – and those of patients – far beyond the horizon.
Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Vice Admiral Richard Nelson Refractive Surgery Center has extended their capability in providing timely corneal refractive surgery options for active-duty personnel across the entire Defense Health Network Pacific Rim area.
“We’ve already scheduled two patients from Japan last month [February]. Our clinic has the shortest wait time for corrective eye surgery. Other places, military and civilian, have a one-to-two-year wait. Our wait time averages about one month, with all the paperwork done beforehand,” explained Erick Brendon, lead ophthalmic and refractive technician, stressing that by efficiently scheduling surgeries, they get patients back to their duty with minimal downtime.
Brendon shared their clinic goal of extending support throughout the vastness of the Pacific – from the Far East to along the continental west coast - during NHB’s Continuous Process Improvement Fair, held March 12, 2026.
“Expanding our services to provide correction surgery for all commands in the Pacific theater helps to reduce any service members reliance on corrective lenses. It will also enhance overall mission readiness,” Brendon explained to fair attendees.
The premise of the plan is eye-opening. Brendon affirms their ophthalmology team can provide refractive surgery options, with such services as PRK, LASIK and SMILE\* to those servicemembers in need, especially those assigned to locales with limited or no access to a military treatment facility that offers such corrective eye surgeries.
“Especially with a quick turnaround,” added Brendon, adding that their goals are to streamline the clinic schedules and efficiently enhance the intake process for oversea patients with updated education material, authorization forms and pre-visit packets, available on NHB’s official command website: [https://bremerton.tricare.mil/Health-Services/Vision/Ophthalmology](https://bremerton.tricare.mil/Health-Services/Vision/Ophthalmology)
Any servicemember interested in any of the surgery options should initially contact their local eye doctor or medical provider to help coordinate scheduling an appointment.
The clinic has already revamped their schedules to more effectively streamline patient care, including providing same-day evaluations with ophthalmologist and optometrist, a pre-operative teaching class, scheduling the actual surgery, and planning immediate post-operative follow-up visit and appointment.
“We have established open lines of communication with optometrists in other hospitals and clinics to help coordinate follow-up care and promote awareness of our surgical availability,” said Brendon. “Our responsibility is to prepare all potential patients and caregivers with clear expectations and let them know the local resources available for what could be a two-week in-region visit.”
The clinic last year treated approximately 2,700 patients, with over 60 refractive surgeries and more than 50 ophthalmologic surgeries. The clinic has their sights set on being able to handle upwards of 45 to 75 added laser corrective procedures within the first year for out-of-region and overseas patients.
[\* Note: PRK – photorefractive keratectomy – is a laser vision correction procedure. LASIK surgery is a specialized refractive procedure to improve vision as an alternative to eyeglasses and contact lenses. SMILE - small incision lenticule extraction – is a laser correction procedure usually to treat myopia and astigmatism]
| Date Taken: |
03.17.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
03.17.2026 15:49 |
| Story ID: |
560752 |
| Location: |
BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: |
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This work, Sharper Vision, Stronger Mission – Supporting Warfighters Worldwide at NHB Ophthalmology, by Douglas Stutz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
