MOBILE, Ala. - Many young people in Baldwin County are now eligible for low-cost eye care and exams at the Mobile County Health Department.

“The health department received funding for this program, and we officially opened in mid-December,” said Dr. Sarah Small, the health department optometrist. “We wanted people in Baldwin County to know that this service is also available for them.”

The Mobile clinic treats those in Mobile and Baldwin counties with Medicaid and who are uninsured by offering comprehensive eye care, including low-cost exams and glasses, Sm“all said.

New funding created the eye care program for residents 20 and younger, she said, enabling her clinic to open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

There is no similar eye care service offered at the Baldwin County Health Department, according to that agency.

“Right now we’re only here three days a week, but what we’re hoping is, if we continue to be busy on a consistent basis, we will be open five days a week,” Small said. “We hope in the future to also expand to see older patients, and not just those with Medicaid or without insurance.”

Costs are $1 for Medicaid patients, and $20 for an eye exam for those without insurance. If glasses are needed, they would cost $35, totaling $55 for uninsured patients, Small said.

The program has made a difference already in the lives of some people in the area, especially younger children, she said, who may not know their eyesight is impaired to tell their parents they can’t see, Small said.

“With one 5-year-old patient, when we put the new glasses on, her little face just lit up,” Small said. “Her mother came back a couple weeks later and said the girl’s whole attitude and demeanor had changed. She said her daughter was doing really well in school and had become more involved in activities, whereas before she was more of a homebody. She just didn’t know what she was missing.”

The health department eye clinic is located at 251 N. Bayou St. in Mobile, and appointments can be made by calling 690-8889.