Children’s Hospital Colorado Opens New Pediatric Clinical Eye Space in Aurora

The Pediatric Ophthalmology team at Children's Hospital Colorado, which provides the most comprehensive eye care for children in the Rocky Mountain region, is now expanding that care to a new location across from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The new eye clinic located within Children's Hospital Colorado Outpatient Care at Fitzsimons Village Pavilion in Aurora (Village Pavilion Eye Clinic) will enhance access to pediatric specialty eye care and offer a high level of coordinated outpatient care for children facing vision disorders, complex eye diseases and eye trauma.

Expanding eye care close to home

"We are excited to enhance our exceptional pediatric ophthalmology services at the eye clinic of Children's Colorado, which has been caring for patients for many years," stated Suzy Jaeger, Senior Vice President and Chief Patient Experience and Access Officer at Children's Colorado. "Our multidisciplinary approach enables pediatric eye specialists to treat more children with both common and rare eye conditions that require precise treatment from a skilled and collaborative team."

The Village Pavilion Eye Clinic features 12 new exam rooms, enabling Children's Colorado to serve between 50 and 60 additional patients each day. The care team is comprised of nine pediatric ophthalmologists and four pediatric optometrists specializing in various conditions including strabismus (eye misalignment), eye disorders related to genetic and systemic diseases (e.g., Down syndrome, cancer), retinoblastoma, uveitis, pediatric retinal disorders and traumatic eye injuries. Their services also include offering complex contacts lens and slowing the progression of myopia, a condition that is anecdotally increasing in children.

History of curing rare and everyday pediatric eye conditions

This clinic builds upon years of expanding access to pediatric specialty eye care at Children's Colorado. The demand for this level of care has increased significantly with the growing pediatric ophthalmology team serving more than 100,000 patients since 2019. With philanthropic support, the ophthalmology team launched the Ocular Genetics Clinic in 2021, providing precision medicine treatment for patients with complex eye conditions. Patients who used this clinic benefit from the multidisciplinary expertise of an inherited retinal disease specialist, a geneticist, a genetic counselor and a pediatric ophthalmologist.

Children's Colorado's is the only hospital system in the region performing pediatric cornea transplants and conducting corneal cross-linking on children under general anesthesia in the Pediatric Cornea Clinic. Additionally, Children's Colorado is also the only hospital system in the region treating retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer. Patients frequently travel from New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and more for this world-class pediatric eye care delivered at Children's Colorado.

Meeting the increased need for specialized care

"We are seeing an increasing need for comprehensive and coordinated eye care in the region, which aligns with our mission to care for the most vulnerable and complex patients in a pediatric setting," said Dr. Emily McCourt, Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and pediatric ophthalmology surgeon at Children's Colorado. "As a team, we strive to provide the most current and evidence-based treatments for our patients with both complex and common eye disorders. We also offer one of the leading pediatric cataract services in the country. It's an honor to provide these services and level of specialty care to kids across the region."

Location details and hours of operation

The Village Pavilion Eye Clinic is located in the Fitzsimons Village Pavilion building on the south side of Colfax Ave., directly across from the pedestrian bridge at the main entrance of Children’s Colorado. The clinic is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients can visit the pediatric ophthalmology Clinic website for more information on how to schedule their appointment.