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Description

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Wills Eye established in 1832 through a bequest of Quaker merchant James Wills to the City of Philadelphia is governed by the Board of Directors of City Trusts It is a nonprofit specialty institution whose clinical expertise and sophistication of diagnostic and treatment procedures make it a worldwide referral center

Wills Eye has consistently been ranked as one of the best in the United States by US News amp World Report since the surveys inception in 1990 Programs maintained by Wills are organized along the traditional divisions of patient care education and research activities

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History

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History of Wills Eye
The first Wills Eye Hospital containing 70 beds was located at the southwest corner of 18th and Race Streets in Philadelphia opposite what is now Logan Circle As a specialty institution from its inception Wills played a vital role in establishing ophthalmology as a separate branch of medicine in this country

By the early 1900s Wills Eye had outgrown its quarters In 1932 the Hospital relocated to a new building at 16th and Spring Garden Streets The new Hospital expanded the inpatient bed capacity to 120 increased outpatient service areas and provided additional conference and teaching facilities In the 1960s Wills Eye began to develop subspecialty services in addition to its General Ophthalmology Service now the Cataract and Primary Eye Care Service Dealing with particular diseases or parts of the eye these services now number nine Contact Lens Cornea Glaucoma NeuroOphthalmology Oculoplastics Oncology Pathology Pediatric Ophthalmology and Retina

In 1972 Wills Eye affiliated with Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University As a result Wills Eye now serves as Jeffersons Department of Ophthalmology All Jefferson medical students receive their basic eye instruction and training at Wills Eye With its continued growth Wills Eye once again needed larger quarters Wills Eye moved to a new facility at 9th and Walnut Streets in 1980 This new building won several design awards and was nearly twice as large as the previous building It featured greatly expanded outpatient services in keeping with the trend toward outpatient care in ophthalmology

Wills Eye constructed a new stateoftheart outpatient facility The new Wills Eye located at 840 Walnut Street directly across the street from its current inpatient facility It opened in June 2002 and is considered one of the most advanced eye centers in the world The eightstory building delivers a full range of eye care services in a modern comfortable setting The new facility houses an ambulatory surgery center physician offices clinics and a stateoftheart center for ophthalmic education and research