Richard Ahrens and Dr. Ed Denz stand for a photo outside Ahrens Valley Eyeworks in downtown
Monroe in May. The shop began giving low-income patients from Project Access eye exams.
Alison Sabella, UW Newslab
MONROE — For almost 30 years, Ahrens Valley Eyeworks has served the community with its patient-first approach to eye care. Now, the practice is expanding its community outreach by providing free comprehensive diabetic eye exams to low-income patients in Snohomish County.
The shop on Main Street is partnering with Project Access allowing optometrist Dr. Ed Denz and optician and owner Richard Ahrens to give back to their community in a new way.
“We’ve been here in Monroe for about 30 years now, and this is the first time that I have been able to take care of those who are in need who don’t have the funds to take care of those medical expenses,” Ahrens said.
Ahrens Valley Eyeworks hosts a monthly clinic for patients participating in Project Access Care Coordination.
Founded in 2006, Project Access Northwest has grown from its origins in King County to assist individuals in Kitsap and Snohomish counties. They also have diabetic screenings through Kaiser Permanente, including at its Everett center.
“As we’ve seen over the past couple years, our patient population has moved out of Seattle and into Snohomish, Monroe, Arlington, those areas or down into Burien, Tukwila and Federal Way,” Molly James from the organization said.
James is the program director for specialty care coordination at Project Access Northwest. “I feel like the resources in those areas are taxed more than they were a couple years ago, so the more specialists we can get volunteering with the program the better.”
Denz brought Project Access to the shop. A former Chief of Optometry for Kaiser Permanente, Denz started seeing patients at Ahrens Valley Eyeworks in retirement.
“I always had an interest in doing volunteer work,” Denz said. “I’ve run diabetic screening clinics at Kaiser because there was such a need, and people that were falling through the cracks, that just weren’t getting looked at.”
For diabetic patients with potential eye disease, early intervention matters.
After two cycles of patients in the office since the program’s inception, Ahrens and Denz have assisted individuals with severe diabetic retinopathy, stopping the damage before their sight was unsavable.
“Our primary gauge within this whole system is to do these diagnoses and if there’s issues that need immediate attention or specialty care, we then refer them out to Project Access,” Ahrens said.
Now, looking forward, Denz and Ahrens are excited to welcome more patients, and Project Access plans to expand their outreach beyond Seattle, across Washington state.
“Our basis at this practice has been family-oriented,” Ahrens said. “It makes me very happy to see the work we are doing is carrying on, and we try to do our very best and treat people as people and not numbers.”
If you believe you could benefit from Project Access Northwest’s Care Coordination program, visit their website www.projectaccessnw.org/, or call (206)788-4204 to learn more about the programs offered and how to get involved.
This story was produced by a journalism student at the UW News Lab for the Tribune.
