New eye surgeon begins practice at Veterans Memorial Hospital

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon has welcomed Ophthalmologist Dr. Cindy Calderon to its medical specialty staff. She visits Waukon twice per month to meet with patients at Gundersen Clinic as well as perform cataract surgery at Veterans Memorial Hospital once per month.

“We are so happy to have Dr. Calderon join our team,” states Suzette Mahoney, BSN, RN, Veterans Memorial Hospital Surgery Supervisor. “Being able to offer this kind of service is really important to the patient population Veterans Memorial serves.”

Dr. Calderon is a fellowship-trained retinal specialist and the newest member of Gundersen Eye Institute, La Crosse. “I found the practice environment at Gundersen to be very attractive - a place where I could work within a modern, larger clinic system, treat a variety of patients with up-to-date technology and discuss interesting cases with other ophthalmology subspecialists, with the added benefit of living in a smaller town,” says Dr. Calderon.

Though she is a native of Queens, the most diverse borough of New York City, Dr. Calderon came to appreciate the culture of smaller towns, the friendliness of its residents and focus on family values during her fellowship training in Tennessee. Her medical interests are diagnosis and treatment of medical and surgical vitreoretinal conditions, such as advanced diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and age-related macular degeneration.

“I am particularly interested in diabetic patients because so much of the morbidity of the disease can be prevented through education and outreach, to ensure compliance with treatments and increase patients’ understanding,” adds Dr. Calderon.

She obtained her medical degree at Stony Brook University School of Medicine/SUNY in Stony Brook, NY; her internal medicine residency at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY; her ophthalmology residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY; and her medical and surgical retina fellowship at the Eye Specialty Group/Vitreoretinal Foundation in Memphis, TN.

“I’m extremely excited to join the Gundersen team and to be able to establish a rapport with patients and colleagues that will be long-lasting, stable and meaningful. I also look forward to participating in outdoor activities around the La Crosse area and learning how to ice fish.”

For more information about cataract surgery locally, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.