Clackamas Free Clinic now offering vision care, eyeglasses for community members

Clackamas Free Clinic has hired a part-time optometrist, allowing the clinic to open for free eye exams in addition to its other medical services offered since the nonprofit clinic’s opening in 2012.

Dr. Cate Wregé is a board-certified optometrist who has worked for Pacific Eye Group since 2021. As a student of Nova Southeastern University earning her doctoral degree, she worked as a student volunteer with Optometric Services to Humanity to provide various services, including refractions and dilated fundus examinations, for over 1,200 patients in Costa Rica and Ecuador.

With Wregé’s hire, Clackamas Free Clinic is now offering free vision exams and prescription eyeglasses to uninsured and underinsured community members.

“Through a partnership with the Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation, we are also able to offer prescription eyeglasses for a low-cost $20 fitting fee to community members in need of vision services,” said Clackamas Free Clinic Executive Director Auburn Marie. “Our mission is to serve the health needs of uninsured, low-income people in Clackamas County by providing free and inclusive medical care through dedicated medical and community volunteers.”

Marie noted that many Clackamas Free Clinic patients are forced to choose between paying rent, buying food or taking care of their health.

“Our goal is to stabilize the community we serve by improving the overall health and well-being of its uninsured members. We aim to treat chronic illness and ailments before they progress and take their toll on patients, physically, emotionally and financially,” she said.