Duke adds new eye treatment center

The 3-year project cost $45 million dollars and adds 116,000 square feet of clinical and administrative space.

It is designed add capacity for an additional 15,000 patient visits a year.

There's more to the eye center than just state of the art imaging and advanced treatments for eye diseases.

The facility is designed for the vision impaired by someone who could understand their needs personally.

One of the consultants who helped design the space is blind, said Dr. Edward Buckley, a Duke pediatric ophthalmologist.

"He was able to give us an opinion about what was being done in a way that no sighted person could," Buckley said.

The building includes wide passageways, clinic doors labeled in high contrast letters and occupational therapy steps bordered in bright yellow.