Jewish Healthcare International (JHI), an organization that brings together healthcare professional volunteers from Israel and the Diaspora, has donated 3,000 pairs of eyeglasses for new immigrants at Jewish Agency absorption centers throughout Israel. JHI founder Dr. Stephen Kutner, an ophthalmologist from Atlanta, was in Israel to kick off the project. In conjunction with the Jewish Agency's "People-to-People" Center, which facilitated global outreach efforts to provide medical assistance to Jewish communities throughout the world, JHI will be giving the immigrants free eye examinations and glasses, if needed. The first center that received the JHI exams and glasses was the Nurit center in Beersheva.





JHI is a nonprofit organization established jointly by the Jewish Federations of Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Greensboro and Tidewater, by Israeli medical institutions, and with the support of the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Israel's Health and Foreign Ministries. The mission of JHI, according to the organization's literature, is to enhance healthcare services and provide medical supplies to Jewish communities in need throughout the world. They provide ongoing training to local healthcare professionals by sending these teams to areas in need on a regular basis. In addition, ongoing professional and personal relationships are created among Israeli and Diaspora volunteers working together on JHI projects. JHI today provides ongoing on-site healthcare in five host country communities: Kiev, Ukraine; Kishinev, Moldova; Minsk, Belarus; Odessa, Ukraine; and Riga, Latvia.