Moran Eye Center Expands Access to Surgical Care on Navajo Nation
Sep 03, 2026
Craig J. Chaya, MD, performs cataract surgery in the new Monument Valley Community Health Center surgery suite.
MONUMENT VALLEY, Navajo Nation – As a young girl, Sandra Fletcher watched her grandfather go blind from cataracts. The thought of losing her own vision haunted Fletcher as she grew older.
“I saw how hard it was for him,” Fletcher recalled. “I was determined I wouldn’t let it happen to me.”
Fletcher, 70, was able to keep that promise thanks to a charitable surgery provided by the John A. Moran Eye Center’s Global Outreach Division and a new surgical suite at the Monument Valley Community Health Center, funded by the Seva Foundation.
In late June 2026, Fletcher walked out of surgery with her sight restored.
“I am so thankful I had this opportunity,” she said. “It’s a different life when you can’t see.”
Fletcher was one of seven patients to have cataract surgery in the new suite, the first of its kind on the Navajo Nation. While the Moran Eye Center has provided vision screenings, eye care, and eyeglasses on the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation since 2012, cataract surgery could only be performed at the hospital in Blanding, Utah, hours away.
“Patients who truly need higher levels of care often need to leave the reservation, but we see that sometimes if it requires travel, they won’t go,” explained Michael Jensen, chief executive director of the Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS). “It might be because they don’t have gas money, or they may not have reliable transportation, so they stay home at the detriment of their own health. Bringing this service to them locally is truly game-changing, especially when it is something like getting your sight back.”
UNHS officials said the June procedures were the first surgeries of any kind performed on the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation.
Thomas Eddie traveled nearly three hours to become the first patient to enter the new surgical suite envisioned by Moran Vice Chair of Community Outreach Craig J. Chaya, MD.
"After witnessing many canceled surgeries due to transportation challenges for patients over the years, improving access to surgical eye care on the Navajo Nation has been a top priority for our outreach team,” said Chaya. “We are elated to bring office-based surgery to the Monument Valley Health Center in collaboration with UNHS and our generous funding partner SEVA.”
After surgery on one eye (the second eye will happen later), Eddie was asked what he was looking forward to with his restored vision. “Dishes,” he replied, explaining that he wanted to help around the house again.
The June surgeries marked the achievement of a longtime goal for Seva, an international nonprofit eye care organization that works with local communities around the world to develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
“Seva has been working for years to bring surgical capabilities for eye care to Indian country in the Southwest, but there have been significant barriers creating this access,” said Jennifer Leo, program officer for Seva’s American Indian Sight Initiative. “The Moran Eye Center had established a strong relationship with the Navajo Nation through years of clinics and eye care. That relationship created the trust and collaboration that was needed to make it all happen.”
The surgical suite makes it possible for the Moran Global Outreach Division to serve patients from all over the Navajo Nation.
“We are so excited to see it finally happen,” said Leo.
Revina Talker, a physician assistant at the Monument Valley Community Health Center, understands the importance of receiving care close to home. She grew up on the reservation, where she witnessed firsthand the lack of specialty services and Navajo-speaking health care providers. Encouraged by her mother to help change that reality, she returned to serve patients in her own community.
On the first day of surgeries, Talker welcomed and cared for patients.
“The capacity to do surgery in this clinic opens up access for specialty care closer to home, and that means many people who would not travel off the reservation can still receive surgery to restore their sight,” Talker said. “It’s amazing that Moran brings the staff and specialized equipment required for these surgeries.”
Cataract surgery in Monument Valley will now be a regular part of Global Outreach Division trips, bringing sight-restoring care directly to patients.
For Fletcher, whose vision was severely limited less than a year ago, seeing clearly again means returning to one of her greatest passions: painting.
Holding up her phone to show a picture of a nearly finished acrylic painting, she smiled.
“Now I can finish this one,” Fletcher said. “Now I can see a lot better. Maybe my painting will be better.”
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