The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, was established in 1820 to meet the eye care needs of New Yorkers, especially the working poor. In keeping with its heritage, today s Infirmary, a member of Continuum Health Partners, is a voluntary, nonprofit specialty hospital providing comprehensive outpatient and state-of-the-art medical and surgical care in the disciplines of ophthalmology, otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, and plastic and reconstructive surgery. The Infirmary s outpatient ophthalmology and otolaryngology programs provide primary care and treatment in those specialties for the five boroughs of New York City, with concentrations in the institution s historic Lower East Side patient base, Brooklyn and Queens. The Infirmary also serves the regional, national and international communities with tertiary medical and surgical specialty services. With more than 142,000 outpatient visits and approximately 20,000 surgical procedures per year, the Infirmary is among the largest provider of eye care in the United States, and operates one of the most extensive ear, nose and throat clinics in the nation.