History of Retina Associates

The Chatswood Retina Service was founded in 1977 by Edgar J (Eddie) Donaldson and Alex Hunyor. Edgar John Donaldson AO (Eddie) was born in Toowoomba in 1921 and died in Sydney at nearly 80 years of age.

He was undoubtedly one of the giants of Australian Ophthalmology in the 20th century. His founding of the Retina Unit at the Sydney Eye Hospital marked the beginning of sub-specialisation in Ophthalmology, at a time when some Eye specialists were still designated as Eye-Ear-Nose and Throat Surgeons.

Eddie started his association with Sydney Hospital, in 1941, when he attended for his student term in Ophthalmology. He later became the first Eye Registrar to train at the “Eye Hospital” and spent 5 years in this position at a time when most of the Honorary staff were on extended war leave. There was at that time no postgraduate teaching program in NSW, and overseas tuition for Australian graduates, which had been almost entirely in Great Britain, was not possible for any medical specialty until after the war.

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