A surgeon with Knoxville connections is using his talents to serve thousands of people in two of the poorest countries in the world. Dr. Chris DenOuden has been performing eye surgeries at Knoxville Hospital and Clinics for nearly 24 years. He’s also spent the past 13 years traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to screen patients in those countries and perform necessary surgeries and operations. Over these past 13 years, Dr. DenOuden has seen almost 12,000 patients, performed nearly 600 surgeries, and dispensed more than 5000 pairs of eye classes as part of the Des Moines-based Meredith Drive Reformed Churches Visions Mission Team. He was able to do so through the surgical experience he gained in the Knoxville Hospital. The DenOudens say they’ll continue their mission trips to Haiti, with Chris’s wife Sue saying that the experience has been good for their family and marriage and has truly changed their lives.