Distefano Regional Eye Center

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Dr. Deborah DiStefano
Dr. Deborah DiStefano is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist. She received her ophthalmology specialty training at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Dr. DiStefano completed a corneal fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard University in Boston. She was awarded "Who's Who In The South and Southeast 1983-1984 and in 1996 through 2008 "Best Doctor in America" as seen on "60 Minutes."

Dr. DiStefano is an Assistant Clinical Instructor at the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine. She was recruited from Harvard to Chattanooga to become the Chairperson of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga unit. She remained in that position for 10 years. She then resigned to focus more on her refractive practice and her family. Her refractive surgery experience began in 1984 and she performed 7000 to 8000 cases. Since the FDA approval of Excimer laser, few RKs are currently being performed. Dr. DiStefano's laser experience began with the approval of the excimer laser in 1996. She has performed well over 7,000 laser procedures for myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism, and hyperopia (farsightedness). Dr. DiStefano offers multiple technologies to personalize the choices in vision correction procedures for individual patient needs, including bladeless Lasik called IntraLase. She also offers a non-laser choice to patients who choose to not wear readers, a procedure called NearVision CK.
She is a member of the American Medical Association, International Society of Refractive Surgery, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and American Academy of Ophthalmology. She is also a member of several local organizations, such as Room At The Inn and Children's Advocacy Center. She is on the board of the Helene DiStefano Fund, an organization founded to assist moms with breast cancer who are in financial crisis.
Dr. DiStefano is the Director and Founder of the DiStefano Medical Spa. Patients may have a number of medically approved cosmetic procedures, including Botox, Juvaderm, and Sculptra.
Dr. DiStefano resides in Chattanooga with her husband, and son. She enjoys her involvement with her son's many activites and at St. Nicholas. They all enjoy boating and vacationing on the Gulf.
Dr. DiStefano was invited to be a guest vision expert for Ivanhoe.com as well as being a featured ophthalmologist on the website: AllAboutVision.com. Both sites are sources for vision and health information for patients and doctors on the internet.

A board certified ophthalmologist, Dr. James C. Hays is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Hays earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He then completed his ophthalmology residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Dr. Hays spent an additional 2 years in a specialty Corneal Fellowship program at the prestigious Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma. That extensive training has created demand not only for his surgical skill but also creates many requests from his colleagues for his instructorship. Dr. Hays has taught in Europe, South America, Canada, Africa, and across the U.S.
He shares that training and his time by being an active part of the faculty of the DiStefano Regional Eye Center. He treats patients and performs cataract surgery weekly at the Chattanooga center location. Dr. Hays makes his home in Atlanta but enjoys being back in the Volunteer state weekly. He has an active Atlanta practice and founded the Atlanta Eye Surgery Group. Dr. Hays enjoys travel and is an avid competitive tennis player.

Dr. Nicholas V. Motto is a board-certified optometrist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. He received his optometry training at The New England College of Optometry. He has completed a post-graduate residency in ocular disease at the Omni Eye Services of Atlanta and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Seton Hall University. He also serves on the adjunct clinical staff of several optometry schools across the country, and serves at the director of the optometric intern program at the DiStefano Regional Eye Center.
Dr. Motto is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Tennessee Optometric Association as well as holding memberships with several other national optometric and optical associations. He holds licensures in Georgia and Tennessee to practice optometry.
Dr. Motto is also a nationally recognized lecturer in the area of dry eye syndrome and ocular surface disease, and serves as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies in that area. In 2002 he received the Barrett Memorial Scholarship award for clinical excellence.
Dr. Motto's hobbies include fitness, nutrition and sports.

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