President's Message- September 2011

President’s Message:
Lions’ Optometric Vision Clinic
Katherine Witmeyer, O.D., F.A.A.O

The MISSION of the San Diego County Optometric Society is to serve the public and its members through excellence in community service, education, and leadership.

I wanted to use this month’s President’s Message to highlight a very important philanthropy that the San Diego County Optometric Society has been an active participant of for over 40 years – the Lions’ Optometric Vision Clinic (LOVC). The LOVC was established to provide vision care to individuals in our community that could not otherwise afford adequate care. Some are individuals who, based on income, do not qualify for public assistance or other vision programs. Many though, are individuals who have no health coverage at all. As we all know, with the current economic times and the cuts to Medicaid, more people than ever are in need.

In 1963, the LOVC was established as a service project with members of the San Diego County Optometric Society volunteering their professional services and the local San Diego Lions’ Clubs providing the rest of the support. All these years later, the clinic is still in existence, with many more San Diegans seeking vision care. Unfortuantely, as these numbers have risen, the number of SDCOS optometrists volunteering their time  has dropped. A few SDCOS Board members recall a time when it was a mandatory requirement for SDCOS membership to volunteer one day of the year to the LOVC. Obviously, that membership requirement doesn’t exist presently, but having it back then pressed the importance of SDCOS’ commitment to the LOVC…..and to its mission statement.

There has certainly been “highs and lows” to the LOVC over the years, as the clinic is maintained and run by a separate LOVC Board. When the LOVC was in disarray in 2007-2008, our very own Dr. Jack Anthony fortunately came to the rescue and tirelessly volunteered his time and energy getting the clinic back on track in all aspects. Without his efforts, the LOVC would have surely folded. Thank you Jack for all you have done for the LOVC – having served both on the LOVC Board and as the LOVC/SDCOS Board liaison.

Currently there are roughly 800-900 people on the LOVC waiting list for vision exams. It has been reported that the individuals being seen at present are those who had signed up at the beginning of the year – 9 months ago! The clinic is open for patients Monday through Friday mornings, and the LOVC schedules volunteer doctors for those half days to try and minimize the impact on the doctor’s office time. The clinic is staffed by three employees – an Office Manager, an Optician and an Optometric Assistant.

The current location of the clinic is on the Third Floor of the Blind Community Center on Upas Street near Balboa Park. Volunteer doctors interested in assisting the LOVC for half day exams only should contact the LOVC office at (619) 298-5273 or contact our new LOVC/SDCOS Board Liaison, Dr. Paul Lavin, for further details.

I would also like to thank those doctors who signed up at the August CE meeting to offer their services to the LOVC. The LOVC needs our doctor services more than ever.