Stuart Tasman, O.D. is a VSP Provider in Kennesaw, GA.

Today’s guest blog post is from Stuart Tasman O.D, a VSP provider in Georgia who recently partnered with the VSP at the Woodstock Baptist Church Health Fair.

I was asked to participate in a health fair in October at the Woodstock Baptist Church. As I walked through this massive church I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were there for services. I would estimate that well over 1000 men, women and children were there to see the doctors and volunteers that were there for 3 days to treat their every need.

I heard from the people that I examined, they had arrived at 1 a.m. to get in line to see the medical doctors, dentists and eye doctors. I know for a fact that we turned people away at the end of every day due to lack of time.* I saw so much eye disease that had gone untreated due to lack of insurance and, of course money.

Later, at the office we  treated one of the gentlemen that I had seen at the event for glaucoma. His intraocular pressures were approximately 40 in his right eye with definite loss of field of vision. I prescribed Lumigan and instructed him in my broken Spanish to see me in 3 weeks. He has no insurance and his finances barely cover a roof over his head and put groceries on the table. Suffice it to say we will not charge him but I have been haunted by the amount of people in trouble out there.

Who is going to care for them? We all want to give back and be good stewards but do we draw a line? When do we draw a line?

My father told us many stories of the depression era and one that I have never forgotten was about his grandfather. He had very little money, but did  run a small grocery store. People would come in to get food with no money. My dad asked him “How come you give food to these people without money?”

He responded, ” We should always give to those with less than we have.”

My question to you is should we follow my great grandfathers advise?  Just a thought.

Stuart Tasman

*Editor’s note: All patients who were unable to be seen – more than 350 – were given gift certificates to visit a local VSP doctor or referred to the Georgia Lighthouse Lions for comprehensive eyecare services, including eyewear.

Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.

In February we asked our VSP doctors to submit names for the new VSP/Transitions mobile clinic. Thanks to the great response from our providers, we received over 600 names, and selected five for the general public to vote on: Eyenstein, LuSee, SeeAna, SeeBert and SeeCil. After a two week voting period, Eyenstein received the top number of votes and has become the official name for the third mobile clinic in the VSP Mobile Eyes^® fleet!

Amanda S. from Dr. Churchill’s practice, Cedarville Eye, in MA, submitted the winning name: “I had originally come up with several other names, and while I was submitting them, the name ‘Eyenstein’ just popped in my head. The play on the name made me laugh a little, so I submitted it. I thought it was clever because as an opticianry apprentice, I know that healthy vision is smart!”

Our winners, Dr. Churchill and Amanda

Dr. Churchill gave the prize, an all-expense paid trip for two to the 2011 Transitions PGA Championship at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club in Florida, to Amanda who stated, “I’m very excited about the trip, but I know I’ll be even more excited when March comes and the weather is miserable here in New England, but I’ll be boarding a plane to sunny Florida!”

The new clinic will travel to Cedarville Eye later this year to provide charitable eyecare services in the local community to those in need.

Christine M. from Chicago was our Facebook Fan consumer drawing winner winning a VSP Experience (a comprehensive eye exam and new eyewear from a local  VSP doctor of her choice) and HD Flip Video Camera!

Thank you to all who participated! We look forward to utilizing Eyenstein, in partnership with our VSP network doctors, to help extend our reach even further to help more people in need.

About VSP Mobile Eyes^® Program

The VSP Mobile Eyes^® program features portable ophthalmic equipment and three advanced mobile eyecare clinics which respond immediately to disasters and assist people in need. When not at disaster sites, our mobile clinics travel to community events across the country. In partnership with VSP network doctors, the clinics provide no-cost comprehensive eye exams and, if needed, glasses to the underserved.

Since inception, the mobile clinics have visited over 200 underserved communities nationwide, providing charitable eyecare services and education outreach. Over 410 VSP eye doctors have volunteered their time and services to help more than 23,500 low-income, uninsured, and underinsured children and adults.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch the social media channels of the Think About Your Eyes Coalition to see coverage exciting events happening near Times Square on today!

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Coalition Web site

Lori F. is a Disaster Response Team Member and Marketing Coordinator with VSP in Rancho Cordova, CA. When Tennessee was devastated with heavy rain and flooding, Lori immediately reached out to VSP Network Doctors in the area to see what her team could do. The following are just a few responses from them that shed some light on the damage caused to their professional and personal lives.

Doctor David J. Shen sat in his practice while a foot of water was being pumped out of his first floor office. Fortunately for him, most of his inventory was not significantly affected. He knew Downtown Franklin, TN and surrounding areas were overflown with flood waters so he immediately began to clean up his practice and was determined to provide patients with some level of vision care and quickly as possible.

Photo Source: Reuters

When VSP’s Disaster Response Team reaches out to our providers, more times than not, their personal lives are also affected. This is the case for Doctor John Anderson. His practice didn’t incur any damage from the flood but his home basement wasn’t so lucky. When he bought his home three years ago he didn’t think he needed to purchase flood insurance because he lived outside the flood zone. However, Dr. Anderson was thankful that we were reaching out to his community and was amazed by the quick response time.

Photo Source: Reuters

Disaster relief services are still available for those who have lost or damaged their glasses from the Tennessee flooding or any type of natural disaster. Find out how to get help.

VSP’s Disaster Response Team was formed in 2007, and since then, we’ve responded to 56 natural disasters throughout the country. We’re currently reaching out to Doctors in Oklahoma and Kansas affected by the tornadoes. My heart goes out to communities affected by natural disasters but it feels good knowing we can provide assistance when they need it most.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After viewing the video, vote for the clinic name and be entered to win an HD Flip Cam!

Today, more than 50 pre-screened students from Azalea Elementary located in Pinellas County are the first to benefit from the new clinic. The evaluation process for students grades K-5 included initial screenings by Prevent Blindness Florida. Students who failed the screenings will be given comprehensive examinations in the clinic, staffed by VSP eye doctors. For students requiring prescription lenses, VSP and Transitions Optical will provide the students with complimentary eyewear fitted with Transitions® lenses.

A student of Azalea Elementary School was the first patient and is wearing the first glasses made on board the clinic in the finishing lab!

This partnership marks another milestone in furthering the efforts of the VSP Mobile Eyes® Program. What started as an extension of relief efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the program features two mobile eyecare clinics, each with two comprehensive exam rooms and full eyeglass dispensaries, which respond to disasters and assist people in need in communities throughout the U.S. The new clinic will be the third clinic in the fleet and has the unique feature of a finishing lab featuring full-service lens finishing equipment, donated by Santinelli International, providing patients with glasses on-site.

Rob Lynch, CEO of VSP Global and Dave Cole, Managing Director of Transitions Optical, unveil the new mobile clinic at Transitions headquarters in Pinellas Park, FL.

Here’s what VSP Global’s CEO Rob Lynch said about today’s events:

“Transitions and VSP both have a strong commitment to supporting the community and helping people see better. By leveraging the strength of our two organizations, and in partnership with our 26,000 private practice eye doctors, we will be able to extend our reach even further to help more people in need!”

In 1972, Dr. Marvin Poston was the first African American named "Optometrist of the Year" by the American Optometric Association, the highest professional award from the AOA.

VSP is known for quality service – whether providing eyecare to underprivileged through our number of charitable programs, ensuring patients have access to high-quality vision services or providing doctors with the tools they need to maintain successful private practices. This dedication to service can be directly attributed to the core philosophies of VSP’s founders, one of whom was Dr. Marvin R. Poston.

In 1935, Dr. Poston was the first African American student admitted to the study of optometry at University of California, Berkeley. It took another 23 years for the second African American student to follow in his footsteps and graduate from the Berkeley School of Optometry. Dr. Poston later became the first African American licensed to practice optometry on the West Coast.

Nearly 55 years ago, Dr. Poston, along with several of his fellow optometrists, formed California Vision Services, now known as VSP Vision Care. The company originally was the first to offer a prepaid, vision benefit that provided high quality, cost-effective eyecare. VSP has since grown to become the largest not-for-profit visions benefits provider in the nation, covering 1 in 6 Americans.

Dr. Poston’s optometry practice flourished for four decades in Oakland and Danville, California but his reach extended far beyond those who visited his offices. Befitting one of the founders of a company that prides itself on community support, Dr. Poston began his own tradition of community outreach by establishing vision-screening programs for under-served children and adults. The Children’s Vision Center of the East Bay, the West Oakland Health Group and the East Bay Skill Center are just a few of the organizations that benefited from his efforts.

Dr. Poston received numerous honors during his career, including the Optometric Man of the Year award by the Alameda Contra Costa Optometric Society and Optometrist of the Year by the California Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association. He was also appointed to three terms on the California State Board of Optometry by governors Edmund G. “Pat” Brown and Ronald Reagan. In each of these areas, Dr. Poston was the first African American ever to be honored.

“He was a man of great integrity,” says Norm Jacoby, O.D., a former colleague from Encino, California. “He was very soft-spoken and intelligent, and you listened when he spoke. Marvin was conscious of what new graduates needed when getting started in private practice and that they needed all the help they could get.”

This awareness led Dr. Poston to start Optometric Planning Service (OPS), a company that gave young optometric students access to the resources necessary to start their businesses properly. OPS evolved into Professional Health Management & Planning Services, Inc., which provided services for professionals new to a variety of healthcare fields.

After more than 40 years in optometry, Dr. Poston and his wife, Arlene, relocated to Calistoga, California to open Poston Crest Vineyard. As with his practice, Dr. Poston received recognition for his success as a vintner. In 2004, Wine Business Monthly featured him in an article about diversity in the industry titled “The Changing Face of the American Wine Industry.”

Dr. Poston is remembered as a generous individual and contributor to the success of VSP. “Dr. Poston’s passion for people and their vision is still alive in VSP’s corporate mission, values and the efforts of every doctor,” said Gary Brooks, VSP Vision Care’s president. “Through outreach programs such as VSP Mobile Eyes^® and Sight for Students^®, we continue his legacy of commitment to the community.”

After a satisfying life filled with professional and personal accomplishments, Dr. Poston died July 18, 2002 in St. Helena, California. He was 87 years old.

For the Monterey County Office of Education’s first VSP Mobile Eyes event we were able to provide services to over 55 children and youth in need — in the future we’ll shoot for over 100!

VSP Mobile Clinics Operations Manager, Niki M., with a patient in his shades after his eyes were dilated.

During the three day outreach event, the clinic visited three school districts in Monterey County, including Greenfield Union, Sta. Rita Union and Salinas City Union. The young patients entered the clinic with excitement and gratitude, especially after they had the opportunity to select their frames from popular brands like Disney & Coach!

One of the students picking out his frames with VSP Mobile Clinic Operations Managers, Kim R., and Monterey County Migrant Program partner, Isabel.

It was a pleasure partnering with the team at VSP.  Kim R., Niki M., and Vicki A. are a great team to work with, and I want to give a big  thank you to our local VSP optometrists – Dr. Sylvia Lee, Dr. Brett Fredericks, Dr. William Kadell, and Dr. Catherine Winters – who enthusiasticly volunteered their time to provide eye exams to the kids.

VSP Volunteer, Vicki A., Dr. William Kadell, Kim R. and Niki M.

Now that the students who needed glasses will receive them, I feel they will definitely show an improvement in their language arts and math achievement this year as they can see with much more clarity and precision!

We look forward to VSP Mobile Eyes visiting our area again.  What a great service VSP offers to the community!!! 

Rob T. is a member of VSP's Sales Team

Rob T. in  VSP’s Hawaii Sales Office shares some recent events VSP participated in with the Hawaii Optometric Association.

If you were out in Hawaii recently, the Children’s Discovery Center in Honolulu was the place to be as VSP partnered with the Hawaii Optometric Association (HOA) to take part in two great community events that brought the importance of vision awareness and fun together.

On September 27, 2009, VSP and HOA hosted “Be Wise To Your Eyes” day. In its second year, the event emphasized the importance of an annual eye exam which parents took to heart after their children participated in free vision screenings by our volunteering doctors.

Then on October 30, 2009, VSP and HOA put on costumes for the Keiki (Child) Costume Ball, passing out VSP school supplies to hundreds of children attending the event. While children showed off their creative costumes, VSP and HOA offered an opportunity to have the children imagine themselves as the “doctor” behind a phoropter. What looks better, one or two? … there might have been a future doctor in the crowd.

VSP provider Weslie Hamada, OD (left) and a colleague pose with kids and VSP school kits.

Click for more information about the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center, and be sure to visit the sports vision exhibit when you have a chance to visit.

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

VSP network Dr. Dennis Delp of Shiloh Eye Care Center in York, PA, has been volunteering his time once a week for the last 20 years with ForSight Vision Center, a not-for-profit serving its community by providing quality, specialized services and opportunities designed to prevent, prepare for and manage loss of vision.

Dr. Delp volunteered with us during our fifth community event providing exams with the clinic back in November of 2007 and we were happy to partner with him again last month when he called to ask for our support of during this important inaugural event with ForSight. Listen to Dr. Delp as he speaks to the results of the event and the impact it had on the community.

Click here to view the embedded video.