See all the action from the VSP Vision Care & Transitions Optical mobile eyecare clinic!
After viewing the video, vote for the clinic name and be entered to win an HD Flip Cam!
See all the action from the VSP Vision Care & Transitions Optical mobile eyecare clinic!
After viewing the video, vote for the clinic name and be entered to win an HD Flip Cam!
Today at an unveiling ceremony in Pinellas Park, FL, VSP and Transitions Optical launched a new mobile clinic that will provide charitable eye exams and eyewear to people in need across the U.S.
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!”
Today we have a guest post from Maggie P. Magallón, a health service advisor from the Monterey County Office of Education – a recent partner of the VSP Mobile Eyes program.
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.
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. Read more »

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.

Green Dot New York students, Lori, and Liz.
Lorie U. is a mobile response team member and works in VSP’s Provider Services department. This is her second trip with the mobile clinic and she recounts her experience during the recent York, PA event.
Saturday, we broke a record by seeing 91 patients. We saw mothers, fathers, kids, grandparents…a wide array of people all with their own story.
At one point during the day, four sisters came in, little girls ages 3-8. They were not so sure about the idea of having glasses, none had them previously. One of the sisters tried on the Disney “Snow White” frames . When I asked her if she felt like a princess in the glasses, her face lit up, she giggled & nodded. I hope she feels like that every time she wears them. Read more »
David Wakefield is a VSP Friends and Family driver and husband of VSP employee, Shelly Wakefield. He shares his experience during his first event with the Mobile Eyes team in York, PA.
I came into this event with a blend of curiosity and apprehension, not really sure what to expect. The team was fired up and putting together their game plan and I followed along hoping to be useful and not in the way. We were scheduled to see 102 people today which would be a new record for a one day event. I found that everyone, from the VSP team to the doctors and rotary volunteers, were all motivated to work together to overcome the unknowns to make this event a success.
We set up and were ready to begin right on schedule. The patients began to trickle in and we were blessed with a slow but steady warm up. We were wondering if the bad weather would be keeping the people away, but we soon found that the need to see outweighed the desire to stay dry and the long lines began to form. I was tasked with operating the auto-refractor and had the opportunity to experience the personalities of every patient who came in. The mix of emotions was astounding but everyone had one thing in common, they wanted to be able to see. Read more »

Lee Anne is a member of VSP's Employee Communications team.
I was an optician for 12 years before joining VSP and I’ve heard many reasons for broken frames and lenses. Here are a few of my favorites.
1. I think there’s something wrong with my glasses.
My patient stands before me, squinting through glasses that are clearly askew. I can tell right off that his glasses are missing a nose pad—no wait, make that both nose pads—and the arm that holds the nose pad, and I wonder how he was able to drive to the office.
Did you know that you can visit your VSP eye doctor to change out old nose pads for shiny new ones? Over time the natural oils in your skin can turn nose pads green. Pop in and give your frames a quick, much-needed refresh just by changing the nose pads.

Kim R. is part of VSP's Mobile Clinics team.
Although I don’t have children, I am reminded in my job how incredible kids can be. Take for example, Travis, a sweet young man I met in Tampa, FL last week while I was working on the mobile clinic at an elementary school.
Travis came on board for his eye exam and learned that he needed glasses. While he was selecting his frames with one of his friends (who happened to be a little girl), I asked them “are you girls having fun selecting your frames?”
“I am a boy,” Travis said. I apologized to him and he replied “That’s OK, I get it all the time.”
See much more