Eye See…Eye Learn® Expansion To Northshore & Greenstone
(From left) Dr. Janet DeMille, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Thunder Bay District Health Unit; Dr. Paul Savioli, Doctor of Optometry in Thunder Bay; and Dr. Bill Ulakovic, Ontario Association of Optometrists Past President announce the expansion of the Eye See…Eye Learn® program to children in the district areas of Thunder Bay. The expansion is a pilot program that will help ensure that children entering junior kindergarten have access to comprehensive eye exams, regardless of whether they live in an urban or rural community. Submitted photo
THUNDER BAY, ON – Last month a press conference was held as Thunder Bay by Doctors of Optometry representing the Eye See… Eye Learn® program in Thunder Bay announced the expansion of this program to communities in the Northshore and Greenstone.
Working in conjunction with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and the Fair Start child screening program, OAO members explained that they will coordinate visits to the communities of Nipigon, Red Rock, Schreiber, Terrace Bay, Marathon, Geraldton and Manitouwadge. This expansion is a pilot that will help ensure that children entering junior kindergarten have access to a comprehensive eye exam, regardless of whether they live in a rural or urban centre.
Hosted by Dr. Savioli, Thunder Bay Doctor of Optometry, and Dr. Ulakovic, Ontario Association of Optometrists Past President, Ontario Doctors of Optometry, the event was attended by a number of people including a representative of the Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Mines and Natural Resources and MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, and Dr. Janet DeMille, the Associate Medical Officer of Health for the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
Up to 25 per cent of school age children have a vision problem significant enough to impair their ability to learn1, but fewer than 10 per cent of children have an eye exam before entering school2 . While the Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) Eye See…Eye Learn® (ESEL) program can help ensure that children receive comprehensive eye exams as they begin school, as it could often be difficult for families in the district regions of Thunder Bay to access a Doctor of Optometry prior to the program reaching out to these regions.
Sources
1 Vision Loss in Canada 2011, National Coalition for Vision Health, www.eyesite.ca
FAST FACTS
- Doctors of Optometry are university educated and clinically trained to diagnose and treat disorders of the eye and visual system. They provide primary eye care services in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1909, OAO is the voluntary professional organization that represents more than 1,500 optometrists in Ontario.
LEARN MORE
- Learn more about the Eye See…Eye Learn program
- Keep reading OntarioNewsNorth.com for more on the expansion this spring! For immediate questions, please
- call 1-855-424-ESEL (3735).
