What time is it?

Did you know?  The annual 1-800 Contacts marketing spend is $33 million. Venture Capital funding for Opternative/Visibly is $18.3 million. Hubble Contacts is $73.7 million. And Warby Parker is $295 million. Total venture capital funding for these disrupters is $387,000,000.

Everyone wants a piece of what we do for a living. We have to protect it for our patients. It’s time.
I love YouTube. I recently saw a video about army ants and their strength in numbers. Their entire existence depends on their ability to cooperate with one another. A single ant can carry approximately 20 times its weight. An entire colony of ants is very powerful. With their intricate division of labor and communication skills, a colony can defeat extremely large prey in a matter of minutes.

Our profession has so many similarities to the army ants. Optometry is being attacked by large prey and it’s time to show our strength in numbers. The POA’s Board of Directors and committee structure consisting of optometrists volunteer their time and efforts to promote and protect our profession in Pennsylvania. We have a division of labor and communication skills and are facing battles that can affect all of our futures. What we need is strength in numbers if we hope to be victorious.

So how can you as an individual help accomplish our goals? How can you help us achieve success?
New graduates: We understand you have bills and debt to pay back. You can contribute your time. Call the POA office and find out where help is needed. Call and visit your local legislators. Ask your patients to sign a letter supporting our scope modernization and children’s vision bills. Come to Legislative Day in Harrisburg on March 16. Yes, it’s a day out of the office, but its only one day. It will open your eyes to how our bills get passed and how every member’s voice counts.

Established practitioners: Your practice is busy and time away from the office may be difficult. Consider writing a POPAC check so that we can continue to attend legislative events and educate our legislators about optometry. Your practice has benefited from those who helped pass legislation for the therapeutic privileges we currently enjoy. Help pay it forward with a POPAC check. Give as much as you can so the POA has the ongoing ability to educate our legislators about matters of importance to the visual health of Pennsylvanians.

Our Legislative Affairs Committee needs your help. As a group, they have invested days out of the office for meetings, time away from their families for evening conference calls, supported POPAC financially, and met with legislators to get these bills passed. Many have spent years on this committee and they do it all as volunteers. They deserve your support and appreciation.
If you haven’t contributed your time, finances or both, IT’S TIME. We haven’t been this close to passing a bill for many years. Let’s show our strength in numbers.

Call the POA at 717-233-6455. Send a check to “POPAC” at Pennsylvania Optometric Association, 218 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101.

Thank you in advance,

David Evans, O.D.
POA President