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It is my honor to share with you some of the outstanding community service activities which Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island contributed to this year. Our participation in these events is made possible by your eye care physicians and our fantastic staff members who make up OCLI. All of us at OCLI are excited to share with you these stories of how we give back to the communities we have the privilege to serve. Thank you to all of the patients who have contributed to these causes with us. We could not accomplish this without our wonderful doctors, staff and you, our patients.
All of us at OCLI wish you the very best this holiday season.
Tom
Despite plummeting temperatures, persistent rain, pink cheeks and frozen feet, OCLI staff members rallied for the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” annual walk on October 18. Joined by a myriad of local breast cancer survivors, volunteers, businesses and community members to fight breast cancer and save lives, they endured the unusually chilly and miserable weather to show their personal commitment to the cause.
OCLI (www.ocli.net) has participated in the annual walk since 2000 and became a Long Island Flagship Sponsor in 2009. As a Flagship Sponsor, OCLI committed $15,000 to the cause, and raised another $22,536 through office bake sales, cook book sales, and other fundraising activities.
The team was led by Ellen Corcoran, OCLI’s Lynbrook Office Manager, who raised $5,500 for the cause and was the 10th largest fundraiser on Long Island.
“Today, there is more hope than ever for people facing breast cancer” said Ms. Corcoran. “However, there is much more work to be done. I believe that hope for a world without breast cancer starts with me. Not only is this my opportunity to join my community to fight back against breast cancer, it is also a way to inspire hope by raising funds and awareness to help those facing the disease and save more lives”.
In total, 17,000 people participated in the Long Island walk and together raised $2,800,000. The American Cancer Society uses the money to save lives by helping people stay well by taking steps to prevent cancer or find it early; by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking research and by fighting back by encouraging lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer.
Pictured left, Claire La Rocca, left, an office manager at OCLI Rockville Center, stands with Ellen Corcoran, right, office manager of OCLI Lynbrook, and OCLI team captain. Pictured right, OCLI managing partner Richard Sturm, MD with his daughter Chandler Sturm, center, and friend Erin Quinn.
Throughout August and September, doctors at OCLI performed free surgery at the Island Eye Surgicenter to give the gift of sight back to those who have lost some or all of their vision because of cataracts. OCLI is a participant in the Mission Cataract USA program and offered this outpatient surgical procedure to residents of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens who are not covered by medical insurance and who were unable to pay for the surgery themselves.
“OCLI has a history of giving back to the community, through the personal efforts of our Long Island eye care doctors and as a group. This effort is one more piece of our OCLI ‘Renewed Vision™ program and it is an innovative way to give back to the community we serve” said Tom Burke, CEO of OCLI. He continued, “We participate in similar projects, such as Healthy Vision 2010 with The National Eye Institute and Eye Care America with the American Academy of Ophthalmology. These efforts help us reach vision and service objectives as part of a shared responsibility for national disease prevention that helps to improve the health of all Americans.”
Dr. Stanley Berke performs cataract surgery
OCLI has performed charitable surgical procedures for many years with various local service organizations including The Lion’s Eye Bank and The Sons of Italy. For this Mission Cataract effort, the doctors, technicians and nurses volunteer their services free of charge. The procedures will be performed at the Island Eye Surgicenter, in Carle Place.
Participating cataract surgeons include: Stanley Berke, MD, Robert Broderick, MD, Ronald Caronia, MD, Gerard D’Aversa, MD, Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Russell Fumuso, MD, David Nelson, MD, David Sachs, MD and Richard Sturm, MD.
The following corporate and individual professionals along with their staff, have generously contributed professional services, surgical supplie s , pharmaceuticals and equipment to bring this community service to reality: Island Eye Surgicenter, Julie Suarez, M.D. Rockville Centre, Roman P. Urbanczck, M.D. Valley Stream (Rotacare), Brad Litwak, MD and Nassau Ambulatory Anesthesia Associates, Abbott Medical Optics, Allergan, Bausch and Lomb, Cardinal Health Incorporated and Integrated Medical Supplies.
In March, OCLI held a free “Glaucoma Screening” event for members of the community and staff of the Sterling Glen of
Roslyn, an Atria Senior Living Group community.
Dr. Broderick of OCLI screened 41 people at the Sterling Glen ranging in ages from 21 to 96. March 12 marked the second-annual World Glaucoma Day, a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and worldwide.
Did you know a risk factor of glaucoma is heredity?
If you have glaucoma, make sure your family members have been seen by an OCLI eye doctor in the last year for a dilated eye exam.
Nadimire Jules, a class of 2000 Westbury High School graduate, embarked on a very special journey this past summer. A second-year med student at
Drexel University College of Medicine, Nadimire traveled to Ghana to spend one month helping local ophthalmologists provide eye care to those living in
rural villages. Nadimire traveled to Ghana through Unite for Sight, a nonprofit organization providing eye care worldwide and offering high impact hands-on public health opportunities for volunteers. As part of her preparation, Nadimire shadowed several ophthalmologists at OCLI prior to her trip to gain additional knowledge and skills she will need while in Ghana.
Ms. Jules remarks, “I am so grateful for the positive response that I have received from Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island. I truly appreciate the
opportunity to work with their distinguished ophthalmologists and technicians, to learn and gain the skills that I used to help the ophthalmic staff in Tamale, Ghana”.
Ms. Jules is also fundraising on behalf of Unite for Sight, to help cover the cost of the free eye care services that they provide to patients. To make a donation visit www.uniteforsight.org. Dr. David Sachs, OCLI’s latest addition as an Associate Surgeon
Dr. David Sachs, OCLI’s latest addition as an Associate Surgeon leading their East Meadow office and a Drexel graduate himself, offered this observation: “This is a very special cause that Nadimire is working for, and I am very excited to help her in achieving her goal of volunteering to assist patients in Ghana who do not have access to ophthalmologists.”
Ms. Jules was able to observe live surgery with the assistance of Island Eye Surgicenter doctors and staff.
Nadimire observes Dr. David Sachs and Dr. Peter Wong of OCLI with Bob Nelson, Executive Director of Island Eye Surgicenter perform eye surgery on patient.
“We are pleased to offer this extraordinary young woman the opportunity to shadow doctors Nelson, Berke, Wong, and Sachs and observe surgery at Island Eye Surgicenter” said Tom Burke, CEO of OCLI. “Working with our
doctors and the expert Surgicenter staff helped Nadimire gain knowledge in many areas including cataract, glaucoma, corneal and retinal disease”.