Minutes of the

North Carolina State Board of Optometry

March 25-26, 2011

Wallace, North Carolina

The North Carolina State Board of Examiners in Optometry met in Wallace, North Carolina on Friday and Saturday, March 25-26, 2011, to determine the results of the Winter 2011 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and for other purposes. Present were Drs. Michael Clark, President, William Rafferty, Secretary/Treasurer, David Anderson, Andrew Cook, Harold Herring and Mr. Roger Mitchell and Ms. Mary Richardson, Members of the Board. Also present were John D.

Robinson, O.D., Executive Director, Janice Peterson, R.N., Administrative Secretary, and Ms. Sara Roberts, Administrative Assistant. Mr. Johnny Loper, Board Attorney, joined the meeting on Saturday morning via conference telephone call.

The meeting was called to order at 5:38 p.m. on Friday by Dr. Michael

Clark, President of the Board after which he read the “ETHICS AWARENESS & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST REMINDER” as required by the North Carolina State Ethics Commission. A copy of the”Reminder” was in each Members meeting notebook.

Approval of Minutes. On a motion by Dr. Herring and seconded by Mr. Mitchell, the minutes of the February 18-20, 2011 meeting as corrected were unanimously approved.

Report of the President. Dr. Clark did not have a formal report but stated that he would be offering comments on certain agenda items at the appropriate time. On a motion by Dr. Cook and seconded by Ms. Richardson, the remarks of the President were unanimously accepted.

Report of the Secretary-Treasurer. Dr. Rafferty presented the Budget Report for the period covering July 1, 2010 through March 24, 2011. He noted that with three months left in the fiscal year and the expenses are comfortably in line with funds budgeted for fiscal year 2010-2011. Further, that while the income projections have not yet been met there will be income from late license renewal fees, examination application fees and interest/investment income that should bring the income amounts by the end of the fiscal year to a figure at or close to the amount budgeted. Should that not be the case then the funds budgeted as reserves will likely keep prevent the Board’s operating at a loss for fiscal year 2010-2011. On a motion by Mr. Mitchell seconded by Ms. Richardson and carried unanimously the report of the Secretary-Treasurer was accepted. Note: The Executive Committee was furnished with a copy of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 earlier in the week prior to this meeting. Following the adjournment Drs. Clark and Rafferty met with the Executive Director to review with him the performance of the Board Staff over the past year. The proposed budget will be provided to each of the Board Members prior to the Board’s next meeting for their review. A review of Staff performance will be provided the Board Members by the Executive Director during the closed session at the meeting in Myrtle Beach.

Report of the Executive Director. The report of the Executive Director was brief given the short time between meetings of the Board. He reported that the amended Board Rules have cleared all the hurdles, the final one being the ‘continuing education’ requirement. At the last meeting of the Commission there was a problem with some of the language in the rule as amended. This has been worked out to the satisfaction of the Commission’s staff and received the approval of the Commission at its last meeting. The bill to grant Investigatory Privilege to the Board has been introduced and awaits a committee hearing. We have received information that inquiries concerning the bill were made on behalf of SEPS shortly after its introduction. There has been no further information on efforts to replace the Doctor of Optometry Degree with a Doctor of Optometric Medicine Degree by some within ASCO. Finally, we are monitoring ongoing projects of both ARBO and FSMB on Maintenance of License (MOL) which may well supplant ‘board certification’. As reported earlier the North Carolina Medical Board is quit interested in the concept.

Review of the Scoring and Results of the Winter 2011 Clinical/Practicum Examinations. At 6:00 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Mitchell, seconded by Dr. Cook, and carried unanimously, the Board went into Executive Session in accordance with NCGS 143-318.11(a)(1) to review the scoring and results of the Winter 2011 Clinical/Practicum Examination. At 7:10 p.m., on a motion by Dr. Cook, seconded by Mr. Mitchell, and carried unanimously, the Board returned to open session. No motions were made and no action was taken while in closed session.

Determining the Results of the Examination. Having reviewed the scoring of the Winter 2011 Examinations in closed session, it was moved by Dr. Rafferty, seconded by Ms. Richardson, and carried unanimously that the following candidates be notified of their having achieved a passing score on the Winter 2011 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and that they are to be duly licensed to practice the profession of optometry in North Carolina; further that their names be entered in the Board Registry with license numbers assigned as follows:

Roselyn Iveren Ahua, O.D. # 2218

Joshua Lee Blanton, O.D. # 2219

David R. Daughtry, Jr., O.D. # 2220

Anjali Desai, O.D. # 2221

Nicholas D. Graham, O.D. # 2222

Lauren Rose Hoffman, O.D. # 2223

Melissa Ann Misko, O.D. # 2224

Michelle Kathleen Mumford, O.D. # 2225

Rena Melton Pate, O.D. # 2226

Yos M. Priestley, O.D. # 2227

Nicholas R. Reid, O.D. # 2228

Annivette Rivera, O.D. # 2229

Meeting with the Board Attorney. The Board’s Attorney, Johnny M. Loper, joined the meeting on Saturday morning at 10 A.M. Mr. Loper reported that he and the Board Executive Director and Administrative Secretary met with representatives of the Legal Department of the North Carolina Medical Board to discuss the Medical Board’s likely or possible positions with regard to certain additional procedures that this Board is considering confirming as being appropriate for optometrists to perform and bill for. No motion was made or any action taken as a result of Mr. Loper’s report..

Old Business. Dr. Rafferty lead a brief discussion of ARBO’s Maintenance of License (MOL) project and informed the Board that at least one state, Indiana, has initiated a number of the requirements in order for Indiana optometrists to renew their license.

New Business.

• The Executive Director met with the President and Secretary/Treasurer of the Board to review ‘staff performance’ over the past year. The Board will receive a report of this meeting in closed session at the Board’s upcoming meeting in June in Myrtle Beach.
• There have been a number of inquires from licensees concerning ‘board certification’ by the American Board of Clinical Optometry. They were informed that the Board’s position on ‘board certification’ is no different than that expressed in past memorandums sent by the Board to every licensee on the subject.
• A ‘business enterprise’ that goes by the name of “KMK Enterprises” recently put on a ‘review course’ for board certification in conjunction with the South Carolina Optometric Association. We have received mailings that the course is also being offered at Salus University’s College of Optometry as well as some of the other schools and colleges of optometry. This ‘enterprise’ is owned by an optometrist or group of optometrists who also offer courses to optometry students to prepare them to take and pass the NBEO examinations. We received information that the issue of sponsorship of this course came up at the last meeting of the State Society’s Executive Council and that this group is soliciting the State Society’s support in offering the course as part of their continuing education program.

Association of Regulatory Boards in Optometry. The Annual Meeting of the Association of Regulatory Boards in Optometry will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 12 – 14, 2011. It was noted that Dr. Rafferty as the Immediate Past-President of ARBO and now a Member of the National Board will be at the meeting in Salt Lake City; therefore, his expenses in attending the meeting will be paid by either the NBEO or ARBO. Prior to the adjournment no one expressed interest in going to this meeting. While the Executive Director is expected to attend the Annual Meetings of ARBO and the HOD of the AOA his attendance this year will be based upon the condition of his wife’s health at the time he is to leave. On a motion by Dr. Cook seconded by Dr. Anderson and carried unanimously it will be left to the President to authorize attendance of up to two Board Members at the ARBO meeting; further, in addition to travel, hotel and other expenses for the Executive Director to attend these meetings, those Board Members authorized by the President to attend the ARBO meeting whose expenses are not covered by another organization will reimbursed for travel, five days meal, four hotel nights and up to 5 days per diem.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board will be at the Kingston Plantation and Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C. with arrivals on Wednesday afternoon, June 1^1st with the meetings starting at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 2, 2011 and ending no later than 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 6, 2011. On a motion by Dr. Cook, seconded by Dr. Anderson, and carried unanimously registration, travel, 4 hotel nights and 5 days meal expenses were approved for the Members of the Board and the Executive Director; further, that the Board Members be allowed 5 days per diem for their attendance.

The Annual Meeting of the Board for the purpose of electing officers for fiscal year July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 will be held in the Eton Room at the Embassy Suites Hotel at Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach, S.C. at a time certain of 12 o’clock noon on Thursday, June 2, 2011.

There being no further business, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2011, Dr. Anderson moved and Mr. Mitchell seconded a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously.

Approved 06/02/11

Myrtle Beach, SC