Wallace, North Carolina
The North Carolina State Board of
Examiners in Optometry met in Wallace, North Carolina, on Thursday and Friday, September
16- 17, 2010 to
determine the results of the Summer 2010 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and
for other purposes. Present were Dr.
Michael Clark, President, Dr. William Rafferty, Secretary/Treasurer, and Drs.
David Anderson, Andrew Cook and Harold Herring and Ms. Mary Richardson, Members
of the Board. Absent due to the death
of his mother-in-law was Mr. Roger Mitchell. Also present were Dr. John Robinson,
the Executive Director, Janice Peterson, R.N., the Administrative Secretary, and
Mrs. Sara Roberts, the Administrative Assistant. As the retiring Board Member
whose term did not end until after the Summer 2010 Examinations was Dr. Joel
Banks. Present on Friday by way of conference telephone was the Board’s
attorney, Mr. Johnny Loper.
The meeting was called to order at 7:05
p.m. by the President, Dr. Michael Clark who read the “Ethics and Conflict of Interest Reminder” prepared by the North
Carolina State Ethics Commission, a copy of which was in each Member’s meeting notebook.
Approval of Minutes. On
a motion by Dr. Cook, seconded by
Ms. Richardson and carried unanimously,
the Minutes of the July 29 – August 1, 2010 meeting were approved.
Report of the President. Dr. Clark had no formal report; however, he did
take the opportunity to ask the Board Members to take whatever time is
necessary to carefully review each candidate’s results examination results for consistency
and accuracy on scoring in determining the final results of the examination. On
a motion made by Rafferty, seconded by Ms. Richardson, and carried unanimously
the report of the President was accepted.
Report of the Secretary/Treasurer. Drs. Rafferty, Robinson and Ms. Peterson reviewed
the Independent Auditors Report and
Financial Statement for fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 prepared by the Firm,
Waters and Piver, CPA’s, P.A. prior to
Dr. Rafferty’s reviewing the Budget Report covering the period July 1 –
September 14, 2010. After reviewing the Audit and the Budget report and
the answering of questions by the Executive Director and the Administrative
Secretary a motion to accept the report of the Secretary/Treasurer and the
Annual Audit prepared by the Firm of Waters & Piver, CPA’s, PA was made by Dr. Herring and seconded by Dr. Anderson.. The motion carried unanimously.
Report of the Executive
Director.
The Executive Director called the Board’s attention that the deadline
for filing amendments to the Board’s Rules and Regulations was fast approaching
and that the changes necessary in updating the list of the Schools and Colleges
of Optometry and the current National
Board requirements had already been approved by the Board. Waiting the approval of the Board prior to submitting
changes that are to take effect beginning with calendar year 2012 are amendments
to the Board’s continuing education requirements. The amendments discussed at previous meetings awaiting approval
would increase the total number of continuing education hours required each
year, beginning with calendar year 2012, for the annual renewal of one’s license to practice from twenty (20) hours to
twenty five (25) hours. As currently
drafted, within the twenty five (25) hour requirement, the nine (9) “certified”
hours currently required would be increased to twelve (12) hours, the number of
hours that could be obtained for credit through correspondence or internet
courses would increase from four (4) to six (6) hours and the number of hours
of courses classified as practice management that could be obtained that would
count toward the twenty five (25) hour requirement would increase from three
(3) to four (4) hours.
He briefed the Board on the current
status of the “cheating scandal” that involved a number of students and at
least one faculty member at one of the Colleges of Optometry, and the efforts
by the National Board to determine who and how many individuals were involved,
how many examination items were
“stolen”, the extent to which its examinations have been compromised and the
extent of the distribution of the stolen items. Further, the fact that the combined costs of everything from the
investigations, the legal expense and the replacement of items that have been
lost will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars; and that, in the end, these costs will be
born by students taking the National Board’s examinations.
Among the materials in the Meeting
Notebook are e-mails from Drs. Peter Hollis and Allan Barker asking the Board’s
position on the use of “Mobile Eye
Clinics” in three metropolitan areas of the state where their respective
professional corporations have practices.
The purpose of the mobile eye clinics are stated to be the offering of free eye examinations and glasses to persons
previously screened by Boys and Girls Clubs of North Carolina and Prevent
Blindness North Carolina as being “under privileged” who are in need of these
services. Related e-mails and copies of
mailings to North Carolina optometrists and ophthalmologists from “Prevent
Blindness North Carolina” and the North Carolina State Optometric Society concerning
the “Vision USA” program are also included
A copy of a heretofore unknown statute
passed during the 2009 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly requiring
those Boards collecting licensing and license renewal fees to include in their
Rules and Regulations a provision that reads as follows:
“Suspension
of Authority to Expend Funds. In the
event the Board’s authority to expend funds is suspended pursuant to S.L. 2009-125,
the Board shall continue to issue and renew licenses and all fees tendered
shall be placed in an escrow account maintained by the Board for this
purpose. Once the Board’s authority is
restored, the funds shall be moved from the escrow account into the general
operating account.”
is included in the Meeting Notebook along
with a copy of the rule recently adopted by the North Carolina State Board of
Nursing.
Dr. Clark, that concludes my
report. I ask that the Members of the
Board review all of the material in their notebook and be prepared to act on
the amendments to the Board’s Rules and Regulations and to give guidance as to
how the Board should respond to Drs. Hollis and Barker concerning their
proposal to make use of “Mobile Eye Clinics” in the cities of Greenville,
Raleigh and Raleigh.
Board Rules and Regulations. On a motion by Dr. Herring seconded by Dr.
Cook and carried unanimously the Board approved the amending of the Board’s
rules to increase the total number of hours of continuing education required
for the license renewal from twenty (20) to twenty five (25) hours a year, the
number of “certified” hours required within the twenty five (25) hour
requirement be increased from nine (9) to twelve (12) hours, the number of
hours that can be obtained and counted for credit toward the twenty five (25)
hour requirement by way of correspondence or internet courses be increased from
four (4) to six (6) hours and that the number of hours of courses classified as
“practice management” that can be obtained and counted toward the annual
requirement be increased from three (3) to four (4) hours.
On a motion by Dr. Herring seconded by Dr.
Cook and carried unanimously the Board approved the further amending of its
Rules and Regulations by adding a new section, “Suspension of Authority to
Expend Funds” (see above), as required by NCGS 93B-2(b) enacted by the 2009
Session of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Mobile Eye Clinics. After a thorough discussion of the subject it
was the unanimous consensus of the Board that while it supports the idea of
providing eye care to the under privileged and in the underserved areas of our
state, mobile eye clinics should used only as a last resort in bringing
appropriate and needed eye care services to the underserved areas of North
Carolina. Should it be found that a
mobile clinic is best suited to provide such services in a particular area(s),
then local optometrists should be called upon as the first option for staffing
such a clinic(s). As for those areas
that are not considered underserved, there are a number of programs in place like
Vision USA, Prevent Blindness North Carolina and VSP’s Sight for Students that should
be utilized. In the metropolitan areas of
the state where the ratio of optometrists to the general population is
relatively high, these services could easily be provided in an office setting
by local optometrists who should be willing to provide the examination services
as volunteers. Such volunteer arrangements
address the problems associated with the lack of continuity of care, continuity
of care being the acceptable standard of care available only in an office
setting, not in a mobile clinic. In
ending the discussion the President
assigned the Executive Director the task of drafting a letter to Drs. Barker
and Hollis expressing the Board’s concerns with their proposal to use mobile
eye clinics in certain metropolitan “markets”, said letter to be consistent
with the Board’s support of efforts to make appropriate eye care available to
all of the citizens of North Carolina.
Public Hearing on Petition by James B. Black,
O.D. for Restoration of His License to Practice Optometry. Upon written request by Dr. James B. Black a
Public Hearing on the restoration of his license to practice optometry will be
held on Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 2:30 P.M. in the Eisenhower Room at the
Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.
Review of the Scoring of the Summer 2010
Clinical/Practicum Examinations. On a motion by Dr. Cook, seconded by Ms, Richardson and carried
unanimously the Board went into closed session in accordance with the
provisions of NCGS 143-318.11(a)(1), NCGS
93b-8(c) and NCGS 93b-8(d) to review the scoring of the Summer 2010 Clinical/Practicum
Examinations.
Determining the Results of the Summer 2010
Clinical/Practicum Examinations.
On returning to open session following review of the scoring of the
Summer 2010 Clinical/Practicum Examinations in closed session Dr. Anderson moved
and Ms. Richardson seconded a motion that the following applicants be
determined to have achieved a passing score on the Summer 2010
Clinical/Practicum Examinations and in
so doing are to be granted a license to practice the profession of optometry in
the State of North Carolina. Further,
in accordance with Article 6 of Chapter 90 of
the General Statutes of North Carolina their names are to be entered in
the Board Registry with license numbers assigned as follows:
2188 Felix Maitland Barker, O.D.
2189 Becky Elaine Call, O.D.
2190 Meredith Cameron Cole, O.D.
2191 Benjamin D. Crowell, O.D.
2192 Nicole Marie Gordon, O.D.
2193 Jessica Jane Grace, O.D.
2194 Kathy Diane Halverson, O.D.
2195 Kendra Jo Hatfield, O.D.
2196 William Chadwick Henson, O.D.
2197 Danielle E. Jordan, O.D.
2198 Lauren Ashley Kaluzne, O.D.
2199 Joseph Keaney, O.D.
2200 Micah Jason Kinney, O.D.
2201 Marc Kenneth Lay, O.D.
2202 Yen Thi Hong Le, O.D.
2203 Aundria Gaddy Lear, O.D.
2204 Doua C. Lor, O.D.
2205 Shanar H. Lou, O.D.
2206 Yupheng Ly, O.D.
2207 Brian Torger Naig, O.D.
2208 Esther M.H. Nakagawara, O.D.
2209 Natalie Jane Noble, O.D.
2210 Komalben Patel, O.D.
2211 Lindsay R. Schafer, O.D.
2212 Michael Sutton Schilawski, O.D.
2213 Angela B. Sellers, O.D.
2214 Jonathan Aaron Sugarman, O.D.
2215 Troy P. Swanson, O.D.
2216 Brandon L. Weyand, O.D.
2217 Michelle Ginah Yun, O.D.
The motion carried unanimously.
Meeting with the Board Attorney.
At 10:30 AM Mr. Loper joined the meeting via a conference telephone call. He reported that he was in the process of
drafting a Consent Order for H. D. Boyles, O.D., following a pre-hearing conference
at which Dr. Boyles and his attorney, Mr. Jim Wilson, met with the Board’s
Probable Cause Committee. That order,
the terms of which Dr. Boyles has agreed to, will be ready for the Board to act
on prior to the time of its next regularly scheduled meeting in Asheville in
November. Prior to that meeting a
specially called meeting held by conference telephone will be required for this
purpose. On another matter, with Dr. Banks out of the room, Mr. Loper reported
on an investigative case and informed the Board of the Committee’s recommended
resolution of that matter. After Mr.
Loper’s report Dr. Clark opened the floor for questions. Mr. Loper and Dr. Robinson responded to the
Board’s questions. Dr. Anderson then
moved and Dr. Cook seconded a motion that the Committee’s report and
recommendations for resolution be accepted and effected. The motion carried. The specifics of this
report, recommendation, and action are not included because these actions
involve a private letter of concern and therefore do not constitute public
records or public information.
Before leaving the call Mr. Loper
briefed the Board on way the Public Hearing in Asheville in November would be
conducted, and the fact that he had recently spoken with Dr. Black about
procedural matters and issues Dr. Black could be expected to present at the
hearing. No substantive issues or issues of fact or likely evidence or proof
were discussed. Attorney Jim Wilson has
been retained to advise the Board regarding all matters relating to that
hearing.
Mr. Loper also responded to a number of questions from Members of
the Board concerning the CPT code agreement with the Medical Board and agreed
to discuss the use of a number of codes, some of which involve the use of new
technologies by optometrists, with the representatives from the Medical Board.
Dr. Clark confirmed the appointment
of Dr. Rafferty as a Member of the Examination Review Committee to serve with
the Executive Director to review the results of any candidate failing the
Summer 2010 Examinations who requests a review. The review date will be on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 in the
Board’s office in Wallace, NC.
.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of
the Board will be at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC beginning on Thursday,
November 11, 2010 and ending no later than noon on Sunday, November 14, 2010. In accordance with previous policy Dr. Clark
opined that the Board Members should use Wednesday, November 10 , 2010 as a
travel day and that reimbursement for the meeting be for travel, 5 days per
diem and subsistence and 4 hotel nights.
There being no further business, on a
motion by Ms. Richardson seconded by Dr. Cook and carried unanimously the
meeting was adjourned at 11:30 A.M. on Friday, September 17, 2010.
Approved:
November 11, 2010
Asheville, NC