August 18 - 19, 2006
Wallace, North Carolina
The North Carolina State Board of Examiners in Optometry met at the Board’s office in Wallace, North Carolina, on Friday and Saturday, August 18 - 19, 2006 to determine the results of the Summer 2006 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and for other purposes. Present were Drs. William Rafferty, President, David Anderson, Secretary/Treasurer, Joel Banks, Michael Clark and William Hendrix and Mrs. Trudy Mitchell and Mrs. Mary Richardson, members of the Board. Also present were Drs. John Robinson, the Executive Director and David Baxter, the retiring Board Member, Janice Peterson, R.N., the Administrative Secretary, and Ms. Sara Roberts, the Administrative Assistant. Mr. John Dixon, the Board’s software consultant and programmer was present on Saturday. Mr. Thaddeus Swank, Director – Patient Initiatives, Washington Office of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, was present at both the Friday and Saturday sessions except for those portions of these meetings that were closed for the purpose of reviewing the scoring of the Summer 2006 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and the determination of the examination results.
The meeting was called to order by the President. Dr. Baxter offered an opening prayer when called upon to do so by Dr. Rafferty.
On a motion by Dr. Clark, seconded by Dr. Anderson and carried unanimously, the Minutes of the July 27 – 30, 2006 meeting were approved.
Report of the President Dr. Rafferty welcomed Dr. Clark as the newest Member of the Board and thanked Dr. Baxter, the retiring Member, before revisiting his goals for the year. The goals as previously outlined earlier are: first, the modification of the Board’s continuing education requirements to address more structured education in order that the education provide more meaningful learning experiences for the licensees; and second, to work toward creating uniformity in case presentations by the Clinical Examiners by means of developing a “matrix(ces)” that would be programmed into the Board’s data systems whereby cases (including photographs, visual fields, etc. that might be relevant to a particular case) used during the course of future clinical/practicum examinations are to be entered.
On a motion made by Dr. Hendrix, seconded by Mrs. Mitchell, and carried unanimously the report of the President was accepted.
Report of the Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Anderson reviewed the Budget Report covering the period July 1 – August, 18, 2006. Following discussion and the answering of questions by Dr. Anderson, Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Peterson, a motion to accept the Budget Report was made by Dr. Hendrix, seconded by Mrs. Richardson and carried unanimously.
Report of the Executive Director The Executive Director’s report was brief. He called the Board’s attention to a copy of the letter from Mr. Loper to Mr. Swank in response to a memorandum he sent to North Carolina ophthalmologists suggesting that they provide documentation to the Academy of cases where optometrists had either mismanaged or misdiagnosed diseases resulting in harm to a patient or cases where optometrists were practicing beyond their lawful scope of practice by performing procedures that are viewed as constituting surgery.
The Board web page has been updated to list the requirements for the credentialing of North Carolina licensed optometrists to perform the following injection procedures: periocular and chalazia injections and fluorescein angiography.
A subpoena was received from attorneys representing the siblings of Dr. David Stanaland, an optometrist whose license was revoked some years ago, to produce the disciplinary records for their use in a dispute over the will of Dr. Stanaland’s father. Because of legal concerns over “privacy” of certain of Dr. Stanaland’s medical records which are a part of the file the matter of compliance was left to Mr. Loper to decide which of the documents in the file could be released. In the interim a Public Records Act request was received for the production of the Board’s files. Mr. Loper has asked for advice from other attorneys in his firm with expertise in the area of the HIPPA and other privacy laws in researching the matter in order to protect the Board from the possibility of legal action by Dr. Stanaland if his privacy rights are violated.
On a motion by Dr. Clark, seconded by Dr. Anderson and carried unanimously the report of the Executive Director was accepted unanimously.
Determination of Examination Results On a motion by Dr. Anderson seconded by Mrs. Mitchell and carried unanimously the Board went into closed session in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 143-318.11(a)(1) G.S. 93b-8(c), and G.S. 93b-8(d).
The results of the scoring of each of the applicant’s performance on the examinations were thoroughly reviewed during the closed session.
On a motion by Dr. Anderson, seconded by Dr. Hendrix and carried unanimously the Board returned to open session.
The review of the scoring of the Summer 2006 Examinations having been completed and the passing applicants for licensure to practice optometry in North Carolina identified, Dr. Anderson moved and Hendrix seconded a motion that carried unanimously that the following applicants whose names follow with their license number assigned in the Board’s Register be notified that they are licensed to practice optometry in North Carolina:
David K. Baily, O.D. #2022
Andrea N. Camp, O.D. #2023
Jason Avery Crawford, O.D. #2024
Kyle A. Eaton, O.D. #2025
Andrew Jason Harris, O.D. #2026
Susan A. Holt, O.D. #2027
Kimberly Ziemnik Hoyle, O.D. #2046
William Neil Hutto, O.D. #2028
Holly Allison Kiker, O.D. #2029
Justin D. Lane, O.D. #2030
Angela Everett MacDonald, O.D. #2031
Nima Mahmood Mazhari, O.D. #2032
Robert C. Monson, III, O.D. #2033
Trisha Marie Moore, O.D. #2034
Leslie Ann Morris, O.D. #2035
Matthew B. Motteler, O.D. #2036
Yen Hoang Nguyen, O.D. #2037
Danielle Denise Norville, O.D. #2038
Randy A. Omlor, O.D., M.S. #2039
Anjali B. Patel, O.D. #2041
Gayatri Kanu Patel, O.D. #2040
Keith A. Pawlish, Jr., O.D. #2042
Jennifer M. Powell, O.D. #2043
Monica Leigh Schroeder, O.D. #2044
Jillian Iris Thompson, O.D. #2045
Mr. John Dixon updated the Board on the progress he has made in re-writing the Board’s licensing data management system. He has transferred the existing data base to the new system and is in the process of testing. So far the testing has proved the new system reliable. New entry screens are in the design process and he is working with the Administrative Secretary and the Administrative Assistant to be certain that each of the screens will meet their needs. It is projected that this phase of the project will be finished within the next four to six weeks, on time for the 2007 license renewals to go out in late October.
Old Business Dr. Anderson reported that the plans for the Fluorescein Angiography track to be given at the Fall Educational Congress of the North Carolina State Optometric Society by members of the faculty of the Southern College of Optometry are complete; however, space and time restraints will limit the enrollment to no more than 40 individuals. In discussion of the events leading up to the course offering it was the consensus that one or more Members of the Board should take the course. On a motion by Dr. Hendrix, seconded by Dr. Banks and carried unanimously the Board will pay the enrollment fee for the course in the amount of $ 700 for both Dr. Anderson and Dr. Rafferty (the fee includes the registration for the Fall Congress).
New Business Members of the Board were furnished copies of the Memoranda from the North Carolina Board of Ethics. Dr. Rafferty who is working with the Continuing Education Committee of the State Society on a number of continuing education issues volunteered to look into the resources available to conduct such courses and to work with the Society in introducing at least one course during the time of either their Spring or Fall Congress.
Dr. Rafferty appointed the following individuals to a Task Force to work with the Board Staff and software consultant to begin the construction of an extensive data base containing case scenarios, each of which are unique and entered in the system in a uniform format: Drs. M. Clark, A. Hamp; D. MacQueen, W. Rafferty, R. Rosenstein and M. Vizithum.
Prior to adjournment the President spoke directly to Mr. Swank (monitoring on behalf of the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Washington office) who was in attendance during both days of the meeting to express the thought that through meaningful dialog the professions of ophthalmology and optometry might be able to find amicable solutions to controversial issues. In concluding his remarks Dr. Rafferty opined that the Board would be open to meaningful discussions between it and those organizations represented by Mr. Swank. Mr. Swank responded that he would take the offer back to the organizations he represents.
On a motion by Dr. Hendrix, seconded by Mrs. Richardson and carried unanimously the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday, August 19, 2006.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board will be at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC beginning on Thursday, November 9, 2006 and ending no later than noon on Sunday, November 12, 2006. In accordance with previous policy Dr. Rafferty stated that the Board Members should use Wednesday, November 8, 2006 as a travel day and that reimbursement for the meeting be for travel, 5 days per diem and subsistence and 4 hotel nights.
Approved 11/09/06
Asheville, NC