Eyeworld

EW IN OTHER NEWS March 2011 169 ophthalmic equipment and supplies to Haitian ophthalmologists includ- ing medicines, surgical supplies, and educational materials. So far, the Task Force has collected around $16,000 worth of supplies such as retinoscopes, prism bars, projector slides, and slit lamps. One of the larger donations came from Cheryl Powell, M.D., an ophthalmologist in Los Angeles, who contributed the guts of an en- tire working office to the cause. "When the disaster struck, we were all grief-stricken for the people of Haiti," she said. "They've suffered so many losses over the years, horri- ble atrocities in their country and government. Our hearts went out to them." Dr. Powell and a former business partner had dissolved a practice and had the makings of an office sitting in storage. When she found out about the Task Force, she worked with them to get the equipment packed up and shipped, which was no small feat. It couldn't be flown to Haiti for myriad reasons including cost and security measures and was instead trucked from California to Florida and shipped from there. Donations included chairs, stands, an auto refractor, stools, mir- rors, lens sets, a visual field machine, a file cabinet, fax machine, and pho- tocopier. "It was an amazing array of dif- ferent people who all pulled to- gether for this incredibly worthy cause," she said. "All the dominos lined up. It was divine intervention that this whole thing took place. I am so honored that my equipment is down there and being used. It's an overwhelmingly wonderful feeling." Dr. Powell got to meet some of the Haitian ophthalmologists using her equipment at the 2010 AAO meeting in Chicago. "It was an emotional and won- derful time," Dr. Powell said. "We were elated to be countries apart but together in the struggle to maintain eyecare in Haiti." Eventually, the Task Force had to decide if it was just going to be disaster relief or morph into some- thing more. "We decided that we had such a personal relationship with our Hait- ian colleagues that we wanted to keep the professional relationship," Dr. Brennan said. "So we went to phase two, which we call the organi- zational development phase." With much to be done in the country in terms of physically re- building structures, enhancing over- all healthcare, and improving education, the Task Force on Haiti Recovery, in conjunction with PAAO and Haitian ophthalmologists, has a lot to accomplish. Choose the leader. #1 Largest U.S. insurer of ophthalmologists and endorsed by most ophthalmic societies. Visit Us in Booth 1338 in San Diego. I choose OMIC because no other carrier does as much to support ophthalmology. continued on page 170

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