Local Optometry Employee to Help with Clinic in Panama

Later this month, a free eye clinic will be held in Panama to potentially treat hundreds of patients through Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity (VOSH). The program has been around since 1970 when it was founded by 1970  Dr. Franklin Harms in Kansas. Today it has 98 chapters and serves more than 1 million patients worldwide.

Locally, Clarity Eye Care employee, Afton Michaud, optometric assistant of 17 years, will attend. It will be her second VOSH event, as she previously attended in 2023. She will be accompanied by Dr. Richard Reeves, OD, retired optometrist of the former Reeves and Stoppel in Clay Center and Washington, and Dr. Thomas Hatesohl, OD, a Clay Center native who works at The Eye Doctors. The group will travel to Colón, Panama, which is north-central along the Caribbean Sea.

The healthcare event includes one day of clinic setup, followed by five days of seeing patients, Michaud said. Between six and eight doctors will see patients, while Michaud and others will help match prescriptions with donated glasses, she said. They also set up patients who have been flagged for potential disease with additional resources. Other volunteers work by directing patients through the process. A total of 18 workers will be at the event.

Michaud said much of VOSH is facilitated by the local Rotary chapter, who sets up volunteers’ living quarters, stores donated glasses, and helps fund additional eye care for those who need it.

“It’s really kind of cool just to help people who have never had eyecare or had their eyes examined,” she said. In addition, she enjoys seeing children’s reactions. “There might be a little 5-year-old who has no idea what the world looks like other than what they see normally and the excitement and expression when you put glasses one them is amazing. It’s one of my favorite things.”

Michaud said they have donated glasses that are marked by prescription, and they work to find patients the closest match. They also provide eye drops or additional items as needed.

“We try to find glasses that best fit them and are the closets prescription.”

Because they are traveling to a developing country, there is little technology included with exams, she said.

“You get to see a little bit of a different side of the eye exam portion because we go back to old school,” she said. “There’s a couple instruments but it’s all manual which is really interesting.”

During her last visit, Michaud said the clinic was in a smaller community.

“It was very busy, we saw anywhere from 300-400 patients a day,” she said. “This one is larger so we’ll see what the number are.”

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