By Staff
Friday, August 3, 2018 12:18 AM
NORWALK, Conn.—
IDOC, a privately held alliance of independent optometrists, announced that James (Jim) Thimons, OD, FAAO, and Matt Yordy have been named to the group’s board of directors. IDOC said it will benefit from the board members’ “unique expertise as IDOC continues to grow and develop best in class programming and services for its members,” according to the announcement earlier this week. The two new directors expand IDOC’s board to seven director positions, according to a spokeswoman.
By Staff
Wednesday, August 1, 2018 12:24 AM
CHICAGO—
Opternative Inc., a healthcare technology and online vision testing company, has named Lori McInerney as chief marketing officer. She will lead the marketing team in “driving brand awareness globally, growing partner marketing and bringing in new business,” according to an announcement Tuesday. Prior to joining Opternative, McInerney was vice president of marketing at
Shiftgig, where she and her team were responsible for driving new business via targeted content and thought leadership, increasing brand awareness and public relations, and recruiting on-demand talent, Opternative said in its announcement. She also spent more than 10 years at CareerBuilder in various marketing and sales leadership roles.
By Staff
Tuesday, July 31, 2018 12:27 AM
LINTHICUM, Md.—
Versant Health, a national managed eye health and vision-plan company, has named Jeff Hermosillo as executive VP of sales, marketing and client management.
By Staff
Friday, June 8, 2018 12:24 AM
MASON, Ohio—
Pearle Vision, the eyecare franchise business of
Luxottica, said Thursday that it’s preparing to launch a “strategic independent optometrist conversion program,” called Pearle Vision “Ignite,” that is tied to the company’s commitment to growing the brand in new communities across the nation, according to an announcement from the company.
By Staff
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 12:27 AM
PADOVA, Italy—A new
Safilo Group S.p.A. board of directors, meeting for the first time Tuesday following their election earlier in the day during a general shareholders’ meeting, confirmed the appointment of Angelo Trocchia as the company’s new chief executive officer. Trocchia, as
VMAIL reported, in February was named to succeed former chief executive Luisa Delgado, who retired at the end of February. Trocchia, who was chief executive of Unilever Italia, joined the company April 1.
By Staff
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 12:18 AM
CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—At
Essilor International’s (Reuters: ESSI.PA) annual general meeting yesterday, shareholders voted in favor of renewing the mandates of Louise Frechette, Jeanette Wong, Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique, Bernard Hours, Marc Onetto and Olivier Pecoux. Additionally, the shareholders appointed Wong as director of the board of directors of EssilorLuxottica, the company that will be created upon completion of the pending merger of Essilor and
Luxottica. Executives from the two companies have previously said they expect the merger to become finalized in mid-2018. It has already been cleared by Australian, European and U.S. regulatory authorities, and is awaiting approval from Chinese regulators.
By Staff
Friday, April 13, 2018 12:27 AM
FAIRFAX, Va.—Thomas W. Samuelson, MD, a world-renowned ophthalmologist who specializes in the medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma and disorders of the anterior segment, will assume his role as president of the
American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in April 2018. He currently serves as ASCRS vice president and will replace the outgoing president, Bonnie An Henderson, MD. Dr. Samuelson will deliver the president’s address tomorrow during the Opening General Session of the ASCRS•ASOA (American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
By Staff
Monday, April 2, 2018 12:18 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—
Eye Care Leaders (ECL), a practice management software developer for ophthalmology and optometry practices, said that all of its products, as well services such as revenue cycle management, hosting, and more, have earned Certified status for information security by
Hitrust. Hitrust CSF (Common Security Framework) certified status demonstrates that ECL has met key regulations and industry-defined requirements and is appropriately managing risk. By including federal and state regulations, standards and frameworks, and incorporating a risk-based approach, the Hitrust CSF helps organizations address these challenges through a comprehensive and flexible framework of prescriptive and scalable security controls.
By Staff
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 12:24 AM
KIBBUTZ SHAMIR, Israel—
Shamir Optical Industry, the Israel-based spectacle lens manufacturer, has appointed Yagen Moshe as president and CEO. Moshe will take over the management roles from Amos Netzer on July 1, 2018. Moshe joined Shamir Optical in 2005 as a financial controller and was named chief financial officer in 2006. In 2013, Moshe held the position of chief operating officer and in 2014, was named deputy CEO, and CEO of Shamir Asia. “We are very pleased to see Yagen step into the role of CEO,” said Omry Rotem, chairman of Shamir Optical’s Board of Directors. “Under his leadership, business in Shamir Asia increased contributing to the overall growth of Shamir Optical. We are looking forward to his leadership further pushing the growth of Shamir Optical in an ever changing world,” added Rotem.
By Staff
Thursday, March 1, 2018 12:21 AM
DALLAS—
Eyemart Express has named Michael J. Bender as chief executive officer and president, effective Jan. 1, 2018. He most recently served as chief operating officer of Walmart's Global eCommerce business. Former Eyemart Express CEO Doug Barnes, Jr. is now serving the company as chairman. Under his leadership, Barnes brought in a new executive team. He also saw the organization through an ownership change from a private family to private equity company
FFL Partners. "We are honored to have Michael join our executive team," said Barnes. "We have spent the last two years rounding out our leadership team, and Michael's long record of retail experience and leadership style made him an ideal fit for Eyemart Express. “We are confident that he will continue the momentum we established in providing a convenient and quality eyecare solution for our customers nationwide.”
By Staff
Monday, February 26, 2018 12:18 AM
CHICAGO—
Opternative Inc., a health care technology company offering online refraction, has named Scott Axonovitz as the company’s first chief revenue officer. He previously spent nearly a decade at CareerBuilder, where he headed up the global enterprise key customer business, according to an Opternative announcement last week. “Scott has a great background in sales and is already proving to be a powerful asset at our company,” Opternative chief executive officer Brent Rasmussen said in the announcement. “We are excited to see the growth trajectory of our company under Scott's direction.” (Rasmussen, who, as
VMAIL reported, was named CEO earlier this year, is a former chief operating officer for North America at CareerBuilder).
By Staff
Friday, February 9, 2018 12:18 AM
LARGO, Fla.—
Quest Vision Care Specialty Lab, based here, has appointed two new members to its management team. Ilona Ostrowski has been named chief financial officer. She will oversee the company's financial planning and reporting, accounting, tax and treasury functions which falls in line perfectly with her background of financial planning. Ostrowski began her career in 1996 after graduating from the University of Gdansk, Poland and immigrating to the U.S. She worked for Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft, a New York law firm before joining Quest’s accounting team in 2014. Her experience includes financial, treasury and operations management, performance and risk management, mergers and acquisitions as well as board and regulatory relations.
By Staff
Friday, February 9, 2018 12:15 AM
PALM SPRINGS, Fla.—A focus on making the eyecare experience simple for the patient/customer is one of the keys to the success of My Eyelab and Stanton Optical, Daniel Stanton, a co-founder of both optical retailers, told VMAIL in a recent interview. “Our vision for this industry is easy eyecare,” Stanton said. “We were kind of tired of this broken model that really hasn’t changed over the past 35-plus years and that customers and patients are subject to.”
By Staff
Thursday, February 8, 2018 12:18 AM
PENSACOLA, Fla.—
Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (IRIS), an industry leader in early detection systems for diabetic eye disease, has appointed Chris Belmont as interim chief executive officer. He succeeds Jason Crawford, who stepped down in January. IRIS, which said it has surpassed 250,000 diabetic retinopathy examinations, said the move positions the company for continued growth, according to the announcement. Belmont is the former senior vice president and chief information officer of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which is ranked as the No. 1 cancer center in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, according to the announcement.
By Staff
Tuesday, February 6, 2018 12:21 AM
CHESTERFIELD, Mo.—
EyePromise and its parent company, ZeaVision Holdings, announced a series of organizational changes. Effective immediately, ZeaVision chairman and CEO Dennis Gierhart, PhD, will serve as interim-president of the eye health nutraceutical maker while the company performs an executive search to identify a successor to Chris Barber. “We thank Chris for his contributions to the business during his tenure as president and wish him success in his future endeavors,” said Gierhart. Bob Kearns has been promoted to senior vice president of sales, responsible for both doctor and direct-to-consumer sales.