Minutes of

North Carolina State Board of Optometry

July 26- 31, 2007

Jane McKimmon Center

Raleigh, North Carolina

 

 

 

The North Carolina State Board of Optometry met in Raleigh, North Carolina, Thursday, July 26 through Monday, July30, 2007 to hear a presentation by the North Carolina Board of Ethics, conduct the Summer 2007 Clinical/Practicum Examinations at the Jane McKimmon Center on the Campus of North Carolina State University and for other purposes.  Present were Drs.  David Anderson, President, William Hendrix, Secretary/Treasurer, Joel Banks, Michael Clark, William Rafferty and Mr.  Roger Mitchell and Ms. Mary Richardson, Members of the Board.  Present as Staff were John D. Robinson, OD, Executive Director, Janice Peterson, RN, Administrative Secretary, and Ms. Sara Roberts, Administrative Assistant.  Mr. Johnny Loper, the Board’s Attorney, was present on Thursday afternoon to hear the presentation by the North Carolina Board of Ethics and to meet with the Board in closed session to discuss litigation matters pursuant to GS 143-318.11(3).  Appearing to give the presentation on behalf of the North Carolina Board of Ethics was Mr. Frank Perry. 

 

Present as Clinical Examiners for the Board were: Drs. Tom Bull, Kenneth Bumgarner, Ania Hamp, David King, Donald MacQueen, Magda Metwalli, John Miller, Sandra Moore, Brett Munn, and Robert Rosenstein.

 

At 2:10 P.M. Mr. Frank Perry presented a program to familiarize the Members of the Board and its staff with the Ethics Laws of the State of North Carolina and the responsibilities of those serving in varying roles such as the Licensing and Regulatory Boards who are a part of the Executive Branch of State Government to abide by and adhere to these laws.

 

Prior to calling the meeting to order at 4:00 P.M. on Thursday afternoon, the President led the Board in prayer.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES.  On a motion by Mr. Mitchell seconded by Ms. Richardson and carried unanimously, the Minutes of the Meeting held in Myrtle Beach, May 31 -  June 2, 2007, were approved.  On a motion by Dr.

 

Banks, seconded by Mr. Mitchell and carried unanimously, the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on June 14, 2007, by conference telephone were approved.

 

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT.  Dr. Anderson reported on the recent ARBO meeting held in Boston in June which he attended along with Drs. Hendrix, Rafferty and Robinson.  This is his second ARBO meeting, and he remains impressed with the programs that organization is involved with. At this meeting Dr. Rafferty was elected to a three year term on the ARBO Board of Directors. Prior to the adjournment of that meeting it was announced that at their meeting the Board of Directors elected Dr. Rafferty as Vice-President of ARBO.

 

The work of the Committee appointed to make recommendations for the adoption of a Board Policy on the unlicensed practice of optometry will make its report at this meeting.  There have been discussions between the members of the Committee, myself and Dr. Rafferty and there is agreement now that the report and recommendations made in Myrtle Beach should be adopted.

 

The Examination Review Committee appointed by Dr. Rafferty last year will be asked to continue the work of that Committee.

 

On a motion by Ms. Richardson seconded by Dr. Clark and carried unanimously the report of the President was accepted.

 

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY/TREASURER.  Dr. Hendrix presented the Budget Report for the period 07/01/07 through 07/31/07.   Because of the brief period covered by the report there were few questions, so after a brief period a motion was made by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Dr. Clark that the report of the Secretary/Treasurer be accepted.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.  The Members  of the Board were advised that the e-mails they had received from a Mr. Paul Strickland of Charlotte was not received in the Board office until yesterday when it was forwarded by Dr. Anderson.  On receipt of Mr. Strickland’s e-mails an e-mail was promptly sent to him informing him that the reason he had not had a response from the Board was that Members of the Board would not respond to inquiries concerning matters of litigation or potential litigation. Such matters are referred to the Board office and when necessary referred to the Board’s attorney.  In this instance Mr. Strickland’s e-mails were forwarded to Mr. Loper who has responded to him.

 

Rather than taking the time to give an update on the work being done on the Board’s data management systems, progress on the software design and implementation of the upgrades in the Board’s data systems can be found in a report dated July 25, 2007 by Mr. John Dixon, the Board’s data systems manager and software developer which is a part of your meeting notebook. Upon review of this report either Janice,  Sara or I will be available to answer any questions you might have.

 

One complaint has been filed since our meeting in Myrtle Beach.  On notifying the President of the nature of the complaint he assigned Mr. Mitchell to serve with me and Mr. Loper as the Probable Cause Committee.  A notice of hearing has been sent to the licensee.

 

 

CLOSED SESSION.  On a motion by Dr. Clark, seconded by Mr. Mitchell and carried unanimously, the Board went into Closed Session to discuss matters of litigation pursuant to GS 143-318.11(3).  Mr. Loper briefed the Board on matters pertaining to Dr. James Black and the Board’s noticing of a hearing following his felony pleas in both federal and state court.  Dr. Black was sentenced to serve 63 months in federal prison and has been ordered to surrender to Federal Marshals on Monday, July 30th.  Mr. Loper has been in communication with Dr. Black’s attorney, Mr. Ken Bell in Charlotte, who this afternoon notified Mr. Loper by e-mail that Dr. Black intended to surrender his optometry license to the Board.  Mr. Loper discussed with the Board the possible ways of resolving the disciplinary case against Dr. Black.

 

Mr. Loper responded to questions from Board members.  No vote was taken on any issue in the closed session.  On a motion by Mr. Mitchell  seconded by Dr. Banks and carried unanimously the Board  voted to return to open session.

 

ATTORNEY TO DRAFT A  BOARD ORDER  On a motion by Mr. Mitchell and seconded by Ms. Richardson, Mr. Loper was instructed to draft an order  accepting the surrender of Dr. Black’s license to practice optometry in lieu of a formal disciplinary hearing if Dr. Black does in fact surrender his license to the Board.  The order, to be signed by the President of the Board, would include a reference to the appropriate statutory procedure through which Dr. Black would be required to seek reinstatement of his license upon his release from federal prison.  The motion carried with Drs. Anderson, Banks, Clark, Rafferty and Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Richardson voting in the affirmative.  Voting against the motion was Dr. Hendrix.

 

Before leaving the meeting Mr. Loper informed the Board that he will begin a three month sabbatical beginning August 1st.  While he will not be in his office during this period the Executive Director will be able to contact him in the event of an emergency.

 

 

REPORT OF THE WINTER 2007EXAMINATION REVIEW COMMITTEE  Dr. Clark reported on behalf of the Examination Review  Committee.  There were three individuals who had previously failed the licensing examinations that met with him and the Executive Director in the Board office in Wallace..  None appeared for the purpose of questioning their results, but rather to review their performance in hopes of preparing themselves better for the time they next take the examination.

 

 

CLINICAL EXAMINERS HONORARIUM.   On a motion by Dr. Banks seconded by Dr. Hendrix and carried unanimously, five days honorarium, travel and meal expenses for the Clinical Examiners were approved.

 

NEW BUSINESS              There was no new business

 

OLD BUSINESS.  Dr. Banks presented the report of the Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Optometry.  On a motion by Dr. Rafferty seconded by Ms. Richardson the report of the Committee was unanimously adopted and the Executive Director was instructed that the Board Policy on the Unlicensed Practice of Optometry as adopted this the 26th day of July, 2007 be posted on the Board’s web site.

 

EXAMINATION OF THE CANDIDATES.  Forty-seven candidates whose applications had been approved appeared for examination.  The first session began at 7:45 a.m. on Friday July 27,2007 and the final session ended at 10:20 p.m. on Monday July, 30, 2007.  The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

 

The next meeting of the Board to determine the results of the Summer 2007 Clinical/Practicum Examinations and to consider other matters that might come before the Board will be held at the Board Office in Wallace beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 7 and ending no later than 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 9, 2007.

 

 

                                                                        Approved  09/07/07

                                                                                                Wallace, North Carolina