Wallace, North Carolina
The North Carolina State Board of
Examiners in Optometry met in Wallace, North Carolina, on Thursday and Friday, September
3-4, 2009 to determine the results of the Summer 2009 Clinical/Practicum
Examinations and for other purposes.
Present were Dr. Joel Banks,
President and Mr. Roger Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer, Drs. David Anderson,
Michael Clark, William Hendrix, William Rafferty and Ms. Mary Richardson, Members
of the Board. Also present were Dr.
John Robinson, the Executive Director, Janice Peterson, R.N., the Administrative
Secretary, and Mrs. Sara Roberts, the Administrative Assistant. Present on Friday by way of conference
telephone was the Board’s attorney, Mr. Johnny Loper.
The meeting was called to order at 7:20
p.m. by the President, Dr. Joel Banks, who offered an opening prayer.
Before proceeding the President read the
“Ethics and Conflict of Interest
Reminder” prepared by the North Carolina State Ethics Commission, a copy of
which was in each Member’s meeting
notebook.
Approval of Minutes. On
a motion by Dr. Anderson, seconded by
Mr. Mitchell and carried unanimously,
the Minutes of the July 30 – August 2, 2009 meeting were approved.
Report of the President Dr. Banks had no formal report since the
time between the Board’s meetings was so short. He did ask that the
Board Members carefully review each candidate’s results for consistency and
accuracy in scoring before the final results were determined. It was his intention to take the time
necessary to accomplish this task and to finish the other business on the
agenda. On a motion made by Dr. Clark,
seconded by Ms. Richardson, and carried unanimously the report of the President
was accepted.
Report of the Secretary/Treasurer Mr.
Mitchell reviewed the Budget Report covering the period July 1 – August 31, 2009. Following brief discussion of the Budget
report he then directed their attention to the Annual Audit for fiscal year
July 1, 2008 thru June 30, 3009 just completed by the Accounting Firm of Waters
& Piver, PA. He called attention to
‘Note 5 – Concentration of Credit Risks’ - on page 12 of the audit that noted
that on June 30, 2009 the cash balance in the Bank of Four Oaks exceeded the
amount of insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). During the discussion that followed the
Executive Director stated that this question was raised in a previous audit and
based upon previous discussions with bank officials he opined that the Board’s
funds in Four Oaks Bank were fully covered up to one million dollars. He stated that he would contact the Bank and
the Auditor after the Labor Day holiday to be certain he was correct in his
opinion and notify the Board of his findings.*. A motion to accept the report of the Secretary/Treasurer and the
Annual Audit prepared by the Firm of Waters & Piver, CPA’s, PA was made by Dr. Anderson, seconded by Dr. Rafferty
and carried unanimously.
Report
of the Executive Director The
Executive Director’s report focused on the issue of “Board Certification” in
the profession of optometry. He reminded the Board that board certification
had previously been an issue of controversy within the profession nationally
and one that resulted in the Board’s adoption of a Policy Statement regarding the
use of the term “Board Certified” by those tempted to use the term in attempts to
set themselves apart from those similarly licensed to practice optometry in
North Carolina. Further, in August of
2008 the Board approved a position statement, “Board Certification as de-facto
Re-licensure”. At its last meeting the Board approved a
memorandum advising its licensees of the action of the House of Delegates of
the American Optometric Association in June creating an “American Board of
Optometry” (ABO), the effects if any of this action on current Board policy and the Board’s intentions to monitor
those issues related to board certification and to take corrective action when necessary and make further announcements when
and as it deems appropriate. A draft of
a letter from the Board’s attorney to the President of the American Optometric
Association was reviewed at the last meeting of the Board where it was decided
to delay sending it pending the mailing of the memorandum on board
certification to the licensees. A
slightly modified draft of that letters is on the agenda for further consideration
by the Board at this meeting.
Finally there are two Board Rules that must be updated in order that they comport
with:
1.
the current roster of accredited schools
and colleges of optometry; and
2.
The new format of the National Board of
Examiners in Optometry’s examinations effective January 2010.
While undertaking the amending of Board
Rules it was recommended that the Board consider amending its continuing education
requirements to reflect today’s continuing education universal availability and
to recognize the rapid advances in technology, new instruments and the numbers
of new therapeutic drugs being developed and made available to the primary eye
care practitioner.
On a motion by Dr. Anderson seconded by
Dr. Clark and carried unanimously, the report of the Executive Director was
accepted.
Board Rules and Regulations.
On a motion by Dr. Clark seconded by Ms.
Richardson and carried unanimously the Board approved the updating of the
listing of the accredited Schools and Colleges of Optometry in the Board Rules.
On a motion by Dr. Clark seconded by Mr.
Mitchell and carried unanimously the
Board approved the amending of its Rules to comport with the new format
and parts of the National Board examinations effective January 1, 2010, requiring
the passage of all the parts of the National Boards by applicants effective
with the entering class of 2010 and the graduating class of 2014 in order to be
approved as an applicant to take the North Carolina Board’s Clinical/Practicum
Examinations. In amending its Rules in
this regard it is the position of the Board that those individuals who were
qualified for admission to its Clinical/Practicum examinations based upon their
having taken and passed those parts of the National Board Examinations required
for admission prior to the amending of its Rules to require passage of all the
parts of the National Board examinations remain qualified for admission upon
proper application to the Board.
Following further discussion of the
amending of its Rules and Regulations it was decided that the leadership of the
NC State Optometric Society should be consulted and engaged in discussions of
the need and desirability of making substantive changes in the Board’s
continuing education requirements.
Review of the Scoring of the Summer 2009
Clinical/Practicum Examinations. On a motion by Dr. Clark, seconded by Ms, Richardson and carried
unanimously the Board went into closed session in accordance with the
provisions of NCGS 143-318.11(a)(1), NCGS
93b-8(c) and NCGS 93b-8(d) to review the scoring of the Summer 2009 Clinical/Practicum
Examinations.
Determining the Results of the Summer
2009 Clinical/Practicum Examinations.
On returning to open session following review the scoring of the Summer
2009 Clinical/Practicum Examinations in closed session
Mr. Mitchell moved and Ms. Richardson seconded
a motion that the follow applicants be determined to have achieved a passing
score on the Summer 2009 Clinical/Practicum
Examinations and are hereby licensed to practice the profession of
optometry in the State of North Carolina. Further, in accordance with Article 6
of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes
of North Carolina their names are to be entered in the Board Registry with
license numbers assigned as follows:
Teresa
Angeli #2140
Walter
Lee Ball, Jr. #2141
G.
Frank Britton, III #2142
Meredith
P. Canterbury #2143
Brandy
Carroll #2144
J.
Rudi Christensen #2145
Steven
M. Cress #2146
Nathan
C. Davis #2147
Melanie
J. Denton #2148
Lori
A. Farabaugh #2149
Gabrielle
M. Fialka #2150
Kalene
Fix #2151
Meredith
B. Godino #2152
Dennis
M. Garcia #2153
Andrew
M. Graves #2154
Ashwynn
S. Halbert #2155
Daniel
L. Jones #2156
Gail
J. Long #2157
April
Kwong #2158
Ryan
M. LeBlanc #2159
Andrew
R. May #2160
Chad
C. R. Morgan #2161
Hillary
J. Multari #2162
Jessica
R. O’Neil #2163
Haley
A. Perry #2164
Rachael
A. Peterson #2165
Sean
H. Pitale #2166
Ritesh
Poudyal #2167
Samira
F. Qazi #2168
Kara
E. Ramsey #2169
James
D. Reynolds #2170
Nikki
L. Robertson #2171
Neil
B. Sample #2172
Jill
M. Scullion #2173
J.
Scott Sikes #2174
Sean
M. Skierczynski #2175
Jeffrey
R. B. Tarr #2176
Nicole
Lynch #2177
Chad
E. Tisdale #2178
Kelly
L. Virnig #2179
Anthony
J. Woolet #2180
Bradley
A. Wruble #2181
The motion carried unanimously.
Meeting with the Board Attorney. On a motion by Mr. Mitchell seconded by Ms.
Richardson and carried unanimously the Board went into closed session in
accordance with the provisions of NCGS 143-318.11(a)(3) prior to placing a call
to Board Attorney Johnny Loper to receive information and advice regarding a
petition for rulemaking before the North Carolina Medical Board. At 10:30 AM Mr. Loper joined the meeting via
a conference telephone call. Mr. Loper
described for the Board his investigation of the issues presented by the
petition for rulemaking, his evaluation of those issues, the letter he drafted to the Medical Board,
and his recommendations going forward.
He answered questions from the Board and provided further explanation.
On a motion by Ms. Richardson seconded
by Dr. Anderson the Board returned to open session.
The Board’s Declining to Recognize Board
Certification by the American Board of Optometry as ‘A Special or Advanced
Credential in the Practice of Optometry’ in North Carolina. Following
review and discussion of the actions taken by the House of Delegates of the
American Optometric Association in June to create the American Board of
Optometry (ABO) for the purpose of offering ‘board certification’ to those
optometrists meeting its criteria and to address maintenance of competence
(MOC) based upon ‘board certification’; and following further review of the
current draft of the letter written by Mr. Loper as attorney for the Board to the President of the American Optometric
Association stating the Board’s position and its opinion of the action taken by
the American Optometric Association in creating the American Board of Optometry
(ABO) for the purposes of ‘credentialing’ optometrists as competent in the
practice of optometry, an authority reserved by statute to the North Carolina
State Board of Optometry, and without dissent by any Member of the Board Mr.
Loper was instructed to send the letter ) via e-mail and USPS to Dr. Randolph
Brooks at his address at the American Optometric Association in St. Louis, MO. A copy of the letter is attached to these
minutes
Dr. Banks confirmed the appointment
of Dr. Rafferty as a Member of the Examination Review Committee to serve with
the Executive Director to review the results of any candidate failing the
Summer 2009 Examinations who requests a review. The review date will be on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 in the
Board’s office in Wallace, NC.
.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of
the Board will be at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC beginning on Thursday,
November 12, 2009 and ending no later than noon on Sunday, November 15, 2009. In accordance with previous policy Dr. Banks
stated that the Board Members should use Wednesday, November , 2009 as a travel
day and that reimbursement for the meeting be for travel, 5 days per diem and
subsistence and 4 hotel nights.
There being no further business, on a
motion by Mr. Mitchell seconded by Dr. Clark
the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, September 4, 2009.
*A copy of a letter from Four Oaks Bank
dated September 15, 2009 stating that the
Board’s fund’s deposited with the Bank that
exceed the amount insured by the FDIC are
covered by the pooling method of collateralization through the NC State Treasurer’s office is attached to these minutes.
Approved
11/12/09
Asheville, NC