The National Board of Examiners in Optometry recently released statistics on the Part I Basic Science exam, administered on ICO's campus March 19 and 20. The pass rate for ICO first-time test-takers was 96.6 percent, and ICO's overall pass rate was 95.3 percent. The national overall pass rate was 79 percent.

DATE:      Saturday, June 8
TIME:      8:15 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
PLACE:   Illinois College of Optometry, 3240 S. Indiana Ave.

Thank you for your interest in our annual Admissions Open House. Please register via our online form. We hope to see you there! 

The honorable U.S. Rep. L. Tammy Duckworth will serve as the keynote speaker for the 170^th ICO Commencement Ceremony to be held at 11:00 a.m., May 18, at Rockefeller Chapel. Duckworth will receive the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, during the ceremony.

“Not only is Rep. Duckworth a distinguished member of Congress, she is a national hero and an amazing role model for our doctoral candidates,” said ICO President Dr. Arol Augsburger.

Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. She was one of the first women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth lost her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was hit by an RPG on Nov. 12, 2004. She was wearing polycarbonate lenses under her visor that protected her eyesight and credits Dr. Michelle Jurkovic, and ICO alum, with saving her vision during the explosion. She was awarded a Purple Heart for her combat injuries.

Following her recovery, Duckworth became Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. In Illinois, she worked to create a tax credit for employers who hired veterans, established the first 24/7 crisis hotline for veterans in the nation, and developed innovative programs to improve veterans' access to housing and health care.

In 2009, President Obama appointed Duckworth to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. At the VA, Duckworth led an initiative to end homelessness among veterans. She was elected to Congress in 2012.

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Dr. Valarie Conrad, the Illinois College of Optometry's vice president of compliance and community-based services, has been appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health by Gov. Pat Quinn. She is the first optometrist to be named to the advisory group.

The board's responsibilities include advising the department director on public health policy, emergencies, and control of health hazards; reviewing department rules and program proposals; and recommending solutions to public health issues.

"It's important for doctors of optometry all over the state to be represented in this very broad-based health board," says Dr. Conrad. "The board is instrumental in developing rules concerning the legislation of health matters and in the implementation of health laws. I look forward to serving the state of Illinois."

Dr. Conrad, who practiced optometry for 21 years, has worked at ICO since 1988 and has served as a vice president since 2003. Her department ensures that ICO's programs fulfill regulatory and ethical expectations and manages outside legal counsel and auditors. Originally from Clarksburg, WV, she now lives in La Grange, Ill. Her work with the 20-member board, which includes a registered nurse, veterinarian, chiropractor, dentist and medical doctors, officially began in March. Her term will run until February 15, 2016.

This letter was published in the Chicago Tribune on April 10.

To the Editor:

"Scrubbing Medicaid" (editorial, March 31) highlights an important and overdue state initiative to purge ineligible people from the Medicaid rolls. But the audit process has had an unintended consequence: Some of our most vulnerable citizens are suddenly without the health care insurance they deserve. That's because they are unaware that they must re-enroll in the program to receive their benefits.

This problem is playing out every day at the Illinois Eye Institute. With more than 100,000 patient visits annually, the IEI is one of the country's largest providers of vision and eye care services. For more than 30 years, we've been a safety net for Chicago-area residents. In addition to medical and surgical eye care, the IEI provides glasses to more than 16,000 Medicaid patients per year. Many of these individuals are children.

But since January, we have received many questions from patients who have been confused with the re-enrollment process or are bypassing necessary health services because they are not aware of the steps they need to take to continue to receive Medicaid services.

I encourage all Medicaid-eligible Illinois residents to follow up with their Medicaid case worker or the Department of Health and Family Services' Illinois Medicaid Redetermination Program Hotline (1-855-694-5458). These agencies can aid low-income individuals and families in making sure they have access to the life-sustaining services that the IEI and many other institutions across the state provide.

Dr. Leonard V. Messner
Executive Director
Illinois Eye Institute 
Chicago, IL