DENVER—Following its House of Delegates’ meeting and election of officers, the American Optometric Association announced on Saturday that new president Samuel D. Pierce, OD, of Alabama, and other members of the AOA Board of Trustees were sworn into office during Optometry's Meeting 2018 here at the Colorado Convention Center. The Board of Trustees helps establish AOA policy and advocates for the profession of optometry, both in state and federal governments, to help broaden optometry's scope of practice, protect and defend the profession, and expand the public's access to quality eye health and vision care, AOA noted in its announcement.

"We have a lot to do, but optometry has always been ready to take it all on," Dr. Pierce said in his inaugural address, which focused on the AOA's future. "We will educate the public with our straightforward and direct message about the benefits of our eye examinations, the impact of our personalized care and the power of our early diagnosis of life-threatening and sight-threatening diseases and conditions."

According to the announcement, the members of the 2018-2019 Board of Trustees executive committee, in addition to Pierce, are: president-elect Barbara L. Horn, OD, of South Carolina; vice president William T. Reynolds, OD, of Kentucky; secretary-treasurer Robert C. Layman, OD of Ohio (newly elected), and immediate past president Christopher J. Quinn, OD, of New Jersey. In addition, Lori L. Grover, OD, PhD, of Illinois was newly elected to the board of trustees.

In his address, Dr. Pierce spoke extensively about the future of optometry, which he said is about what is right for patients. "So, what is right for our patients?" he asked. "What should the AOA be doing right now for the patients we see every day in our practices—whether it be in an independent, group or employer-practice environment or in an HMO or somewhere in the military or VA system?

"We need to continue the fight for access," he added. "Doctors of optometry are a critical key to primary eye health care for all Americans. Doctors of optometry are in more than 10,100 communities across the country and we have the ability to make access a reality for 99 percent of our nation's patients. At a time when the demands of the health care work force are significantly outpacing the supply of new doctors in most fields, it is evident we are an important solution."