When Sandra Schweitzer heard about Good Health, Great Hair – Kaiser Permanente’s health partnership with four salons and barbershops in West Baltimore – a light bulb went off: Can we do something similar to help kids get glasses?
A member of her team, Greg Emde, suggested taking vision screenings and glasses into the community in a similar way. Schweitzer, Kaiser Permanente’s director of regional optical retail and support for Vision Essentials, thought that would be opportunity to make an impact on the community. Partnering with our Baltimore Community Health team, Schweitzer and several members of the optometry team did just that.
Building on Kaiser Permanente’s existing partnership with West Baltimore’s Frederick Elementary through Future Baltimore, the optometry team completed nine eye exams for students in pre-kindergarten through first grade who had been identified by the Baltimore City Health Department based on earlier basic vision screenings. Later, when the glasses were ready, a physician joined the Kaiser Permanente team to deliver them to the students.
“It’s really fulfilling to be able to serve the community like this and to spend the day with such amazing kids and school staff,” said Schweitzer.
Kaiser Permanente’s Good Health, Great Hair community health outreach program is resuming no-cost health screenings, tests, and flu shots this fall.
