Optometrists added to practice; Glimmer's graduation awaited

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Despite difficult times, the Eubanks and Daugherty optometry firm is still persevering. The office is keeping up the same level of care and still taking new patients.

One of the partners, Dr. Gregg Eubanks, died Aug. 11 at the age of 55. Since then, several patients and physicians have called to ask whether the office is able to take new patients or referrals.

"Dr. (Benna) Daugherty has had a lot of calls from several physicians because we handle emergency eye care, like injuries to the eye," Katina Eubanks, Gregg Eubanks' widow, said.

"We want to let our patients know we are still here and can still do the same things we do."

To ensure the office is able to grow in the future, Daugherty has accepted optometrists Clint Taylor and Dawn Hurley into the practice. Taylor is a former resident of Pope County and former patient of Eubanks, Daugherty said. He will be in the office one day a week.

Taylor is a graduate of the Indiana School of Optometry who lives in Carmi with his wife and daughter.

Hurley, originally from Rolla, Mo. is a recent graduate of optometry school who is moving to Southern Illinois with her husband, who is in a medical residency in Carbondale.

"So she's going to be around for a while," Daugherty said.

Also, Eubanks and Daugherty is awaiting the graduation and arrival of Krystina "Glimmer" Eubanks, the daughter of Gregg Eubanks. She will graduate the Illinois College of Optometry in three years.

"Then we are looking forward to having her back," Daugherty said.

Eubanks and Daugherty handles quite a few eye emergencies, in part because the office has equipment hospitals don't have. Mines and manufacturing companies often call Eubanks and Daugherty if they have employees with eye injuries, Daugherty said.

Over the last 27 years - when Daugherty entered the profession - the scope of vision and eye health care has changed. Optometrists do much more than simply dispense prescriptions for eyeglasses. Care of patients with glaucoma and macular degeneration is a big part of the practice now, Daugherty said. Post-operative eye care is often referred to optometrists. And, eye exams are now required for children entering kindergarten.

"Actually, Dr. Eubanks was instrumental through his leadership in the Illinois Optometric Association in getting a lot of those laws passed," Daugherty said.