An Eye Doctor Who Touches the Heart

Shaun Brierly, MD, and son, Jack

Having a young family of his own, Shaun Brierly, MD, from the ophthalmology department, is concerned about children who lack access to health care. Undetected or untreated vision deficiencies in children cause difficulties with school work, and can be linked to other health conditions. This is why, about a year ago, Dr. Brierly responded to a request for volunteer physicians from Kids' Net, a program designed to provide accessible, and hopefully ongoing, affordable health care to low-income children.

While many volunteer physicians see Kids' Net patients on a rotating basis as their schedules permit, Dr. Brierly sets aside a half a day each month for them. He sees children with immediate eyehealth needs whose families lack health insurance and would not normally have access to treatment other than through an emergency room. About 25 to 30 percent of the children referred to Dr. Brierly have amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. Though generally curable, patients with this condition must be seen and treated before age seven.

Kids' Net program manager, Marie Ibanez, explains that her role in Kids' Net, which is administered through Healthy Kids Sonoma County and the Community Action Partnership, is multitiered. First, she arranges appointments with volunteer physicians to address immediate needs. Then, Ms. Ibanez establishes a "medical home" for young patients where they can receive regular medical, dental, and pharmacy services. Finally, based on family income, she establishes ongoing health insurance coverage, such as through Kaiser Permanente's Child Health Plan.

Volunteering Includes Listening

Dr. Brierly listens carefully to his patients to get a full understanding of their needs. "I ask about other concerns," he says, "Because what is revealed in their examination is not necessarily what brought them to me."

The process is one of education, trust-building, and forming relationships by helping patients and families overcome cultural and other barriers to treatment. Translators and a variety of professionals volunteer to foster the relationships between the Kids' Net patients and their health care providers.

Long-time Kaiser Santa Rosa physician Jeffrey Miller, MD, from the pediatrics department, helped build Kids' Net and is both a volunteer physician and member of the Kids' Net advisory board. As an advisory board member, he extended the group's thanks to Dr. Brierly for "providing the eye health needs of a large portion of [our community's] low-income, uninsured children."

Unlike other programs where doctors travel to patients, Dr Miller points out that doctors providing services for Kids' Net are more comfortable and can do a better job treating children because they volunteer in their own offices, utilizing familiar equipment and staff.

In addition to the children seen by Dr. Brierly, other Kaiser Santa Rosa Pediatric staff and physicians see up to 15 Kids' Net children each month. Further, the Optometry Department donates up to 20 pairs of eyeglasses to children seen by Dr. Brierly.

If you are would like to learn more about Kids' Net or volunteer to help, contact Marie Ibanez at 544-6911, ext. 1013.