Jacksonville Business Journal honors Baymeadows Vision Center owner

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Optometrist Brian Armitage, owner of Baymeadows Vision Center,  has been named a 2010 Health Care Hero by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Dr. Armitage was honored for correcting eye disorders without surgery. He was one of three award winners in the Physician category and among 24 honorees overall.

In a profile of Armitage in the Nov. 5-11 issue of The Business Journal, patient Matt Spears stated that he nominated Armitage because, “He made me see.” Spears was legally blind and ready to learn Braille when he met Armitage. Now Spears sees clearly and even drives again.

Spears has keratoconus, which causes corneas to bulge, thereby distorting vision. As the only optometrist in Northeast Florida focused on specialized contacts, Armitage provides lenses that are effective and comfortable to patients who have distorted corneas, like Spears, because of conditions such as keratoconus, post-corneal transplants, and post-Lasik complications.

“The latest in contact lens technology provides alternatives to corneal transplants, offering both adequate vision and excellent comfort,” said Armitage, formerly head of worldwide clinical research for VISTAKON, a contact lens manufacturing division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.

Armitage recently launched the North Florida Corneal Rehabilitation Center to help patients with distorted corneas find alternatives to invasive surgical procedures. The center is the first of its kind in the region.

North Florida Corneal Rehabilitation Center specializes in treating patients with contact lenses that are supported by the white portion of the eye (sclera). Because scleral lenses vault over damaged corneas, they often help patients when other lenses have failed, such as with keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration, corneal ectasia resulting from Lasik surgery, distorted corneal transplants and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

Armitage uses advanced technology to custom fit lenses to patients’ eyes. This allows patients to retain vision and comfort as their eyes change.

Related

Jacksonville Business Journal: Armitage corrects eye disorders without surgery

Filed under: Keratoconus, scleral contact lenses by Dr. Brian Armitage on December 3, 2010.