(PRESS RELEASE) SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Optometric Association announced that Ronald G. Seger, OD, will be its new president. Seger is a practicing optometrist in Mountain View who has been active in advocating for patients over his five-decade-long career, with a particular focus on promoting the benefits of a strong eye doctor-patient relationship in overall health. Seger’s lifelong commitment to optometry runs in his family; his father Charles E. Seger served as president of COA in 1960.
“I am honored to have been selected by my colleagues to represent our patients and our profession as president of the California Optometric Association. While the day-to-day practice of optometry has changed significantly in the nearly 60 years since my father held this position, the core value of our profession remains the same: a commitment to our patients’ overall health and wellness,” said Seger. “I look forward to building on COA’s leadership in educating the policymakers and the public on the value optometrists have in Californians’ health as the state confronts new challenges including an epidemic of diabetes that can take patients’ lives as well as their sight. COA’s advocacy for expanding vision care and eye health, along with bringing provider Medi-Cal rates up from near-worst in the nation, will have a direct improvement in patients’ lives and health.”
“The California Optometric Association is excited to be working with Dr. Seger to strengthen optometry’s role in Californians’ eye health and improving access to healthcare for California’s underserved populations,” said Bill Howe, executive director of the California Optometric Association. “Through his decades of advocacy for patients, Dr. Seger’s influence on optometry and healthcare extends far beyond the exam room. In his new role, Dr. Seger will lead COA’s effort to provide California’s optometrists with the tools needed to provide excellent vision care and attract the best and brightest new doctors to this life-saving profession.”
Previously, Seger served as the president of the COA Santa Clara County Optometric Society, as a COA trustee, and on the Vision West board. Seger also worked as a research optometrist at Bausch & Lomb, Dow Corning and CooperVision. At Dow Corning, he developed and patented the design for Silsoft silicone rubber contact lenses, which are still in use for aphakic infants and children today.