Shloush, 29, the company’s co-founder
and president, said he started the
company with the goal of making eye-
care attainable for seniors.
“We wanted to do something unique
in the eyecare industry that has not
been done on this scale before,” says
Shloush. “Our goal is to make the
eyecare experience as convenient as
possible by bringing state-of-the-art
equipment and eyeglasses directly to
the retirement community.”
Eyecare Express is a team of 10, including
optometrists, opticians, advisors and
stylists, who offer comprehensive eye
examinations as well as eyeglasses that
are dispensed on site. Their office is in
Thornhill, Ont., but they service the
GTA and have recently begun expanding.
“According to Ontario Health Insur-
ance Plan statistics, many seniors are
not getting the suggested annual eye
exam. We found out the main reason
was that it was very inconvenient to
get to an optometrist because of health,
mobility and transportation issues,”
says Shloush.
“The staff at the retirement communi-
ties have been helpful in encouraging
the residents to sign up for the service
and we are getting many calls daily
requesting our services.”
Eyecare Express runs eye exam clinics
about 15 to 20 times a month. About
20 to 40 patients are seen at each clinic.
“Living in 2018, we are all spoiled in the
sense that we expect everything to be
as simple and convenient as possible.
By being mobile, we can travel to retire-
ment communities, schools and
businesses with a modern optometry
lane as well as offer both generic and
designer eyeglasses. To add a cherry on
top, our opticians come directly to you,
to dispense and adjust the glasses on
site. If there are any issues with the
eyeglasses, we come to you as much
as needed, providing the ultimate
convenience.”
Every day, Shloush, Benaim and their
team are making a difference in
patients’ lives.
“We saw a patient that suffered from
dementia and could not communicate
with her loved ones or care staff to
explain her vision issues. She hadn’t
seen an optometrist for over 10 years
and was wearing eyeglasses under the
assumption that her vision was fine.
After seeing our optometrist, we were
able to find a very dense cataract. This
poor woman couldn’t see five feet in
front of her. After explaining the find-
ings to her family, we were able to refer
her for cataract surgery and have since
followed up to find out how happy they
were with our service. Her quality of
life has increased drastically, where she
is now able to see her food, play games
and do activities with other residents.”
Eyecare Express also recently had the
privilege of participating in a charity
event, organized by Michael “Pinball”
Clemens and his Pinball Foundation.
“Our optometrists and opticians do-
nated their time to the Youth Without
Shelter organization. We provided
comprehensive eye examinations and
eyeglasses to these amazing children
that haven’t had proper access to or
funds for eyecare,” says Shloush.
“This was a very humbling experience
where we were able to help these children
in more ways than just helping with their
vision. We showed them that they have
the potential to overcome any struggles
they’ve experienced.”
OPTICAL PRISM | September 2018 35