Honoring and Caring for Veterans

On Vet­er­ans Day, we want to express our deep appre­ci­a­tion for the invalu­able ser­vice pro­vid­ed by our local Vet­er­ans. To mark this occa­sion, we spoke with two of our optometrists at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) — Dr. Kel­ly Sharpe and Dr. Hei­di Hais­ley — to dis­cuss their care for local Veterans.

Dr. Sharpe, in addi­tion to her work at the QMG Eye & Vision Insti­tute, also sees patients at the Illi­nois Vet­er­ans Home in Quin­cy. Here, she has the priv­i­lege of tend­ing to the eye health and vision needs of our local ser­vice members.

Reflect­ing on her expe­ri­ences, Dr. Sharpe shared, ​“I find it a unique priv­i­lege to care for Vet­er­ans and to address the eye health and vision needs of our local ser­vice members.”

Her ded­i­ca­tion to Vet­er­ans extends beyond indi­vid­ual care. Dr. Sharpe col­lab­o­rates close­ly with their sup­port sys­tems to ensure her patients receive the best pos­si­ble care.

“The most reward­ing moments have been when I get to work with the Vet­er­ans and their fam­i­lies togeth­er, all con­tribut­ing to the improved man­age­ment of the Veteran’s eye health,” she said.

Dr. Hais­ley brings a dis­tinct per­spec­tive to her work with Vet­er­ans. Pri­or to join­ing QMG, she played a cru­cial role in set­ting up a new optom­e­try clin­ic at the out­pa­tient facil­i­ty for the VA in Quin­cy. Since join­ing QMG in June of 2022, she has had the priv­i­lege of car­ing for Vet­er­ans in her cur­rent practice.

Work­ing with Vet­er­ans holds a spe­cial place in Dr. Haisley’s heart. She expressed, ​“Vet­er­ans are some of my favorite patients to work with. Being able to give back and pro­vide them with high-qual­i­ty eye care is an hon­or, con­sid­er­ing the ser­vice they’ve already pro­vid­ed to the rest of us.”

A mem­o­rable expe­ri­ence for Dr. Hais­ley was the deep con­nec­tion she formed with a local Vet­er­an. Ini­tial­ly, he sought care exclu­sive­ly out­side the area, but even­tu­al­ly chose to entrust her with his care locally.

“One of the best moments I have had with work­ing with Vet­er­ans is the per­son­al rela­tion­ships I’ve been able to cre­ate,” she said. ​“It was very spe­cial to me that he allowed me to be a part of his health­care team.”

Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Hais­ley address com­mon eye health con­cerns such as cataracts, dia­bet­ic retinopa­thy, glau­co­ma, and mac­u­lar degen­er­a­tion — con­di­tions that res­onate with both civil­ian and Vet­er­an patients alike.

The trust extend­ed by the Vet­er­ans they care for deeply touch­es both Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Hais­ley. They rec­og­nize the sac­ri­fices made by the Vet­er­ans they serve and feel hon­ored to pro­vide them with care.

Dr. Sharpe shared her heart­felt grat­i­tude to Vet­er­ans, ​“Thank you to both you and your fam­i­ly for the sac­ri­fices you have made to ensure the safe­ty of my fam­i­ly. Your ser­vice is appre­ci­at­ed today and every day.”

Dr. Hais­ley echoes this sen­ti­ment, extend­ing her mes­sage to our Vet­er­ans: ​“Thank you! I am so grate­ful for your sac­ri­fices and con­tri­bu­tions to our coun­try and local community.”