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Many of these individuals had an early interest in contact lenses and had been fitting rigid PMMA lenses since their introduction. So few doctors were fitting contact lenses at all that they rapidly became the recognized experts in their own communities, the educators of their peers and consultants to industry. And their practices flourished. Many are still considered leading practices today. [ LAYING THE FOUNDATION ]Harold E. Davis, O.D., opened his practice in an industrial area near the Chicago stockyards and slaughterhouses in 1945. A -12:00D myope who wore contact lenses himself, Dr. Davis often spent his lunch hour talking shop with his friends George N. Jessen, O.D., and Newton K. Wesley, O.D., whose Wesley Jessen Plastic Contact Lens Company was located about 15 minutes away. “The science of contact lenses just embraced me,” Dr. Davis said. By the late 1950s, his practice was dedicated to them.He continues to practice full-time at Davis Eyecare Associates, along with his son, Robert L. Davis, O.D. “Although we have been successful, economics did not and still does not drive us,” said Dr. Harold Davis. “If you try to do the best you can for your patient, the restwill follow. That’s always the answer.”The same year that Dr. Davis launched his practice in Chicago, Charles “Ted” Bayshore, O.D., was opening his doors in Orlando, Florida. An early fitter of PMMA corneal lenses, Dr. Bayshore developed his own system of fitting and lectured about it around the world. By the early 1950s, his was a contact lens-only practice, as well. But, in addition to an interest in lens technology, Dr. Bayshore—who had run a Naval hospital in World War II—brought military organization to his civilian practice. He put a recall system in place, established state-of-the-art communication systems, and was one of the first to inventory and market his lenses, according to Jack Joseph Yager, O.D., who joined the practice in 1973and now owns it. Further up the East Coast, Paul Farkas, O.D.,and Theodore W. Kassalow, O.D., established one of the nation’spremiere, high-endoptometric practices in NewYork City in 1958. Thepartners long ago decidednot to accept third-party insurance (other thanPaul Farkas, O.D. Medicare) and still don’t.They situated their practice on the second floor becauseground level was considered “too commercial,” but | 19Farkas & Kassalow was among the first practices to strike a middle ground between the business-oriented practice and the purely professional practice to form an Frank D. “Uncle Frank” Fontana, O.D.1989The FDA recommends that continuous-wear periods be decreased from 30 days to a maximum of seven days.organization that sought to be profitable by providing the best professional care for each and every patient.
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