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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Jim Meffort-Nelson
Executive Director
 O: 952-841-1122
jim@mneyedocs.org

Jessica Miller
Deputy Executive Director
 O: 952-841-1122
jessica@mneyedocs.org

Dr. Craig McCormick: Albert Lea family eye doctor balances private practice with military, humanitarian service

For Dr. Craig McCormick, a family eye doctor at the Albert Lea Eye Clinic, Mayo Health System, service has been a continuing career theme, whether in active duty in the U.S. Navy, a member of the South Dakota Air National Guard, a participant in military or civilian humanitarian missions, or as a volunteer and past president of the Minnesota Optometric Association (MOA) board of directors. 

Dr. McCormick is currently the medical group commander of the South Dakota Air National Guard, responsible for all health care and training. He reports to the fighter wing commander of the 114th, a unit of about 1,100. Dr. McCormick oversees a group of about 60 personnel, who range from flight surgeons, medical technicians, dentist, optometrist, nurses and bioenvironmental specialists. The medical group offers a variety of services, including pilot physicals, wellness education, immunizations and they also undergo regular military medical training for possible active duty.

Military service is not new to Dr. McCormick, who has logged 31 active and reserve years to date. After spending eleven and a half years in active duty in the Navy, he entered the Navy Reserves, which was called to active duty during Desert Storm.  He later joined the SD Air National Guard.

Dr. McCormick enjoys the military service challenges and the chance to offer leadership. “I love it,” he said. “I am glad I can contribute. I find it rewarding to make sure that our medical group is trained to provide healthcare services and can serve in specific active duty roles. For example, a banker is trained as a dental technician, or a machinist is a lab assistant on weekends.” While he says the chances of being called to active duty for this unit are not great due to volunteer rotation, the goal is to be well prepared.

Dr. McCormick has also traveled with his unit to Guam to support the troops and their dependents there, as well as Germany and Biloxi, MS.

The McCormick’s’ son, Ryan a member of the Wisconsin National Air Guard, just returned from active duty in Kirkuk, Iraq. “He worked in supply on a base, so we were more concerned about his getting safely to the base,” said Dr. McCormick, “although once on the base, he did have to dive into a bunker several times while under attack.”

Dr. McCormick has participated in a number of humanitarian aid missions in the military and civilian life. In 1996, his National Guard unit traveled to the Republic of Georgia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in a Partners for Peace initiative. “Our job was to treat the Russian veterans there, and while we were able to fill prescriptions, the medical facility infrastructure wasn’t working, and even ocular equipment was being stolen and sold on the black market,” said Dr. McCormick.

As an optometry student, and later as a practicing eye doctor, Craig McCormick has volunteered with the student organization, Student Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity (SVOSH) in Haiti, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Guatemala. “It’s rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time in areas where there is such extreme poverty,” said Dr. McCormick. “People would walk for three days, and wait to be seen. Sometimes we did not have the time and supplies to see everyone, and that is really difficult. In Costa Rica, where we were actually able to take care of everyone in the village, a man could see for the first time when he received glasses. We gave an exam and glasses to a very poor woman in Haiti. She brought us candy the next day, even though she had so little. It was a gift from the heart, and it was overwhelming, because we were certainly there to help her, not the other way around. The need is so great in these countries.”

Dr. McCormick’s volunteer work does not stop there; he also takes the time to volunteer at the Minnesota State Fair, where the MOA has an educational and screening booth in the Health KARE 11 Building. A former MOA board member, Craig McCormick knows the value of service.

“I find rewards and balance with my practice have had a lot to do with my military service as well as missions with SVOSH. And if you are part of an organization such as the MOA, service is the only way to be an active participant,” he said.

Dr. McCormick’s philosophy extends to patient care. “I think the educational component is vital in patient care,” he said. “ I try to take the time to get to know patients and answer their questions. A lot of my patients are growing older with me; we have fifteen year relationship.”

About the MOA:
The Minnesota Optometric Association has 525 member doctors of optometry around the state. The MOA is committed to furthering awareness of optometrists as primary eye care or family eye doctors and to bringing about change that positively impacts the MOA member doctors and their patients.

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