NEW YORK—Onsite eyecare provider Optical Academy has launched its Mobile Vision Lab fleet, which will accompany the firm’s on-site vision team to provide same-day eyewear at on-site eyecare events in schools, work sites, nursing homes and community centers across the country. Optical Academy, which is based in Clifton, N.J., will kick-start the launch of the Mobile Vision Lab unit by debuting the fleet in October to serve 30,000 New York City students in low-income housing during the 2021-2022 school year.

The Mobile Lab will be parked outside each eligible on-site event location to process and dispense eyewear to students the same day. The accessibility will help solve the urgency of corrective eyewear so that children have the opportunity to see a difference in the classroom immediately, according to the company’s recent announcement.

Optical Academy has added three Mobile Vision Labs to its fleet, chief executive officer Abby Ayoub told VMAIL. The new mobile labs are set up to prepare the finished eyewear outside the client's school site or work site.

“We are hoping to add more mobile vision labs across the country and eliminate a lot of delays and costs associated with ordering, shipping and deliveries,” Ayoub added. “We have assigned one of our Mobile Vision Labs to our partner of over 10 years now, the New York City Department of Education and Department of Health & Mental Hygiene where we have served hundreds of thousands of students, staff and community members.”

The students with permission will have the opportunity to take a tour and help make their glasses to take home the same day, she added.  Optical Academy currently has mobile labs for New York, New Jersey and Florida.

"Our mission is to change the delivery of eyecare for everyone,” Ayoub said. “We spend most of our day in school, at work or at home and that should be where you are receiving care.”

Optical Academy has worked in partnership with New York City’s education and health departments to provide on-site eyecare to hundreds of thousands of students in NYC schools for more than eight years, according to the recent announcement.

The company sets up a full service pop-up optical shop directly inside school, community, and work site buildings to provide affordable and convenient eyecare to their members.

"If a student can't see, they can't learn,” Ayoub added. “Seventy percent of children who fail a vision screening never see an eye doctor for corrective eyewear. Our program aims to bridge that gap and provide children with their first eye exam and pair of eyeglasses in the comfort of their school.”

Optical Academy has led the pioneering of on-site eyecare since 2010, servicing over a million eyes nationwide. The organization partners with eyecare providers, insurance carriers, school administrators, and work site human resource and compliance departments to be a source of affordable, convenient, safe, and accessible eyecare, the announcement stated.

It tailors on-site eyecare events to the needs of the partner establishments, and works with state-of-the art digital equipment to provide the most advanced eyecare experience, focusing on visual ergonomics of work sites, student success in the classroom, and accessible eyecare for the most fragile communities.