Congratulations to ECA ophthalmologist J. Michael Roach, M.D., recipient of the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI)’s inaugural Beacon Award which was presented last month at CVI’s 10th Annual True Blue Do fundraising event.

The award recognizes the significant contributions Dr. Roach has made to CVI, an organization which empowers people with vision loss to live with independence and dignity.  For the past 10 years, he has supported CVI in numerous ways, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors and consistently donating his time, resources, and talents to the nonprofit’s mission.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the Center for Visually Impaired,” said Dr. Roach, “but the true heroes are the patients and staff, working together for the betterment of life.” He stresses, “It’s important for our medical teams to remember that when we’ve reached the end of what we can do medically and surgically for patients, there’s a wonderful resource, CVI, to help.”

Since joining the Eye Consultants of Atlanta in 1999, Dr. Roach’s surgical focus has included cataract and lens implant surgery. He is also involved in the design of surgical instruments that improve the safety of cataract surgery.  Dr. Roach received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and completed his residency at the Wake Forest University Eye Center in Winston-Salem, NC.  He has been in practice nearly 14 years and is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.  In addition to being Emeritus Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Emory University, he is also a guest lecturer at Mercer University, and an article reviewer for the Ophthalmology Journal and WebMD.

His other community service involvement has included being the team ophthalmologist for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons teams and serving as a volunteer ophthalmologist for Childspring International, EyeCare America, and the Good Samaritan Health Center.  In his spare time, he provides musical entertainment for non-profit fundraising events while performing in a band called the Macular Degenerates.

ECA is proud of Dr. Roach’s involvement with CVI and his efforts to highlight the importance of a partnership between medical care and vision rehabilitation services for those who experience vision loss.