San Antonio, Texas, April 3, 2020 – Visionworks, a VSP Global® company, announced it will begin reopening locations starting April 6 to better serve increased needs for essential and emergency eye care. Up to 60 percent of Visionworks locations could reopen in the coming weeks. All will reopen with enhanced safety protocols, including personal protective equipment (PPE) for employees.
As healthcare providers, optometrists were recently included as essential critical infrastructure workers as part of guidance from the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
“Our top priority is the health and safety of our associates, doctors, and the patients we serve, and we have taken all necessary measures to ensure their well-being,” said Pete Bridgman, President of Visionworks. “We continue to see rising needs for essential eye care, and by reopening we can ensure those needs are safely met and optometrists can help reduce the number of patients seeking eye care from overwhelmed emergency rooms and hospitals during COVID-19.”
As not all Visionworks locations are reopening, the organization also announced it must reduce a portion of its workforce through employee furloughs for the next 60 days. Furloughed employees will retain their benefits, with Visionworks paying the employee portion of premiums during this time. Additionally, impacted employees will receive assistance from Visionworks in expediting unemployment claims to help them access benefits.
“Like so many other organizations, we continue to face significant economic challenges and impact from COVID-19,” added Bridgman. “We und ..
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