RHOS 2024Board of Directors
President
Jill Rodriguez-Santos, OD
Secretary
Derek Rice, OD
Treasurer
Samantha Johnson, OD
Membership Chair
Rich Yang, OD
Education Chair
Marilyn Hernandez, OD
Government/Health
Fabian Corona, MS, OD
Communications
Andrew Sprenkel, OD, FAAO
Political Action
Steve Chiana, OD
Members at Large
Sarah Wolff, OD
Esther Salado, OD, FAAO
John Larcabal, OD
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WELCOME TO RIO HONDO!Welcome One and All to the Rio Hondo Optometric Society's NEW official website!
Optometrists are doctors of Optometry; a health-care profession dedicated to examining, diagnosing, and in most cases treating, the vision and health of the eye for defects like blur and disease. When an Optometrist wishes to be active in their profession beyond practicing, or examining patients, they can pay dues to become a member of their local Optometric Society. Optometric Societies are local coalitions of Optometrists that gather often to discuss current practices affecting their patients and the profession of Optometry. These local societies are interlinked to one another through a larger State Association of Optometrists, whom in turn are affiliated at an even higher level with the national American Optometric Association (AOA). Specifically, the Rio Hondo Optometric Society (RHOS) is one of the oldest optometric societies currently working with it's parent group, the California Optometric Association (COA). Formed for more than 50 years, it's members consist of those Optometrists practicing in Southern California: Bell Gardens, Cerritos, Cudahy, Downey, El Monte, LaHabra, LaPuente, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, San Dimas, San Gabriel, SantaFe Springs, and Whittier. The Rio Hondo Optometric Society meets monthly for continuing education lectures, and often additionally to discuss in a round table format current medical practices affecting their patients. The Rio Hondo Optometric Society is known by other societies to be an active group whose Optometrists serve the community as well as the profession. Four of Rio Hondo's members have lead the state organization by serving as President of the California Optometric Association. We appreciate you visiting our website, and hope that you will enjoy taking advantage of some of the services and information the Rio Hondo Optometric Society website can provide for you. 
REMEMBERING FOUR BELOVED MEMBERS WHOM WE LOST TOO SOON....
Bill Rogoway, OD
It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Dr. Bill Rogoway.
If you ever talked to Bill, you knew Bill had a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. Here is a quote from Bill that we hope you read as we do, in his voice... “Various Rogoway family members have practiced Optometry in California for more than 110 years. So, I think that it could be said that Optometry is in my blood and part of my DNA...” Optometry was Bill’s passion. He went above and beyond for the profession and was involved in several committees with the California Optometric Association, most recently serving on the Health Care Delivery Systems Committee. Bill enjoyed serving on the Rio Hondo Optometric Society Board and had been part of the board for many years. His humor and candor kept our meetings light hearted and fun. Bill went to school locally at Cal State University Long Beach and at USC. He received his doctor of optometry degree at the Southern College of Optometry. He practiced in the city of Downey and the city of Corona. He was a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Examiners, and a Senior Analyst for the American Board of Disability Analysts. He authored more than 80 articles for California Optometry and held several positions with the California Optometric Association involving Medicare and insurance. He was very active in the Rio Hondo Optometric Society serving in a variety of positions and mentoring younger ODs who joined the society. Throughout the years he received many awards, certificates, and plaques by various groups and organizations for his outstanding services. Of all the awards though, he was most proud of The Paul Yarwood Memorial Award given to him in 2016. It is COA’s highest award and it is bestowed upon those who have made significant contributions to optometry and to the visual care of the American public. Bill believed in the future of our profession. His life was a service to optometry and it was a gift to have known him. He was a great representation of what it meant to give back to your profession and we are lucky to have had him fight for us. We are lucky to have listened to his wisdom, to have had him be a part of our society and our association, to have had meals with him at our meetings, to have had someone who so loved optometry that he was still contributing and working to the very end. We offer our condolences to his family and we hope you take a moment to remember the great times you have shared with him. 
James Cohen, OD
It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of our very own Dr. James Cohen. Below, we would like to share just a few words about Jim. Jim was in practice for over 43 years in the city of Buena Park and in the city of Santa Ana. He was a proud Rutgers alumni and graduated from the New England College of Optometry. Jim was a long time member of the AOA, COA, and the Rio Hondo Optometric Society. He served on the board of Rio Hondo in various capacities, including President of the society, and most recently helping with Education. Jim often spoke of being the first to catalog our members with his camera when he first joined the society many years ago and being the first to design a website for the society. Jim had a love for camping, fishing, bird watching, and gardening. He also enjoyed teaching students and mentored several optometric interns from the University of Western. He was a clinical preceptor for Western since 2014 and he received an award for excellence in clinical teaching every year since then. He recently invited his students to present to our society at our November meeting and then proceeded to give a presentation on genetics and genetic testing in optometry, showing that he was on the forefront of optometric trends. Soon after though, Jim's health started to decline. He had suffered a heart attack, kidney failure, and pneumonia in December. Unsurprisingly, that did not stop Jim from doing what he loved. He attended our CE meetings until the very end and despite his declining physical health, his mind was as sharp as ever, demonstrated by his challenging questions to our speaker at the last lecture he attended. Jim passed away peacefully at the Los Alamitos Medical Center surrounded by his loving family. We will miss his contributions to our profession, we will miss all his comments and questions at our meetings, and most of all, we will miss his friendship and genuine sense of camaraderie. Jim was a great optometrist and will always remain in our hearts. 
David Golden, OD
Dr. David Golden passed away peacefully in 2021, surrounded by family in his Long Beach home at the age of 59 after a long fight with cancer. He was an industry leader and devoted his career to supporting and advancing independent optometry.
Dr. Golden has been practicing optometry since 1987 after graduating with honors from the Southern California College of Optometry. In 2008, along with his colleague Dr. Howard Stein, Dr. Golden formed the Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative (PERC) in an effort to help independent optometrists leverage their combined buying power and greatly improve their bottom lines. Dr. Golden is survived by his wife Sheila, to whom he has been married since 1989, and their two daughters. He was an avid woodworker and spent much of his spare time building and restoring furniture and fishing with his family and friends in Alaska and Mexico. Dr. Golden was a long time member of the Rio Hondo Optometric Society and had previously served on the Rio Hondo board as well. He will be greatly missed. Lawrence Creasey, OD
It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of one of our very own Rio Hondo members, Dr. Larry Creasey. Dr. Creasey was a graduate of UC Berkeley (OD class of 1958) and was COA president in the late 60s (1968). He practiced in Long Beach and was very involved at the state and national level. He was a part of the Long Beach Optometric Society before it disbanded and became a permanent member of the Rio Hondo Optometric Society soon after. He attended countless COA and AOA meetings and was also part of the AOA-PAC Committee and AOA Membership Committee.
Larry spent his life giving back to the profession, even in the late stages of his life. We were lucky to have him as a member and are thankful for the contributions and sacrifice he made for our profession. He will be missed. |
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Become a RHOS member! * FREE Monthly CE Dinner Meetings (18 CE hrs per year) * Reduced cost to Summer CE Spectacular * Receive monthly newsletter * Access to doctors with years of experience Join us today! Memorial Tribute
Steven Sokol
1936-2015
Lawrence Creasey
passed on June 8th, 2021 David Golden
1962-2021
James Cohen
1949-2022
Bill Rogoway
1945-2022
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