PLEASANT GAP – Dr. Tracy Carpenter Sepich, a consulting rehabilitation optometrist at HealthSouth Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital since 2005, was named the 2014 Optometrist of the Year by the Pennsylvania Optometric Association (POA) on May 6.
The Pennsylvania Optometric Association “Optometrist of the Year” Award recognizes a member of POA who, through years of dedicated service to optometry and the public, merits recognition from the optometrists of the state of Pennsylvania. The winner will be formally announced at POA’s award ceremony on Nov. 22.
Within the Pennsylvania Optometric Association, Sepich is currently a member of the Clinical Practice committee, Legislative Affairs committee and the Pennsylvania House sub-committee, as the representative for the central region of the state. She is also the current Mid-Counties Optometric Society president.
Sepich graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1987 and from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, with her Doctor of Optometry degree, as well as a Master’s degree in Low Vision Rehabilitation, in 1991. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Optometry, a member of the American Optometric Association’s Low Vision section, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development and the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association.
She contributes to programs, such as InfantSEE and the Pennsylvania Diabetic Eye Health Alliance (PDEHA). She has worked with Student Optometric Service to Humanity (SOSH), the Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services as a Low Vision Rehabilitation Provider, the Consumer Advisory Committee of the Altoona Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, People Centered on Diabetes (PCOD) as an optometric advisor and the Sight Loss Support Group of Central Pennsylvania as a Circle of Light member.
Through her practice, Sepich Eye Care, P.C., she takes her services to HealthSouth patients and to three assisted living/nursing homes in State College. Sepich previously practiced in Charlottesville, Va. and Seneca, before establishing Sepich Eye Care in State College in 2004.
Sepich Eye Care is a full-service optometric practice with special services in low vision rehabilitation, pediatrics, vision therapy, post-concussion care and specialized contact lens treatments.
In the community, Sepich has volunteered annually, for the last 10 years, at the Special Olympics Opening Eyes Program. She is the chairman of the Parish Council at her church, Our Lady of Victory. She is a Life Scout for Girls Scouts of America and a troop travel coordinator and cookie mom for troop 1183. In 2011 and 2012, she was the Service Unit camp director.
Sepich was given the award for Outstanding Volunteer from Service Unit 416 in 2011 and the Girl Scout Appreciation Pin from the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania Council in 2012. In 2006, she was a member of the Leadership Centre County class. She served as the chairman of Service Projects and Fundraising in the Downtown State College Rotary Club, resulting in the 2006 Rotarian of the Year award. Â She currently is on the membership committee and the incoming second vice president for that same club. In 2007, she was a part of the State College Area
School District Strategic Planning Leadership team and given the Community Service Healthcare Provider of the Year award by the State College Jaycees.
