Media Contact: Michael Schwartzberg, GBMC Media Relations Manager
(O): 443-849-2126/Cell: 410-258-3465eMarch 2:]
GBMC Vision Expert Appointed To State Advisory Panel On Driving
BALTIMORE, Md. – August 7, 2007 – Janet Sunness, M.D. of Greater Baltimore Medical Center, a National Institutes of Health funded researcher and international authority on vision issues, has been appointed to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Sunness has served as medical director of GBMC’s Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision and Blindness since March 2005.
“Serving on the Medical Advisory Board will nicely complement my work at Hoover,” Dr Sunness said. “I will be able to use my expertise in helping to evaluate and manage driving regulations for visually impaired individuals.”
The Medical Advisory Board is comprised of physicians specializing in various areas of medicine who work closely with the Motor Vehicle Administration to ensure a driver is capable of safely operating a motor vehicle. Board members do not perform medical examinations but work with available information and testimony to develop recommendations on a person’s driving status which is forwarded to the MVA’s Driver Wellness and Safety Division for action.
Drivers with a number of medical conditions, including visual acuity less than 20/70 in each eye and any of a number of diseases, are required to have special driver’s license approval from the Medical Advisory Board, which may include additional training and testing. In some cases, private physicians, hospitals, or other healthcare providers may also refer individuals to the MVA for a possible hearing by the Medical Advisory Board. (For more information on referrals to the Medical Advisory Board see: http://mva.state.md.us/AboutMVA/INFO/26200-03T.htm)
“Driving is one of the most important ways people can retain their independence,” Dr. Sunness said, “and it’s important that this activity is preserved for those who are able to safely do it, and limited for those who unfortunately are no longer able to.”
A resident of Pikesville and an ophthalmologist by training, Dr. Sunness is a leading world expert on advanced dry age-related macular degeneration. Her clinical practice focuses on low vision and on retinal and macular disease.
The Richard E. Hoover Rehabilitation Services for Low Vision & Blindness was established in 1986 at GBMC as a joint venture with the Maryland School for the Blind and the Hoover family. Dr. Hoover led the hospital’s Ophthalmology Department for a quarter century, and had a long history of service as a teacher, ophthalmologist, and board member at the Maryland School for the Blind. Dr. Hoover dedicated much of his career to developing rehabilitation programs for visually impaired people. These services, which bear his name, continue this mission of teaching people the skills they need to function each day despite impaired sight.
GBMC’s Hoover Vision Information & Education Works (VIEW), located on the 3rd floor of Physician’s Pavilion West, showcases the latest technology such as closed circuit televisions for the visually impaired. Patients and family can examine and "test drive" a multitude of devices to evaluate and compare their usefulness. VIEW also offers both optical aids such as high-powered magnifiers, telescopes or electronic devices, and & non-optical aids such as check writing guides, bold tip pens, yellow acetate filters, talking watches and clocks, large button phones and large playing cards.
About GBMC
GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital; Hospice of Baltimore, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; and the GBMC Foundation, which supports the GBMC mission by managing fundraising efforts. The 292-bed Medical Center, located on a beautiful suburban campus, serves nearly 22,000 inpatients annually and provides approximately 60,000 emergency room visits. For more information, go to www.gbmc.org
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 GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Hospice of Baltimore and the Gilchrist Center, and the GBMC Foundation.
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