Member Spotlight: Stephanie Price, OD
Providing Eyecare to Musicians in Need
When hearing the word “musicians,” one tends to think of albums, luxury cars and lavish lifestyles. But the reality is that most musicians live much more modest lives, often without the stability and benefits of a typical 9 to 5 job, including routine eyecare.
Dr. Stephanie Price is doing her part to help bridge that gap by providing services through MusiCares, a nonprofit arm of the Grammys. 2-3 times a year, she opens her clinic to individuals from the music industry in the greater Nashville area, providing low cost or free eyecare services to not only musical artists but also recording engineers, sound technicians and band managers.
MusiCares provides a safety net of assistance for individuals from the music industry in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly influence the health and welfare of the music community.
Her reasons for participating in MusiCares was inspired by her experience living in another city.
“Before we moved to Tennessee, we lived in San Francisco, and I helped provide community services through Project Homeless Connect,” Dr. Price explains.
Through Project Homeless’s annual Community Day of Service event, the homeless can get free services such as dental care, eyeglasses, HIV testing, Hepatitis A vaccines, housing information, groceries, hygiene products, medical care, mental health and addiction services, SSI benefits, legal advice, and more.
“I wanted to do something similar in our new location, and because my husband’s a musician, that’s how I found out about MusiCares,” Dr. Price explains. Similar to Project Homeless Connect, MusiCares helps music communities around the U.S. with financial aid, addiction services, and health services.
But in Nashville, “they hadn’t done a vision clinic before,” Dr. Price says.
Dr. Price runs Port Royal Eye Care in Spring Hill, Tennessee, about half an hour’s drive outside of Nashville, also known to many as “Music City.”
“We’ve run eight clinics so far, and they’ve been really successful,” Dr. Price says. “MusiCares handles the scheduling and does the marketing, so I don’t have to do much. They also screen the applicants to ensure they’re eligible for low cost or free services,” she says.
When a clinic day is announced, the first 20 people who sign up are given a slot, and Dr. Price clears her schedule to see them all in one day.
“I love to serve people in the industry, and it’s pretty simple since I really don’t have to do much,” she says.
“What’s also great is that MusiCares is able to pay me a discounted fee for providing these services,” Dr. Price says. However, the ability to give back to the local community is a reward in itself, she adds.
