50 Years Into Her Career, Doctor Is in the Driver’s Seat

At 77, age is no limitation for Dr. VanHoy. Her t-shirt says, “It’s weird being the same age as old people.” All photos courtesy of Dr. VanHoy.

Mary VanHoy, OD, FCOVD, FCSO, found a new drive—literally—after the pandemic. Dr. VanHoy has been in practice since 1971, which includes two years in what she was told was “the new modern Army” during the Vietnam conflict. It was at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center that she developed an interest in vision therapy, a service she was able to provide for military dependents and retirees.

She continued that interest after her tour of duty, going back to school for courses in learning disabilities and visual processing issues such as dyslexia. By then, she had settled into a career in Indiana with a thriving vision therapy practice.

Even so, she nurtured the idea of a mobile clinic to deliver services to lower-income patients. “I had this dream of having a tugboat on the Ohio River,” she says. While she didn’t dive headlong into those waters, she did make a career shift.

PRACTICES 2,000 MILES APART

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Dr. VanHoy’s daughter, an occupational therapist, suggested her mother come to Washington state and bring her sensory learning table to help patients with traumatic brain injuries. Dr. VanHoy could not practice optometry in the state, but she was able to be certified as an energy medicine practitioner, working only with patients with sensory motor issues. “I was thriving on seeing five patients at a time in a 12-day program. Then I’d fly back to Indianapolis and see my regular patients there,” she says.

Eyevan has everything Dr. VanHoy needs.

As the pandemic shuttered more businesses, most of the Indianapolis staff decided to stay home or seek other work that didn’t require the one-on-one interaction of vision therapy. “I was doing everything alone for about three years,” she says. When it came time to renew the lease, she felt like it was time to try something different.

“I had once rented a shuttle bus that the owner had converted to include a shower and stove and sleeping area. That owner found me a 22-foot school bus that I brought down to Red’s Custom Design in southern Indiana. I told the designer I wanted a place to sleep and live and have room if I had a student traveling with me to sleep or stay.”

The Eyevan waits for the next adventure.

The inside of the Eyevan.

SETTING UP EYEVAN

Her bus, named Eyevan, is exactly what she wanted. It has a full-sized refrigerator, five-burner stove, hot water, flush toilet and shower. She can now bring her services to various organizations around the state.

Miss Dolly Pue is Dr. VanHoy’s therapy bunny for patients! “She’s my only staff and has her own space on EyeVan.”

However, not everything went according to plan. “I naively thought that I could take the bus to all of my referring doctors where I could use their refracting lanes and do only specialty tests on the bus. I had sold all my refracting lane equipment,” she says. That didn’t happen, nor could she easily find a place to park her bus.

So she and her son, a ceramic artist, bought a three-level house in Indianapolis. He uses the top level for his art studio. She sees patients on the first floor at Eyes for Wellness, where her sensory table sits in the living room screened off from her optometric eye lane. The purchase of this house allowed her a safe parking place for EyeVan which was not possible in her previous downtown condo location. She now travels to health fairs and other events spotlighting “Smart in Everything but School” to educate the public about the importance of seeing beyond 20/20 eyesight!

The semi-nomadic lifestyle and interest in neuro-optometry also sparked an unusual connection. She’s now working with Patch Adams, MD, the social activist, clown and physician portrayed by actor Robin Williams. Dr. VanHoy has attended Dr. Adams’ Gesundheit Institute. In late October, she plans to join Dr. Adams and a group who will clown to bring laughter and hope for patients in Morocco’s orphanages, hospitals, prisons and marketplaces. At 77 years old, Dr. VanHoy keeps finding interesting and important ways to deliver the neuro-optometric care she’s been passionate about for five decades.