An Optometrist with a Vision

By Mo Perry

One doesn’t often think of optometry as a life-saving profession, but when a routine blood pressure reading at a patient’s vision appointment revealed she was having a hypertensive crisis, Dr. Tim Fries (MPH 2020) leapt into action. “We drove her to the hospital where they said if she didn’t get here within the next hour, she would’ve died from a stroke,” Fries recalls. “She didn’t show up at the ER, she didn’t show up at her family practitioner, she showed up at her optometrist because she had blurry vision.”

This isn’t a standard occurrence for an optometrist, but Fries isn’t your standard optometrist. In the world of healthcare, where specialization often narrows focus, Fries stands out as a versatile leader with a multifaceted career that spans clinical practice, entrepreneurship, education, and advocacy.

In the face of private equity firms taking over many optometry practices, Fries decided years ago to pioneer a different model. “The private equities continually turn and sell you, and it’s a lot of turnover and you’re answering to shareholders,” he says. “I’ve always been of a business mindset and more of an entrepreneur. I decided, well, let’s compete against that.”

Fries and five partners co-founded the Optometric Management Group (OMG), a practice that started with six offices and has since expanded to 18 locations across Ohio. A search for a capital partner led to a first-of-its-kind joint venture with VSP Vision Care, the world’s largest vision care plan, which had a symbiotic vision of securing a steady provider network.

“We have been big supporters of them for a long time and realized that [joining forces] allowed us to maintain operational control and still have the financial backing to grow,” Fries says. Recently, Fries was appointed Medical Director at VSP Ventures, where he oversees clinical operations across the organization’s 87 locations while working with the leadership team on growth and clinical operations strategy.

As a member of the Ohio Optometric Association Board of Trustees, Fries has long been an advocate for optometry, recognizing that healthcare is a legislated profession. “I know how important it is to be active in the legislative area. And to do that, you need to think about how healthcare affects groups of people and populations, which is a public health perspective,” he says.

This led him to pursue a master’s degree in public health administration in 2018. “I wanted to broaden my perspective and be around people I wouldn’t normally have been around. I’m also fiercely loyal to the Big 10 and believe in the values of land-grant institutions. I wanted it to be a well-renowned program,” he says. The University of Minnesota School of Public Health checked all these boxes.

“They had the degree that fit what I was looking for in policy, leadership, and administration. And being able to be flexible with the program and be remote most of the time was important for me. I was a working professional, so I had to find a way to get the degree in a timely fashion,” Fries says.

Over his two years in the program, Fries spent about seven weeks on campus. “It was very much a hybrid program—I didn’t want it to be fully remote. I did want to have that in-person connection to the cohort as well,” he says. He developed a particularly strong connection with Professor Becky Wurtz, a fellow practicing clinician who became Fries’ advisor and remains a valued mentor today.

Fries also bridges the worlds of clinical practice and education himself, as an associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He imparts his extensive knowledge in business practice management, intertwining it with concepts of public health and delivery models, encouraging his students to proactively contemplate the future of integrated care.

“I want our students to be the future of how care is delivered and start thinking about it in a creative fashion,” Fries says. Nationwide provider shortages, unsustainable healthcare economics, and a lack of focus on preventative care are all troubling trends he’s motivated to help his students prepare to address.

As a member of the alumni board at the School of Public Health, Fries continues to contribute to the growth and development of the school. His insights from the clinical realm, coupled with a keen understanding of healthcare economics, enrich discussions within the board. Fries will be serving as the President of the Ohio Optometric Association in 2025. In addition, he accepted a position as Senior Director of Clinical and Professional Affairs at VSP Ventures where he leads clinical operations and clinical strategy over about 80 locations.

In his own mentorship of students, Fries emphasizes the importance of learning from failures and approaching challenges with resilience. “You’ll learn much more from your failures than you’ll ever learn from your successes,” he advises.