Meet Your Provider: Jose Pierre, OD

The first time optometrist Jose Pierre, OD, heard the words “I go to Zufall Health,” he was conducting a diabetic eye exam for a patient at the vision center in Walmart in Boonton, NJ.

“The patient didn’t have health insurance, so I offered to help her find a primary care provider. To my surprise, she said she already had one—Karen Feldman, APN—right here at Zufall.”

Learning that Zufall served everyone, regardless of insurance or income, was so inspiring to Pierre. Born and raised in Haiti, where medical care is a luxury for most, he understood the financial hardships that prevent access. From then on, he referred all of his uninsured patients to Zufall for primary care.

When Pierre learned of an opportunity for a part-time optometrist at Zufall Health in Dover, he applied with enthusiasm, interviewed with Chief Medical Officer Rina Ramirez, MD, and was hired as the team’s first and only optometrist.

An advocate for the integration of vision services within primary care, Pierre emphasizes that vision care is essential to overall health because the body is one interconnected system, not a collection of isolated parts. Eye exams can reveal important information about health, including signs of diabetes, hypertension, brain tumors, aneurysms, and sexually transmitted infections, he explains.

Now with Zufall for over six years, Pierre remains the organization’s sole optometrist. Looking ahead, he hopes that Zufall will achieve its active fundraising efforts to hire more optometry providers, acquire specialized vision equipment, and expand vision services to West Orange. 

“Many of my patients present with advanced conditions like diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma due to a lack of prior vision care,” he says. “It is important that we expand our resources to better meet their needs and those of additional patients.” 

With nearly 20 years of experience, Pierre holds a doctor of optometry degree and a bachelor’s in visual science from Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, as well as a bachelor’s in biology from Montclair State University. He is board-certified in ocular disease management and speaks English, Creole, French, and basic German.