KKV’s Optometry Department is in the Wellness Center down the hall from Pediatrics and the Pharmacy. The examination room is bright and spacious with a wall of colorful and stylish eyeglass frames. Three optometrists handle a wide range of cases from the basic fitting of eyeglasses to complicated work with patients experiencing chronic conditions.  

The program was founded in 2015 by Dr. Seulyn Lee Au, a Hawaiʻi licensed optometrist since 1983. As KKV’s first optometrist, Dr. Au has worked part-time over the past seven-plus years to grow the team to three part-time optometrists. In the process, she has mentored Drs. Jessica Iida and Alissa Chin.  

Dr. Au has been involved with KKV in different capacities going back to the 1980s. At that time, she was a licensed optometrist, and her younger sister was in dental school, working as a summer intern with Dr. David Breese. In 1985, Jory Watland, the then Executive Director of KKV, talked with Dr. Au about the possibility of starting an Optometry program at KKV. But timing was not quite right because of the lack of office space for the program. Dr. Au later founded the Optometry program at Kalihi-Palama Health Clinic in Kaumakapili Church. 

In the 1990’s, Dr. Au continued her involvement with KKV by serving on the Board of Directors. She recalls fondly how she worked with the other directors and with management on important issues facing KKV. 

More recently in 2015, Dr. Au and CEO Dr. David Derauf had extensive discussions which led to the formation of the Optometry program later that year. The program has taken off from there! 

Dr. Au brings a significant level of experience to KKV. After she graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia in 1982, she became Hawaiʻi’s first Native Hawaiian optometrist. For over twenty-five years, she ran the doctors’ offices in all LensCrafters stores across Oʻahu, Maui, and Sears Optical on Kauaʻi. During the past 8 years, she’s been in private practice. Dr. Au also oversees the Optometry Department at Waikiki Health Center. Since 2015, she has served on the State Board of Examiners of Optometry where she keeps abreast of the field. 

With her business aptitude and connections, Dr. Au regularly sources unique eyeglass frames from diverse vendors in the United States. She works hard to keep prices low for KKV's patients and with Dr. Au's connections, she can leverage large quantities of frames to benefit the patients who need them.  

A Kamehameha Schools graduate, Dr. Au grew up in Kalihi, just down the street from the school. “From a young age, I always knew I wanted to be an optometrist,” she says. “If not for the support of my high school chemistry instructor, who encouraged me to go for it, I’d have let others discourage me from being an optometrist. She gave me the courage to pursue my career.  Whenever I came home for optometry school breaks, I always went back to thank her.”  

Being an optometrist at KKV brings back wonderful memories about the thousands of patients she has helped over the past 40 years. Dr. Au remembers making her first and only house call at the Kalāhele home in Kalihi many decades ago when she was an optometrist at the Kalihi-Palama Health Clinic. That same Kalāhele family is now an integral part of the KKV family. 

Mahalo to our team of optometrists and to Dr. Au for her years of dedicated service to KKV patients and the community!