NEW YORK—Insights into Walmart's groundbreaking Health Centers initiative. A lightweight, wearable computer that brings together the physical and digital worlds to expand the possibilities for healthcare. Keen observations about where and how major investors are viewing the future of healthcare. These are just three of the highlights to be presented by the first announced speakers at the upcoming Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit, the exclusive live event to be held here March 25 at The Times Center. Early bird registration for the VM Summit has been extended through January 14 at 11:59 p.m. and is available at www.visionmonday.com/Summit.

Now in its 14th year, the VM Leadership Summit attracts senior industry executives, optical retailers, leading eyecare professionals, suppliers and key opinion leaders from the worldwide optical industry. The program, "The Future of Healthcare: Beyond 2020," will illuminate the dynamic changes coming on stream in the healthcare field and examine the opportunities for vision care and optical to play a broader, more significant role in it. Thought leaders and influential thinkers will share their visions of healthcare’s future. Attendees will take away actionable ideas and practical strategies that will help them compete in today’s consumer-centric business environment.

Mony Iyer, vice president, specialty healthcare services, Walmart Health and Wellness, will share a look inside Walmart's newest Health Center, just opened in recent months and offering a new approach to healthcare services. By partnering with local providers, the new Walmart Health Center will deliver services including primary care, labs, X-ray and EKG, counseling, dental, optical, hearing, community health (nutritional services, fitness) and health insurance education and enrollment all in one facility, located outside the Walmart Super Center store with a separate entrance for customers. The clinic will provide low, transparent pricing for key health services for local families.

Iyer leads specialty services, including optical, dental and hearing, at Walmart as part of Walmart Health and Wellness. Walmart Optical has over 3,000 vision centers at Walmart Supercenters across the U.S, and the company is also growing its footprint in dental and hearing as part of Walmart’s overall investment in Health and Wellness. He will talk about the opportunities for vision and optometry in this new health service environment.


Iyer joined Walmart in July 2018 from OneSight, where he was president and focused on bringing underserved communities around the world access to quality vision care and glasses. He has a long career in this space, leading strategic initiatives and developing partnership models to drive revenue and growth.

Jennifer Esposito, vice president, health for Magic Leap, has spent her entire career at the intersection of technology and health. She spent much time at GE Healthcare where she worked with teams to enhance product reliability and service through the use of new technologies including IoT, Artificial Intelligence and broadband connectivity.

Esposito then spent over four years at Intel, leading their health and life sciences group. Magic Leap is a start-up that is building the next generation of computing, spatial computing, creating 3D imagery to visualize data, run simulations and train professionals. She and her team are working to build tools and development frameworks that will enable the ecosystem to bring spatial computing to a wide range of use cases in health, fitness and research.

“Magic Leap is using an exciting new technology, spatial computing, to pioneer a fresh approach to healthcare,” said Andrew Karp, Vision Monday’s group editor, lenses and technology. “Jennifer Esposito will show VM Summit attendees how Magic Leap 1 augmented reality goggles bring 2D images to life, reveal new insights into complex data, and provide fully digital medical simulation training. In the future, this technology will enhance telehealth by breaking barriers between patient and practitioner and expand access to care and specialists.”

Jo Natauri, partner and global head of healthcare investing for Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division (MBD) will present the view from the vantage point of today's major global investors toward the fast-changing healthcare space, talking about which types of business models are getting their attention, how consumer expectations and new technology is impacting the field.

Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Its Merchant Banking Division, with nine offices across seven countries, is one of the leading private capital investors in the world with equity and credit investments across corporate, real estate and infrastructure strategies. Goldman Sach's MBD announced in June 2019 its acquisition of Capital Vision Services, provider of management services to MyEyeDr., a transaction which closed last August.

Natauri was a lead investor for Launch With GS, Goldman Sachs’ $500 million commitment to narrow the gender investing gap. She serves on the MBD Corporate Investment Committee. Previously, Natauri worked in the Consumer Retail and Healthcare Group in the Investment Banking Division, responsible for coverage of large, multinational companies across the healthcare and consumer sectors.

She joined Goldman Sachs in 2006 as a vice president and was named managing director in 2008 and partner in 2012. Prior to joining the firm, she was an investment banker at Deutsche Bank. She has been covering companies and executing transactions for more than 20 years.

Marge Axelrad, SVP and editorial director of the Vision Monday Group said, "New market leaders are emerging, and established brands are reinventing themselves with fresh approaches and enhanced customer experiences. Doctor-patient relationships are being redefined. How will these transformative changes impact vision care providers and payors? Suppliers?

"We'll examine this at the Summit in 2020. We're bringing together some of the top minds in healthcare to help us understand how these trends present both a challenge and an opportunity for vision care,” said Axelrad. “This program and the networking opportunity that the VM Summit provides will be a unique experience for our attendees, decision makers and innovators who want to move forward in this rapidly shifting landscape.”

VSP Global is a Platinum Sponsor of the 2020 VM Leadership Summit. Gold Sponsors include CareCredit and Think About Your Eyes (TAYE).

Early bird registration for the VM Summit has been extended through January 14 and is available at www.visionmonday.com/Summit. 

Additional VM Global Leadership Summit speakers will be announced soon.