Pat Crandle- Optometric Assistant

Pat is a native of Binghamton and has been with our team for three years.  She has a husband Ron, son Corey, and daughter Ronni.  Pat is our resident Betsy Ross and farmer and her interests always keep us amazed.  She enjoys fiber arts, sewing and crafts of many types.  She even has a weaving loom (!), raises chickens, enjoys hobby farming and gardening and most of all loves being around children.  In our office Pat is likely to be the technician guiding you through your specialized testing such as visual fields, Heidelberg laser scanning ophthalmoscopy or retinal imaging- her compassion and skill will make these tests painless, quick and accurate. 

Factoid about Pat: she has been in the eye care business in one capacity or another for the past 27 years.

Annelise Day- Billing Specialist

Annelise has been with our office for two years as our billing specialist and clinical research assistant.  Annelise’s charm and positive attitude will get you through any billing issues or insurance problems you may have.  She has a commanding knowledge of most insurance plans and can likely answer any question you have about your insurance.  Annelise is married to her husband Dr. Dan Day.  Annelise is our resident “Renaissance Woman” and enjoys travelling, horses, art, running, working out and spending time with her two Huskies.  She is part owner of a family business that purchases, renovates and manages rental properties and is sole owner of Annelise Day Designs/Purse and Handbag Company. 

Factoid about Annelise: played field hockey at Penn State from 2003-2007.

Tonya Frezza- Front Desk/Reception

Tonya has been with our office for 8 years and has been married to her husband Andrew for over 30 years.  They have four grown children in various parts of the Northeast.  We are sure most of our patients have met Tonya as she is the Rock of the Front Desk.  We set our time by her consistency and steady pace.  Tonya can multi task with the best of them and rarely will she become a frazzled Frezza even when the office is overflowing with patients.  Tonya enjoys traveling,  going to movies, Facebooking, collecting watermelons and most of all BINGO.  She exudes positive vibes and is our lucky charm, having reported back to us multiple times her luck at Bingo at Turning Stone (we wonder why she still works given all her winnings). 

Factoid about Tonya: once won a trip to the Bahamas with Regis and Kelly.

Lorri Hertzog- Practice Administrator

Lorri Hertzog is our practice administrator and manager.  Lorri has been with us for almost a decade, and has been the foundation for a lot of the positive changes we have implemented over that time.  Lorri is married to her husband Bob, and they have two sons- Ryan and Scott- who are grown and have successful careers of their own.  Lorri enjoys travelling, biking, working out, photography, gardening and anything that brings her out into the sunshine and warm air.  She is a bona fide beach lover.  Lorri runs our day today office systems, including scheduling, marketing, hiring and staff performance reviews.  She is the glue that holds us all together and we’re fortunate to have her on our team. 

Factoid about Lorri: she abhors “feel good self help” books, instead preferring serial killer/murder tales to lift her spirits.

Diana Latsha- Certified Paraoptometric

Diana is likely a familiar face to any patient who has been in our office in the past six years or so.  Three daughters keep Diana very busy and her husband Scott very paranoid.  Diana is a Certified Paraoptometric and assists in all aspects of patient care, including patient diagnostic workups and contact lens assisting.  She is our go to technician for our clinical research end of the business.  Interests run the gamut with Diana.  She is a Service Unit Manager for the Chenango Forks Girls Scouts and a troop leader, she enjoys camping, crafts of all sorts, gardening, motorcycles and has even been known to take a bigger deer than her husband during deer season.  She is a bona fide racing fanatic and loves anything fast (we suspect she uses 98 octane as her perfume).  She is partial to NASCAR, has a crush on Ryan Newman, and has gone 165mph in a Cup car. 

Factoid about Diana: she is planning her first sky diving adventure.

Serena Platner- NY State Licensed Optician

Serena has been with our office nearly eight years, and has been a fixture here for thousands of our patients.  Serena is married to her husband Chris and they have two children.  Serena has a wide range of interests that include gardening, photography, reading, Pilates, walking and exercise, home projects and of course, being with her children.  Her family is her life.  Serena’s particular talent as an optician is in fitting difficult or complex prescriptions and making you look your best.  She is a progressive lens specialist and can troubleshoot most any lens problem you may have.  She has a knack for helping folks find just the right look they’re after.  Her eyeglass adjustments are particularly precise and accurate and we are lucky to have her with us. 

Factoid about Serena: she always wanted to be a teacher.

Erin Reynolds- Optometric Assistant

Erin is our soft spoken optometric assistant who has been with us for three years.  Erin and her family are from our area.  In addition to her parents she has a brother Matt and a sister, Kelly.  Passions for Erin involve reading, music, shopping, skiing and particularly animals and pets.  Erin is compassionate and a superb history taker.  She will likely win you over with her smile as well.  If you are having a particular vision problem, Erin will get all the information the doctor will need to make a quick, accurate diagnosis. 

Factoid about Erin: her dream is to travel across Europe.

Staci Sacco- Clinical Research Coordinator and Bookkeeping

Staci is married to Dr. Sacco and has been with the practice for over fifteen years.  She started her career as the manager of the business then moved over into information technology, taking on the task of converting the practice into one utilizing electronic medical records.  She keeps the information superhighway here in our office running smoothly.  Staci can do any job in the office, but in the past several years has been functioning as the office’s clinical research coordinator.  She works closely with the sponsor companies to ensure we meet the requirements for our growing clinical research business, and is the spearhead of this growing business.  Staci is also the practice’s chief financial officer.  Staci enjoys cooking, crafting and travelling, but most of all spending quality time with the family.  She is very active in the children’s school system where she volunteers and fundraises.

Factoid about Staci: she is addicted to cookbooks and has more than she will ever read…but still accumulates them.    

Shannon Sage- Front Desk/Reception

Shannon is our newest addition at the Sacco Eye Group, and a very pleasant one at that.  She’s sharp, she’s smart and she is a quick learner who will welcome you to our office and answer any questions you may have when you check in.  Shannon lives in Kirkwood with her parents and younger sister.  Shannon enjoys running (she ran Cross Country for Windsor), baseball, reading, travel, baking and fashion.  She thinks she shops way too much, but none of us see her stopping! 

Factoid about Shannon: Shannon has been accepted into the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for the Fall 2011 semester and will become a Physicians Assistant (P.A.). We wish her luck and will miss her greatly. 

Roopy Sandhu- NY State Licensed Optician

Roopy has been with our office nearly eight years and he has a large following of patients, people we refer to as “Roopy Groupies”.  Roopy is well liked and his charming smile will always welcome you into our optical boutique.  Roopy is married to his wife Brooke and they have three beautiful children.  Roopy’s interests include photography, spending time with his children, obedience training of his Doberman, watching the Philadelphia Eagles beat the NY Giants, and staying current with optical trends and technology.  Roopy is an optician with a commanding knowledge of all aspects of eyeglass fitting.  He is particularly adept at understanding optical problems with sporting eyewear such as shooting glasses, wrap sunglasses, sporting goggles and driving eye wear.  He is our resident expert on coatings and treatments and materials interactions and compatibility. 

Factoid about Roopy: he enjoys driving his 1985 Camaro on sunny summer days.

Derek Volberg- Optician Apprentice

Derek Volberg is a Vestal graduate and an optician apprentice with the Sacco Eye Group.  He has been with us for almost three years.  Derek is our bench optician, doing most of our technical laboratory work and optical fabrication.  Soon Derek will be sitting for his board licensing examination to become a licensed New York State Optician.  Derek is married to his wife Laura and they excitedly await the birth of their first child.  Derek’s interests fall on the speedy side.  He enjoys snowboarding, downhill biking, working on cars, riding motorcycles and he is keenly interested in modern technology and computer information technology. 

Factoid about Derek: he is proud of the plate and nine screws in his left leg.