Atwater Eye Care Center

"This eye care center came highly recommended by several people I respect. I've been having recurring eye infections, as well as some deterioration in my vision, so thought it would be a good idea to have a thorough exam. First, while I assumed it would likely be a longer appointment because it's a teaching clinic, I was in no way prepared to be there for 3 hours. I am absolutely floored that no one during the scheduling process thought to say, hey by the way, you'll want to block out several hours for this appointment. Just a little bit of "what to expect" can go a long way. Second, The entirety of the exam was conducted by a student. She was clearly still learning, and I understand and affirm how important that experience is for students. I kept assuming that, at the end, someone more qualified would come in and check her work. The visit with the doctor was less than 5 minutes, and I was left feeling frustrated and, as it turns out, with a prescription that isn't even accurate. Last, I am a bigger person. I know for sure I am not the biggest person they saw that day, and yet they didn't seem to know how to accommodate my body. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, and the student with me for several hours also seemed uncomfortable with my body. She couldn't get one of the machines properly lined up because it kept mashing into my chest. I finally suggested that I grip the table hard with my hands and pull it to my face, smashing it into my chest. It was the only apparent way to actually get the machine to line up with my eyes. So for several minutes I was white knuckling this table, to the point that I was shaking, while this machine was jammed into my chest. Do they not ever have patience with large chests? As a teaching clinic, I would think they would want to learn how to accommodate people of all shapes and sizes. I was left feeling ashamed of my body and without a proper exam."

"The optics department at Atwater is the best I’ve worked with. My glasses are not easy to form to my eyes, but they were extremely transparent, personal, and knowledgeable during a process that can be anxiety-inducing for anyone who is not the typical patient. I greatly appreciated their time and attention offered for what I needed, especially for someone who doesn’t ask for it. They simply greeted me with it. I’m only in Bloomington temporarily, but I wish I could have them with me everywhere I select and adjust my frames."

"I took my twin daughters in to order their prescription lenses with an outside prescription and we were treated with kindness and so much help the from the moment we walked through the door! They are both autistic and have some sensory needs and a speech delay so that can sometimes make tasks like these a little overwhelming for them. The process was a breeze thanks to the kind people working in the optical shop who helped us! We were able to order the perfect frames and lenses. I am so relieved and grateful to have had such a pleasant experience!"

"I spent a total of roughly four hours here over two appointments which were incredibly thorough. However, I called the office to get my prescription for my distance vision which is what I've always worn glasses for and they had none on record. They only wrote me a reading prescription just in case I decided I wanted transitions which I discussed with my practitioner in great detail about. My entire reason for coming was to get an updated distance prescription. When I called about it this morning the receptionist made zero effort to realize why this was a problem. Aside from the reader prescription completely, they would not acknowledge that it's a problem that I came to two appointments just to not get a prescription for what I came for from the start. We did two full exams with the goal of recording a prescription for distance and another for reading, only for one to be recorded. I requested my records and am never going back."

"DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE. I took my 17 month old daughter to have an evaluation because one of her eyes has been crossing when she is tired or loses focus. I will NEVER take her back there. First off, 2 students did the majority of the exam, and they had no idea what they were doing. They were arguing about what to put in her chart with several aspects of her history and exam results. Also, they were running some of the tests in a manner that is way above what a 17 month old should be able to do, then marking it as a vision problem because she doesn't have the skill level to complete the task asked of her. When the actual doctor finally came in, she was impatient with my daughter, who is a toddler and doesn't understand why lights are shining in her eyes or why someone is in her face with lenses and all sorts of instruments. I feel like as a pediatric eye doctor, you should know that it will take some time to get a toddler to let you look at their eyes. The doctor wanted to dilate her eyes to get a closer look. When they put the drops in, we obviously had to hold my daughter's hands back. The doctor ended up scratching my daughter's face because she was so rough trying to put the eye drops in her eyes. At this point, we were told it would be 30 minutes for the drops to work and that the doctor would be right back. We didn't see the doctor again for an entire hour, at which point we had been there for almost 2 hours and my daughter was getting tired and hungry. When the doctor returned, she was short with me and annoyed that my daughter was upset and didn't want lights in her eyes. Every time the doctor came near, my daughter started crying harder. All in all, I feel like they couldn't even get a thorough exam, which I understand because toddlers are hard to deal with in general. However, at the end of the appointment, she tried to say my daughter was severely farsighted and showed me the lenses she wanted to prescribe her. When I looked through the lenses and the doctor said that is how my daughter sees, I was shocked. Let me tell you there is NO WAY that is how she sees. If it were, she would be running into things and wouldn't be able to distinguish things like animals, people, etc. I feel like the diagnosis was completely wrong, and I will be seeking a second opinion. Overall, they were incredibly unqualified, impatient, rough, and rude. I will never go back there. Please don't waste your time or money."