The Eyes Have It At The Eye Care Professionals Of Tampa Bay!

By Celeste McLaughlin

The Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay, LLC, located on S.R. 54 about a mile west of where it meets S.R. 56 (at Oak Grove Blvd. in Lutz), is growing to better serve patients not only in its local area, but in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel as well.

Beginning July 21, the office will be open an extra day each week and an additional optometric physician will be seeing the patients that day. Rick Robinson, O.D., received his Doctor of Optometry degree from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale in 1999. He will begin seeing patients on Mondays, when the office previously had been closed. Dr. Robinson joins David Scamard, O.D., at the practice. Dr. Scamard also received his O.D. degree from Nova Southeastern in 1999. Upon graduation, he returned to Tampa, where he was not only born and raised, but also where he has been in practice the last 15 years.

Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay has been in its current location since April of 2013. Previous to that, Dr. Scamard owned a practice just a couple of blocks away, although he no longer has any affiliation with the practice that currently is in that location. Patients who want to see Dr. Scamard should be sure to call Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay and visit the new location in the Eagle Plaza at the intersection of S. R. 54 and Oak Grove Blvd.

Dr. Scamard says he is pleased to welcome Dr. Robinson to the practice.

“Dr. Robinson is a great doctor, a great person, and is also a Major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve,” he says, adding that, with the new doctor and added convenience of being open an extra day, the Eye Care Professionals staff also is expanding. An optician to help people select and fit glasses and an additional administrative staff person are being added to the team, which already includes (photo on next page) receptionist Sonya Brogdon, eyeglasses sales representative Kay Edwards and insurance specialist (and Dr. Scamard’s sister) Kelly Scamard.

Kelly, who has been part of the office staff since Dr. Scamard opened his first practice on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa in 2002, has an insurance background and a dozen years of experience working with her brother. She is well versed in working with both vision and medical insurance companies to help patients with claims and understanding their coverage.

“We’ve found that many patients don’t realize they have a vision benefit to their medical insurance,” says Dr. Scamard. “Kelly is happy to help patients find out what their coverage is if they call our office.”

Lorraine and Bob Koryus are long-time patients of Dr. Scamard’s who have lived in Meadow Pointe since 2005 and have been seeing him all 12 years he has been in practice here. They have followed him from his original office, to his second, and now to his current location.

“We would follow him anywhere,” Lorraine says. “It’s nice that his office is convenient to us, but it’s not a factor in whether or not we see him. He is such a wonderful, compassionate, excellent doctor, that we would go wherever he is.”

She adds, “Dr. Dave, as we call him, is so friendly and caring that we felt comfortable with him from the first time we saw him. His office has always been immaculate and fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and his staff is wonderful. Most important, he saved my husband’s vision. When we went in for an annual exam, Dr. Dave performed an eye exam before dilating his pupils. He found a problem that could have caused Bob to lose his eyesight if he had put the eye drops in. He immediately referred us to a surgeon and the problem was corrected with surgery the next day.”

Lorraine says she and her husband always get annual eye exams and stresses that eye health is extremely important. Dr. Scamard and Dr. Robinson agree, especially during this time before school starts in late August, as many kids (and adults) come to see them at this time of year, as summer vacations wind down and people get ready for fall.

“We see kids from ages six months all the way up to senior adults,” says Dr. Scamard, adding that his practice is a charter member of the InfantSEE® program, which offers free eye exams to babies ages 6 months to one year (the age recommended by the American Optometric Association for kids to have their first eye exam).

Dr. Scamard says that many parents mistakenly believe the vision screenings offered at school or at the pediatrician’s office will catch any problems. “A screening can’t take the place of a comprehensive eye exam,” he says, noting that while a screening can detect the most blatant issues, many eye problems are more subtle, so your vision exams should be conducted by an eye care professional. The only way to really check the health of the eye is with a comprehensive exam in which the eye is dilated.

Patients visiting the Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay will experience a comfortable waiting room, a “dilation lounge” that is more dimly lit for when eyes are dilated and need softer light, and a large showroom featuring an ever-growing variety of designer eyewear for prescription gasses and sunglasses, such as Coach, Ray-Ban, Prada, Versace, Armani, Gucci, Tiffany and Bvlgari (the latest addition). “But, if you need less expensive options, don’t let the designer names scare you,” says Kay. “We have frames for every budget.”

Dr. Scamard also specializes in fitting contact lenses, including hard-to-fit contacts and helping patients who have given up on contacts or who have been told they weren’t a good fit for contacts. He also fits patients who need rigid gas permeable contacts. At the Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay, patients have access to the latest technology, the doctors’ skills and the time and care they are willing to spend with each patient, to ensure the best possible fit and continuing health of the eyes.

“There are a lot of advances in technology now, and newer contact lenses are much more comfortable than they used to be,” explains Dr. Scamard. “New designs allow patients to see better and some even offer high-definition optics that can eliminate glare, especially at night.”

He adds that one condition the Eye Care Professionals commonly treat in adults is presbyopia, where the ability to focus becomes weaker with age, and now even that condition can be corrected with new multifocal lenses. But, whatever your vision problems or needs, Dr. Dave says communicating with the patients is always the practice’s primary focus (pun intended).

“We really listen to our patients and take care of their needs,” says Dr. Scamard. “We strive to offer high-quality service and a friendly, comfortable atmosphere, and our patients often tell us that’s what they experience when they visit us.”

The Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay has also recently welcomed the patients of Dr. Paul Glass, O.D., an independent optometrist formerly located at the Sam’s Club Optical on S.R. 56 in Seven Oaks. “Dr. Glass worked very hard to develop his practice over many years and wanted his patients to see an optometrist where they would be comfortable,” says Dr. Dave, adding that he has a good working rapport with Dr. Glass, who recently accepted a job with a specialized ophthalmology group and chose Dr. Scamard to care for his former patients.

Eye Care Professionals of Tampa Bay is located at 24412 S.R. 54 in Lutz. For appointments or more info, call 949-7274 or visit TampaBayEyeCarePros.com. The office is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. Mention this story for a great Back-to-School special offer.