Magruder Eye Institute and EyeCare Optical

BY AMADO J. BOBADILLA

The call came at 8 p.m.

An elderly gentleman had fallen down the stairs and couldn’t see. The son called an old friend who relayed an S.O.S to a Retina Specialist colleague. Despite the late hour, the doctor immediately responded, examined the patient, diagnosed retinal detachment, and scheduled immediate emergency surgery the following day.

“The patient’s outcome was phenomenal,” says Chad Tomlinson, Chief Development Officer for the Magruder Eye Institute and its EyeCare Optical clinic in Lake Nona. “Thanks to Dr. Amin’s quick response and outof-the-box thinking, the patient went back to 20/30 vision in that eye. A remarkable recovery, and one of many such stories our doctors could tell.”

Dr. Sarina Amin, a board-certified ophthalmologist, is only one of a large number of skilled, caring physicians on staff at Lake Nona’s Magruder Eye Institute and its EyeCare Optical centers, a community of doctors of optometry and ophthalmic surgeons whose purpose is to bring the best possible eye care—and eyecare products—to the Lake Nona community. Tomlinson says that Dr. Amin’s fast action and tenacity in treating her patient after hours is emblematic of the Magruder philosophy of exceptional patient care that leaves no stone unturned.

EyeCare Optical’s board-certified optometrists can conduct routine eye exams and manage and treat a variety of eye diseases while their licensed opticians fit children and adults with eyeglasses and contact lenses. But should the need arise for a referral to an ophthalmologist, a locally based surgeon from the Magruder Eye Institute will confer on the condition. This eliminates the patient’s need to begin anew at a different practice and provides a seamless continuity of care for the very best of outcomes.

The Magruder Eye Institute has been around for more than five decades and is one of Central Florida’s most trusted names in eye care—treating fifty-six-thousand patients annually. Their nationally renowned surgeons and full-scale surgical facilities are available to treat such eye diseases as: glaucoma, a condition where a buildup of fluid can damage the optic nerve and, eventually, cause blindness; cataracts, where the lens of the eye becomes clouded and must be replaced with an artificial one, and corneal opacity, where the outer layer of the eye (or cornea) becomes clouded—much like the headlights on older cars—limiting vision and obscuring an exterior view of iris and pupil, a condition which may be treated with medication or by surgical transplantation.

One example of the cutting-edge technology EyeCare Optical provides is the LipiFlow treatment used by Dr. Gopita Patel, an optometrist on the center’s staff and the director of its

dry eye clinic, one of the few in the state and the only one in Central Florida. In dry-eye disease, the meibomian glands in the eyelid close and prevent the flow of tears. During treatment, patients close their eyes and a blindfold-shaped device is placed on the eyelids. This LipiFlow device provides both heat and a gentle massage that unblocks passages and allows the flow to return to normal, bringing tears to the eyes of scores of patients.

In addition to Dr. Patel and Dr. Amin, principal players at Magruder’s EyeCare Optical include Dr. Jeffrey R. Golen, M.D. and Dr. Michael E. Pohlod, M.D., both board-certified ophthalmic surgeons, and Dr. Viviana Lopez, O.D., a board-certified optometrist. The center’s staff also includes six other ophthalmologists, two other optometrists and a physician’s assistant who serves the retina specialists with (among other things) treatment injections (into the eye) for macular degeneration, a condition which blurs or darkens the center of a patient’s field of vision.

“Getting your routine eye exam in a practice blending the optical and ophthalmic can have unexpected benefits,” Dr. Pohlod says. “Sometimes diseases in other parts of the body will present in an irregularity in the eyes we might detect during a routine eye exam. This alerts us to do additional tests and screenings which the patient might not have otherwise undergone. Sometimes, we can even save people’s lives.

Pohlod relates an instance of a patient who came in with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (formally called Wegener’s, a rare inflammation in the tissues and blood vessels that decreases blood flow and can lead to organ failure), without knowing it. He detected an anomaly in a routine exam, did additional labs, found it, referred the patient to the appropriate specialist and averted the condition’s probable advance. “It’s an exciting mental challenge: taking an atypical presentation and tracking it down to its source,” he says.

“I see Magruder as a multi-site practice with an individual site feel,” Tomlinson says, as he cites the things EyeCare Optical has done to provide that feel, such as limiting the number of patients seen and decreasing waiting room sizes and wait times.

“What we see happening by 2026 is a shortage of ophthalmologists. This means a big shift to where the mega practices will be the ones that come out ahead. But a lot of people don’t want to be cattle-called and prodded through a system. These patients like trusting their eye care to physicians who know them personally, who are aware of their medical history, and can follow them throughout their lives.

“The only way we can serve them is to offer these smaller, self-contained clinics—like EyeCare Optical— that can do nearly everything those big clinics can, but with a more personal touch and the availability of big clinic services when needed, he says.” l

2065 E. Osceola Parkway Kissimmee, FL 34743 Phone: (407) 344-3603 Fax: (407) 344-3868 EyeCare Optical: (407) 994-4301 Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

2257 E. Semoran Blvd. Apopka, FL 32703 Phone: (407) 886-4878 Fax: (407) 886-9531 EyeCare Optical: (407) 886-2530 Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

1911 N. Mills Ave. Orlando, FL 32803 Phone: (407) 893-8200 Fax: (407) 893-8210 Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

3155 S. Orange Avenue Suite 102 Orlando, FL 32806 (407) 634-4900 Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

601 S. Belcher Road Clearwater, FL 33764 (727) 266-2393 Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

1825 Mills Ave. Orlando, FL 32803 Phone: (407) 206-2375