Leominster Optometric Associates

I hadn’t been to an optometrist in a few years so I decided that this year I needed an exam. I chose Leominster Optometric Associates Inc (LOA) because it was close by and they participate in my insurance program.
I downloaded the forms available on LOA’s site and filled them out to save myself time come the appointment which I scheduled two weeks out.
Parking is very tight in the small lot which is also shared with other businesses which is unfortunate. After circling the building twice, I managed to find one spot and walked around the building into the main vestibule. The building is clean, pleasant, yet professional.
LOA’s suite feels more like a dentist office. It’s adequately furnished with a pleasant, neutral décor.
I checked in and despite being a new patient and having both the «Patient Welcome Form» and «Medical History Form» prefilled out, I was asked to fill out a «Information Change» form which was essentially the «Welcome Form». I didn’t question it. It was easier and faster not to question it.
I was kept waiting for under ten minutes which was expected until Dr. Bettencourt came to the waiting area to get me.
She brought me into the exam room which was rather small, but was clean with a comfortable patient chair and had what looked like to me anyway, modern equipment. We first reviewed my file and went over my past eye exam history. Dr. Bettencourt is very personable, relaxed, and not once did I feel like a number.
Dr Bettencourt has a methodology that she customizes based on each patient it seems. We went over LASIK (I was interested in it) first, then moved onto the visual exam to gauge my vision.
After that, we discussed my contacts/​glasses prescription which was much stronger than I needed. This was a revelation to me as my eyes have been on the same level Rx for as long as I can remember.
Dr. Bettencourt brought me across the hall to another machine to make sure her initial exam was correct. Both machines matched nearly exactly and were both no where near my current prescription.
Back in the exam room, she fitted me with new contacts based on the «new’ prescription, one eye with one brand, one with another so I could see which one felt better.
Once I was comfortable with the lenses, I picked the one that felt great. After a few more standard tests, I was all set. My appointment was a little over an hour which is far more time I ever spent at an optometrist’s office. This is not a bad thing because I enjoyed the experience and felt my eye health was being taken seriously and not just processed as another face.
Most importantly, the new prescription strength and new contacts have been a great change. No more eye strain and headaches because the Rx was too strong and the new brand of contacts are wonderfully comfortably too!
If you are in the market for an optometrist, I very much recommend LOA if you live in the area. Decent location, great staff, and doctors who actually care about patients and their vision, you can’t go wrong here.
*** Update 03/​15/​2013 ***
There is an optical shop inside the office so while I waited for my eyes to dilate, I browsed. Their selection is small and what they do have I did not find all that great, so I decided to keep my current frames and get updated lenses for my new prescription.
The ETA was a week which is usually standard no matter where you go usually. I prepaid and a week later, as promised, my glasses came in. While I am very happy with the lenses and the quality of them, I was a little offended that the shop didn’t give me a new case. Nit-​picky, I know, but hear me out.
When I went to pick up my glasses, the man in the shop (I forget what his name was) seemed surprised that I didn’t bring a case with me (I was wearing contacts).
I spent close to $ 250 on the lenses alone and all I get is a Ziploc bag? Really? Not even a mini-​microfiber cleaning cloth? I find that unprofessional. Every other place in my life I have bought glasses from offer a case for free, even if it’s a faux leather case that would last a few months or at least a cleaning cloth.
If I spent like $ 100, fine, I get that, but I dropped a small fortune there and would expect the cleaning cloth at the least.
While I really like and recommend Dr. Bettencourt and will probably go to her again for future exams, the optical shop is not a great one for selection (at least for what I wanted) and service was «ok» at best.