Vanderbilt Eye Institute Tennessee Lions Pediatric Eye Center

I enjoyed my time , that I received care, hated to leave when my insurance was no longer approved. But Dr.Kim is a wonderful doctor and gave me excellent care while he was able to care for me I will truly miss him and his staff

Been coming here for a few years now and the doctors are wonderful. However they run consistently late. I try to schedule first available for my kid and it never fails that we aren't called till at least 30 minutes after our scheduled time. That shouldn't happen for a first in the morning appointment....

We've been seeing Dr Donahue and now Dr Kehler since my daughter was 5. She was a preemie and needed specialist care. Our first appt was on Dec 26 so we spent Christmas Day in a hotel to make sure we were there on time. Since our first visit, our experience has been extraordinary. The Drs, nurses & residents are top notch in knowledge & quality of care. My daughter was terrified of the dilation drops for years & the ladies were absolutely wonderful at putting her at ease. Her care contributed to her not needing surgery and now maybe not needing glasses in a few years. This entire staff is top notch, everyone always has a huge smile, always professional and always caring to children & concerned parents. I've even witnessed first hand a patient being very obtuse with a medical caregiver & she was professional & handled the situation with tact & assured the parent that the goal was to make sure parents as well as the child/patient got what they needed form the visit. We drive almost 3 hours to get to Vanderbilt Lions Eye Care and we'd easily drive many more if it were the case. I would never trust anywhere else. We have yearly check ups.

Excellent facility with very experienced nurses, lab techs and doctors. It is at the Vanderbilt hospital, so getting to the office is awkward and you can anticipate that your appointment time is more like an estimate than a guarantee. If you need to see an expert in the field, then the wait is a non-issue.

The service here is great the only thing is that they take a long time to see patients and the entrance door slams shut so loudly when it is closing

Great if you want to wait hours past your appointment time. Get seen then reseated because they are so busy to wait more. The receptionist all take lunch at the same time instead of staggering so good luck getting answer on anything.

My daughter has had strabismus since she was under two. She had been being treated successfully with only glasses for the past few years. We moved from another state, and only a couple weeks after moving to Tennessee, she started complaining that she was seeing double (she was 5 at the time and has since turned 6). Since this was a major change to her vision, we needed to establish care with a new ophthalmologist sooner than we had anticipated. I started by calling Lion Eye Center because they were recommended, and being affiliated with Vanderbilt, I figured they'd be great. Unfortunately, I was informed when I called that they do not see self-pay patients regardless of their ability to pay. Since we had only been in Tennessee a couple weeks, we didn't have new health insurance yet, though it was in process. We were willing to pay upfront. They did not care what the situation was, they simply refuse to see self-pay patients under any circumstances. Well, there are extraordinarily few ophthalmologists in the Nashville area that will treat pediatric strabismus and lazy eye, so I felt pretty defeated. However, we were blessed to find one on the opposite side of the city from where we live who was willing to take self-pay patients. It is a bit of a drive, but she has been a great doctor. My daughter was able to get the corrective surgery she needed and her vision has progressed beautifully. Considering how many children are in need of ophthalmology services, and how few doctors there are to treat them in the area, it is really unfortunate that Lions is unwilling to treat children who need their help just because they don't have an insurance policy. Out of principle, I recommend avoiding Lions Eye Center. They do not see patients, only dollar signs. I now avoid every Vanderbilt affiliated doctor, clinic, or hospital, and, whenever possible, choose private practice physicians who aren't slaves to insurance companies.

As a former employee of the eye institute I always knew how well we took care of our patients, but thankfully at that time I never had to experience it from the patient perspective. Until Friday 11/27/20. I lost a portion of my vision in my right eye, and I was scared. I called, and spoke with a doctor immediately. I was asked a series of questions, and advised to be seen in the ED and told that the person on call would be told that I was coming. I immediately headed to Vandy ED, and while in Triage the ophthalmologist on call came in. I'm amazed at the level of care I received, the time and patience he took with me. He let me know every single step he was taking, he told me every single thing he was going to do so that wasn't afraid. The level of care that I received was higher than I could've ever imagined, and to that I am very appreciative. If I could leave 10 stars, I absolutely would. Thank you to the team!