Dr. Judy Gandara

The 5 stars are strictly for Dr. Gandara. She is extremely intelligent. She is a great listener, cares about the individual, gives outstanding customer service and is kind. I am a repeat client. Every year I look forward to my eye exam. Her staff members are sweet but could be more polished & respect privacy more, but I like them. Do not let the retail portion, the Vision Center which is in chaos, dissuade you from seeing Dr. Gandara. There are many different places in person and online to get glasses and contacts at a good price very competitive with Walmart. I feel bad for the new guy because he is very patient, kind, and doesn't mind working.

On the late evening of Saturday, April 6, 2024, I discovered my left eye was very red in the corner, a little swollen, and tender to the touch. The inflammation probably had started earlier that week but it just manifested while I was in bed that night. I called my eye doctor on Monday and Tuesday, April 8th and 9th, last week to explain that I needed my eye examined. So, this means, I called multiple times after not being given an appointment. After the second time calling on the 9th, her receptionist, who kept putting me on hold I'm assuming to talk with my eye doctor (who I won't name), asked me if I had a history of diabetes or high blood pressure? I thought these were ridiculous questions considering that I have no history of either and they have my chart/file. The reason I wasn't being given an appointment is because my eye doctor was going to be out of the office all this week, April 15th, and she wouldn't be available to do the one-week follow-up. I told the receptionist I didn't care if the follow-up was done a few days later, I just needed my eye to be seen. I didn't want to run the risk of losing partial or full use of the vision in the eye, not knowing if it was something major. Needless to say, my eye doctor gave instructions to the receptionist to tell me that I should see another doctor because she was going to be out of the office. Textbook 101....do not send your patient, client, customer or whatever to a competitor. I was taken aback because my eye doctor was a very, very nice lady. I'm also a very great, cash paying patient, who is not a problem patient at all. I was just floored and wowed at the no sense of urgency to get me in when I called. She never overbooks. In fact, I've never seen more than two patients in her office at the same time. Now, I have to find a conveniently located eye doctor who could see me, and fill out all their new paperwork, just to be seen. I found that Dr. Judy Gandara was the same distance as my eye doctor from my house (approximately five miles or less), just in the opposite direction. I was given an appointment for 1:00 pm Wednesday, April 10, 2024. I was visibly upset when I arrived. I was concerned about my eye and disappointed in my eye doctor at the same time. Dr. Gandara has a lovely receptionist, who was helping me fill out paperwork on the iPad and another lady fill out the paperwork on a laptop, while still being able to answer the phone. Dr. Gandara also has a technician or assistant that will be doing air-tests, eye x-rays, etc. This cuts down on wait time while as many as five people where there being seen. I was finished with my paperwork and being seen by Dr. Gandara by 1:30 pm. She has an AMAZING CHAIRSIDE MANNER. She's friendly, caring, and conversed with me. It wasn't a business as usual atmosphere. I felt like I had been coming to her forever and this was my first visit, which was an emergency eye exam. She looked over my charts, asked me my concerns and to explain my symptoms, and proceeded to do my eye examination. Dr. Gandara told me that I had episcleritis, which is inflammation in the eye, with eye names I can't explain or pronounce too well. I googled it. Dr. Gandara pulled out her little medical book that she loves use to see what was the best way to treat my eye condition. Neither one of us are fans of steroid eye drops, which she felt could make my eye worse. She gave me a lot of sample eye drops from her office and told me to buy some over-the-counter Naproxen (Aleve) at the lowest dosage. She told me that my follow-up appointment was included in the cost of my visit and that I needed to schedule it for Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Dr. Gandara told me that if my eye got worse before that follow-up appointment, to call them right back, and they would get me right back in. When I went to pay, her young receptionist said, "we have you information now Ms. Carter and you can come right on over to us" And that's just what I'll be doing because Dr. Gandara is now my new eye doctor. I'd give ten stars if I could!

She's the best