Retina Associates of Southern Utah

I'm having a hard time deciding how many stars to give here because I've had both great experiences and very poor experiences as a customer at the Retina Associates of Southern Utah. The Good: I experienced signs of a detached retina on a Saturday and when I called in, they brought in a small team on the weekend to make sure I was taken care of and got the help that I needed. I was very pleased that they were willing to come in on the weekend and help me out, especially as I was so concerned. Turns out I did indeed have a retina that was detached and needing surgery. It's now been about 2 months since the surgery, and the surgery seems to have been a success. Very grateful for the surgeons good work, and for their good help! The Bad: I had a 1 month post op scheduled to sit down with the surgeon to see how things were healing, ask any questions and to make sure I was in good enough condition to fly the following week. The appointment had been set 4 weeks in advance. Roughly a week before, I received a message through their portal asking if I'd be willing to come into the office earlier that day, to which I replied, "Yes, I'd be happy to come in earlier. If I don't hear from you about a specific time however, then I'll just come in at the originally scheduled time." Well, I did not hear from them at all. No phone call, no text, no voicemail, no message through their portal. So, I came in as originally scheduled. Interestingly enough, as I was walking into the building, I saw my surgeon walking out, looking at his cell phone laughing and casually walking to his car. I shrugged and thought that perhaps he'd assigned an associate Dr. to handle my appointment. When I went up, however, I was greeted by someone at the reception desk who looked at me like I was in the wrong place, and when I let her know my name and that I was checking in, she looked confused. She then pulled up my appointment and it dawned on her that I was scheduled and had been for a month. So she says to me, "Oh, well the Dr. just left." To which I replied, I don't understand, I had this appointment booked for a month and its critical that I see him to get the all clear before I leave on my planned flight." She then said, "Well we told you we needed to move your appointment up." And I replied, yes, to which I said I'd be happy to come in earlier, but if I didn't hear from you, that I'd come in as originally planned." To which her non verbals and otherwise essentially amounted to, "You're an absolute idiot, and why are you bothering me with this." She then turns to the computer, pulls up our conversation in her messaging portal and see's that I was correct. They indeed did not contact me again, and they had just let the doctor go without seeing me. Instead of being apologetic however, she ramped up the attitude, saying that there was nothing to be done, made it out to be my fault, and used condescending language to basically make me feel like an idiot. Eventually, as I was letting her know that I had planned this visit a month prior, on this specific date on purpose in order to get the all clear to fly, someone else stepped in and saw that a different doctor saw me. This doctor was kind and helpful, and saw that I was taken care of. However, this was a very challenging interaction with this specific front desk person who became quite aggressive and condescending, leaving me feeling very unhappy to say the least. Never once did she apologize for her behavior, attitude, the words she said, or that they essentially just cancelled my appointment without telling me. Conclusion: I have a hot and cold feeling about my experience here. They happily helped me on the weekend when it mattered most to me. The results of the surgery are positive. Very grateful to them for that. However the visits are long, roughly 2-3 hours, and being abused by the front desk person was one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had.

Almost 3 weeks ago I started experiencing floaters in my right eye. I called and spoke to Wendy at the front desk. After some discussion, she suggested going in to their St George office. Turns out I had 4 small tears on the top of my retina. Dr. Carlson patched them up in his office with cryotherapy treatment. 10 days later I saw Dr. Lord for a follow-up. I'm all healed up. I had a detachment in my other eye 10 years ago, so I recognized the warning signs. It's comforting to know they have on-call staff in the event of an emergency. Thank you again to Wendy, Dr. Carlson and Dr. Lord. They were all so professional and helpful. I truly appreciate you all. -Chris Willardsen

I encountered an issue with my eye while vacationing in St. George. I called their office on a Saturday morning and received a call back within minutes. I was seen in their office a few hours later. Everyone was amazing - friendly, efficient, and caring. Dr. Carlson quickly diagnosed my issue and made recommendations for follow-up care. Wendy and McKenzie were also fantastic. I couldn't have been more pleased with my experience.

Dr. Lord saved my right eye from a detached retina. I thought that's it. There's no way to get vision out of this eye again. Thankfully I was wrong due to a great doctor and staff.

I transported someone here, the wait times are crazy. The staff is great, the eye doctors are great, however how the place is run is insane. They tell you to plan for an hour but I have transported someone and waited with them for two hours at the very least. It was an hour and ten minute wait time every appointment we had before we were seen by someone, and then we were seen for a very short amount of time and sent back to the waiting room multiple times. It seems like the doctor is liked so well that he has too many patients. Combined with traveling this takes about four hours to do. If you have to travel from anywhere other than Washington or St George, I would recommend somewhere closer to where you live.

Dr Lord Is amazing. He is fast and efficient. He will also take the time to explain what is happening if the need arises. The staff is all very friendly too. The whole office works like a fine oiled machine. I would recommend Retina Associates to anyone.

I am very impressed with Retina Associates of Southern Utah. It was necessary for me to make the change to their office about a year ago and it's one of the best things that could have happened to me. I am beyond thrilled with the quality of care and the results I am getting. I tell anyone who may need their services how wonderful they are!

Very professional staff and Dr. Carlson immediately gained my trust. The way you are treated and cared for gives you confidence in an other nervous situation. I have always felt at ease when being treated!!!