Page 8 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor June 27, 2013

Berthoud Vision (is here) for life

By Eli HopkinsThe Surveyor

As soon the phone calls started, including some from Fort Collins, the staff at Berthoud Vision for Life knew the wrong message was out. Many of the calls had a similar query, “we heard you closed?”

The “For Lease” sign at their office, next to Hays Market, helped create rumors that they were going out of busi-ness or leaving town. This isn’t true. That sign is now down and replaced with one that reads “we have our eyes on another location.”

“In the last year or two the business has really blossomed and we simply need more space” says Dr. Rex Eland, the owner, and “the current office isn’t big enough, and in effort to meet the needs of everyone we need to relocate, but within Berthoud of course.”

He attributes the recent growth to many reasons, and especially the cus-tomer service of his staff; Sandy, Tessa, and Lynette. Says Eland, “They are the gatekeepers, are friendly and listen. We are about people, not just eyes.”

Most of their clients are Berthoud residents, but a growing number are from Longmont, Loveland and John-stown.

The Gateway offices, just a stone’s throw further west, is the new area being considered. The space would be over double the size of the current office

and offer an opportunity for more exam rooms as well as the acquisition of new equipment, including an “optomap”, which can create digital images of the back of someone’s eye.

A larger office would mean getting patients in for appointments sooner, days instead of weeks for non-emergen-cies.

“We remain under contract here, so we need to find someone to lease to before we can relocate”, states Eland. “This is a great location, but it is simply a matter of needing more room.”

The hunt continues for a business to fill the current office before the move is made. Eland and his staff hope that word of mouth will help find a new tenant and the relocation can happen sometime in fall.

Dr. Eland acquired Berthoud Vision for Life in 2005 and it remains Ber-thoud’s only optometry office.

Eland, a Berthoud resident since 1996, understands the sense of commu-nity the town has. “We’ll be here for a long time. The staff and I are devoted to the people here and absolutely appreci-ate all the support.”

The gift of sight is something Eland and crew take very seriously, “Next to life itself, the gift of vision is one of the most important things. I love what we do, and the chance to help someone read better or see a few more sunsets is amazing” he says.

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File photoDr. Eland checks the eyes of a young woman in his office.