New optometry concept opens in York County

A new optometry franchise focused exclusively on medical eye care opened its first brick-and-mortar location in York County this week.

Medical Optometry America (MOA), a Montgomery County-based organization looking to create optometry practices specialized in non-surgical eye care rather than corrective lens sales, first announced its plans to open the 781 Far Hills Drive, Unit 100, Hopewell Township, York County, facility last year.

The new brand is a response to plummeting corrective lens sales through optometry practices as a response to online sellers. The new franchises are expected to capitalize on the changing market through their focus on eye care.

Dr. Jim Thimons, Chief Medical Officer at MOA, said that primary care physicians and other health professionals are not aware that patients can receive non-surgical medical eye care from a qualified medical optometrist.

“This trend has created a market void and MOA is well-positioned to serve those patient needs locally from our first location in York County, but to also work with optometrists on a national level to meet this demand,” Thimons said.

MOA’s Hopewell Township practice is led by Dr. Leslie O’Dell, regional clinical director at MOA.

O’Dell has more than 15 years of experience providing medical eye care in the region and has focused primarily on the kind of optometry that MOA wants to highlight with its practices.

The new practice treats eye diseases and conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and dry eye disease.

A cornerstone of the organization’s care mode, according to MOA, is an annual eye physical where patients can stay up to date on any eye-related health concerns as well as detect potential medical problems that can be found through an eye examination.

“While we are accustomed to getting an annual physical from our primary care doctor or an annual mammogram or visiting our dentist for a bi-annual check-up, we are not conditioned the same way when it comes to eye health,” said O’Dell. “People of all ages need to take their eye health seriously and the Annual Eye Physical allows us to not only set a baseline and future benchmarks for eye health, but can also reveal significant health issues like cardiovascular problems and neurological disorders.”

MOA expects to follow up the opening of the York County facility with MOA locations in Virginia, Chicago and Philadelphia.