Considered by some to be the most modern and technologically up-to-date eye clinic in Central and Northern Arizona, the doors at M & M Eye Institute’s new location have only been open a few weeks and the client list keeps growing.
Drive by the new 3192 Willow Creek Drive parking lot almost any time from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and you will see queues of cars angling for parking spots.
“We’re serving anywhere from 80 to 120 patients daily, so our doctors and staff are really busy,” said Tina Micheau, front desk manager.
The contemporary L-shaped two-story building is home base for five doctors and scores of employees. Scott Markham, D.O., and Steve Mortenson, M.D., are owner/partners who merged their practices to form M & M Eye Institute and its components. Their associates are James Arthur, M.D., John R. Markham, O.D. and Amy Champ, O.D. Cumulatively, they have 120 years of medical experience in eye care.
They will be joined in August by Shane Sanders, O.D.
Not all M & M Eye Institute business locations are also in Prescott Valley and Chino Valley.
“We’re the only eye clinic in this part of the state equipped to serve our patients in all three Quad Cities area,” said Mortenson.
Staff for such a large operation numbers 45 full-time and 10 part-time people, some rotate from one location to the other, depending on the workload for the day.
Mortenson emphasized that identifying, training and retaining highly skilled and qualified professional staff was a priority for the institute. “We genuinely believe that happy satisfied personnel will result in happy, satisfied patients.”
Micheau credits much of the staff satisfaction to Dustin Carter, director of operations. “He makes the place run. He does everything to help staff.”
The M & M Eye Institute at its Prescott location is an umbrella for a tri-part enterprise under one roof. A major component is the diagnostic clinic. Immediately adjacent is the Arizona Institute of Eye Surgery. Mortenson said it would be completely functioning within a few weeks.
The third component is the optical center, where customers buy frames and glasses. It is playfully named “Eye Candy,” and the business likes to emphasize its name with the chocolate candy M & Ms in abundance. Just as colorful are the frames that adorn the walls.
Why the Merger?
Mortenson, a native of Utah who has been practicing in Prescott since 1995, said he and his partner Scott Markham had been discussing combining their practices for some time.
“When we considered all the advantages we would have if we put everything under one organization, combined with being able to accommodate more efficiently the ever-increasing federal and state requirements and tax laws and other legal issues, it just made sense,” he said.
He also commented that ever-evolving technological, scientific and medical innovations made the concept of an eye institute attractive.
The multi-million dollar institute is filled with medical equipment and contains 13 examination rooms, which they say are busy most of the time. “We have patients coming to us from all over Central and Northern Arizona. We’ll also field more than 1,000 telephone calls a day through our central scheduling call center,” said Micheau from her manager’s desk.
What Patients Can Expect
M & M has 10 priority areas:
- Allergy testing
- Cataract surgery
- Corneal disease
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Eyelid surgery
- Floaters and flashes
- Glaucoma
- Macular degeneration
- Uveitis inflammation
“We can handle just about every visual problem imaginable now because of our new facilities,” said Mortenson. “It now will be a rare situation when we have to refer a patient to somewhere else.”
Mortenson says it is critical that people get regular eye exams. “A lot of problems would be solved if they did that. I recommend that for children, they have an exam before they enter school. For adults up to age 50, they need a good examination every four years. After 50, every two years. And once people hit 70, they need annual eye exams.”
He also advised that people wear eye protection – safety glasses – far more often than they do.
The Eye Institute accepts a broad range of medical and vision insurance and those who need to can apply for financial assistance through the Melvin Clack Fund (see “Eye Doctor’s Vision Extends Beyond Border).
“We’re proud to be a leader in the eye-care industry,” said Mortenson. “We want to continue building our reputation one patient at a time. I speak for our entire M & M team when I say that.” QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN
Photo by Ray Newton
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