the ground up

Eight years after first opening his practice — and two and a half years after buying the land — Dr. Montgomery and his staff hosted a ribbon cutting at the new location in October 2022. “We have the newest facility and the newest technology,” Dr. Montgomery says. “We're positioned to meet the demands of eye care in the 21st century.”

Each space within the new building is targeted for specific patient needs. One room serves as the practice’s Dry Eye Center, used solely for dry eye exams and treatment. There’s a space dedicated to scleral contact lenses — a larger-thanaverage exam room stocked with all the necessary equipment, plus a desk where patients can sit to learn how to insert and remove their lenses. The pediatric exam room is Toy Story themed, with an extra large exam chair that fits a parent and child.

“We close to tripled our square footage,” Dr. Montgomery says. “We have lots of empty rooms right now. We have room for future growth.”

Despite the stresses of building a new office, Dr. Montgomery says he still thinks owning his own practice is the best way to practice optometry. He credits SCO alumni who visited the school to speak with students about opening their own practices cold as giving him the emotional support to make the leap.

“Your opportunity for profit throughout your career as an optometrist is much greater,” Dr. Montgomery says. “You can work fewer hours, bring on new technologies, and practice the way you want to.”