A campus built for community
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offices throughout the North State, Drs. Barthelow and Rudick have returned to the office that started it all with an ambitious new development that will once again set the standard for eye care clinics in Northern California. “We really needed to expand,” Dr. Barthelow laughed, “We had outgrown the original North Valley Eye Care office years ago, but we just did whatever we could to make it work. We started in 2006 with 1,500 square feet and grew wherever we could until we maxed out at 4,081 square feet. Although we added nearby administrative offices, it didn’t help alleviate the lack of space for everything else. The need to expand clinical services was the primary driver for moving
the clinic, and starting fresh in Meriam Park gave us the opportunity to do just that.” Although expanding clinical services to Chico and nearby communities was of utmost importance, it wasn’t the only one. “We also wanted to have control over our own surgical center,” Dr. Barthelow continued. “There are a lot of things most people don’t understand about how surgery centers operate or what their doctor’s choices are. When you operate in a surgery center, you’re forced to operate based on the decisions they make ahead of time, and unfortunately, oftentimes those decisions are made on what they can get most affordably. That was always a problem for me. In every procedure, there are a variety
PHOTO BY CAMERON FARRELL
It has been nine years since we wrote our first article on Drs. Isaac Barthelow and Anthony Rudick, owners of North Valley Eye Care and what is now the Ridge Eye Institute. Since then, we have had the pleasure of delivering stories from countless patients who have been thrilled with their newfound eyesight, profiled each of the new doctors joining their practice, interviewed staff, and cataloged their rapid expansion throughout Northern California. They have opened 14 new locations since that first article was published, but the original North Valley Eye Care office has remained put, undergoing repeated remodels, each with the goal of providing a more effective and conducive working environment for staff and patients alike. After building brand new
