Iola’s sole remaining optometrist, Dr. Doug Donnelly, will see his final patients July 30.
Donnelly, 64, of Iola Vision Source, announced his retirement earlier this month.
“It’ll be a while before it’s completely closed,” Donnelly said, because he will still be filling various orders and finishing paperwork, as well as reaching out to the 2,000 or so patients he sees each year to notify them of the change.
Ideally, Donnelly will find a new optometrist to buy the Iola Vision Source office at 216 N. Jefferson Ave.
“It’s not a fast process,” Donnelly said. “But if we can get somebody who can come in, that’d be even better,” than closing the office permanently.
“Unfortunately, it’s hard to get young people to come to small towns,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a medical doctor, an optometrist or a dentist. They all want to go to Kansas City, or Wichita, or Topeka.”
DONNELLY, an Independence native, knew at an early age he wanted to become an optometrist.
“Everybody in my family was very near-sighted. We all wore glasses or contacts,” he said. “My optometrist was in Coffeyville, and he was a really great guy. He encouraged me to get into optometry.”
Donnelly did just that, graduating from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 1988.
Within two months, he was in Iola, working alongside the late Ellis Potter at Iola Vision Source’s old office on North Washington Avenue.
The setting was a perfect fit.
“My dad was a personable guy, and he got along with everybody,” Donnelly recalled. “I’m the same way. I can talk with anybody.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “You just have to listen to what they’re saying.”
His friendly demeanor quickly soothed any nerves patients may have.
Donnelly noted patients occasionally are just as skittish at seeing an optometrist as they would be going to the dentist, or a medical doctor.
“You just let them make their own decisions,” he said. “I’ll give them the advice I’d give to everybody, and they can do what they want.”
