About two-thirds of the American population needs corrective lenses, and it鈥檚 important to find a quality eye care center you can trust. With 30 years of business in Flagstaff, the doctors and staff of Eye Care Associates know how to put their client relationships first. They are committed to providing excellent care to everyone who walks through their door. This year, the community voted Eye Care Associates as the best optometrist and vision center for Best of Flag!
Dr. Christopher McQuivey joined Eye Care Associates in the summer of 2010. His drive to become an optometrist started as a kid; he had an extremely strong prescription and required glasses at an early age. Finally getting the corrective lenses he needed completely changed his world, as he was able to see leaves on the trees and airplanes in the sky for the very first time. Receiving glasses was impactful for young McQuivey, and it led him to pursue a career in eye care where he could provide similar experiences for others.
Dr. McQuivey completed his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University, then went on to attend doctorate school at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. His wife, Rebecca McQuivey, joined the Eye Care Associates team in 2017 when he bought the practice. She first took over the marketing department and helped to revamp their website. She also took on the position of treatment coordinator for their new dry eye clinic, which they opened last year.
Eye Care Associates has two more doctors accompanying Dr. McQuivey; cousins Dr. Amanda Grimh and Dr. Patricia McCullough. The two grew up in Flagstaff, attending Flag High and earning their undergraduate degrees at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Grimh received her doctorate at Pacific University College of Optometry in Oregon, and Dr. McCullough attended Southern California College of Optometry before completing her Residency in primary care and ocular disease at Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation.
The center鈥檚 location has a great family history behind it, as it used to house the McCullough Insurance Company. Dr. Grimh (formerly McCullough) and Dr. McCullough鈥檚 fathers worked together in the building as insurance agents, and their father (the doctors鈥� grandfather) started the business and even grew up in the house.
With three generations of family history in this office, it was important to the McQuiveys to preserve as much as they could when they remodeled. Dr. McQuivey and his family did most of the remodeling themselves, and they have been at this location since 2022.
鈥淎 lot of love went into remodeling,鈥� said Mrs. McQuivey. 鈥淗e [Dr. McQuivey] was also working full-time as a doctor as well. So it was a lot of nights and weekends for a few months, but we were able to pull it off and get it done the way we wanted it.鈥�
Inside their stunning facility, Eye Care Associates offers many types of eye care services for their patients. Living in a high altitude desert, many residents in Flagstaff struggle with dry eye due to lack of tears or lack of oil production, known as meibomian gland dysfunction. Rebecca McQuivey, the clinic treatment coordinator, treats these issues using therapeutic heat to warm up those glands and help express out the clogs that are blocking the oils from getting into the eyes.
鈥淚t's one of the only treatments that can help reverse the dry eye. It can improve it,鈥� said McQuivey. 鈥淒rops will help temporarily. This helps improve how your eyes feel, but it also preserves the life of those glands.鈥�
Other services offered to patients at Eye Care Associates include comprehensive eye exams, ocular trauma treatment, eye disease management, contacts and glasses fittings and more. Their optical boutique has a style and price for everyone, from budget-friendly options to custom designed frames.
The environment at the clinic is warm and inviting. The staff thinks of themselves as more of a family than just coworkers, which carries over to making their patients feel comfortable and happy when they come into the office. Dana Hiatt, the office manager, has been with the company since its inception 30 years ago. Even some current clients have been loyal patients since day one, which attests to the great experience the business aims to provide.
鈥淲e try to put our patients first, creating a good experience from check in to check out 鈥� and everything in between,鈥� said McQuivey. 鈥淎 lot of offices you go into, it's in and out. They're trying to push you through as quickly as possible so they can maximize profit, where we feel like when that happens, you lose quality of care. And so we have extra time built into the schedule so that we're spending time with the patients and getting to know how we can serve them better.鈥�
Eye Care Associates received plenty of support from the community and their patients during the Best of Flag voting. 鈥淲e have the best patients, they mean the world to us,鈥� McQuivey gushed. 鈥淭hey are so supportive and really appreciate what we try to do. We wouldn鈥檛 be here without them.鈥�
Eye Care Associates is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The doctors are on call nights and weekends, so patients can reach out knowing they have care and support anytime they need. They see and treat everyone; from newborns to 100-year-olds, Eye Care Associates is here for the community.