Caring for one’s sight is business Tom Wilk takes seriously and it is his guiding force every day.
“Our core values are professionalism, compassionate care and protection,” said Wilk who emphasized the importance of the latter value.
“First and foremost we protect the health of our patients’ eyes.”
Building up from that philosophy, Wilk said Mountain View Optometry, which he operates in partnership with his wife, Michele Naruszewicz, is determined to offer efficient service that is in line with his patients’ expectations.
In that vein, Wilk said Mountain View Optometry – which has locations in Cochrane and Calgary – emphasizes customer service.
“We look at our client base more as customers than patients,” said Wilk.
As part of that focus, Wilk said his practice listened “intently to our customers about how they wanted their experience to go.”
From there, Mountain View Optometry evolved to meet those expectations and built the practice to be among the most state-of-the-art in the province.
“People are interested in technology … they wanted to make sure their optometrist is up to date,” explained Wilk.
Not only does staying up to date mean more efficient service, it also means better diagnostics and improved treatment.
To answer that challenge, Mountain View Optometry became one of the first practices to bring in the Wavefront technology that measures and determines a patient’s optical fingerprint; the Optomap Laser Retinal Scanner that can quickly record a panoramic image of the inside of the eye to diagnose a variety of eye and vascular conditions; and an iCare Tenometre, which replaces the extremely disliked puff-of-air test used to diagnose glaucoma.
That dedication to patient satisfaction earned Wilk the Cochrane Eagle’s Best of Cochrane Best Optometrist Award as voted by our readers.
Wilk said his staff’s dedication to upholding the practice’s core values has a lot to do with Mountain View Optometry’s success.
“Our whole team of staff and associate doctors at both our locations are passionate about helping patients every day,” he said.
It is that kind of community support that led Wilk to Cochrane in the first place some 17 years ago after five years in Calgary.
“Cochrane looked like a great town to open a business in ... extremely community oriented … it needed another eye practitioner … at the time it was one of the fastest growing community’s in North America,” he explained.
Not only has Cochrane been good to him, Wilk has found the sense of community he wanted.
A member of Rotary and a past president, he remembers the highlight of his time in Cochrane during a provincial crisis.
On June 20, 2013, the first day of a 100-year flood to hit the southern part of the province, he joined community members and fellow Rotarians who were attending a Rotary barbecue sandbagging the river.
“Being able to see what a community is able to do when they mobilize is pretty amazing,” said Wilk.
