Northwest Vision Center

My pre everything as great. Everyone was very helpful and informative. I chose Dr. Gilbert because he is the best. Surgery was quick and professional. I was able to read my kindle on 6 font right away. My post stuff wasn't as good as it could have been. I found out only because I asked- how long do I do my eye drops- follow up appointment in 5-6 weeks.

I didn't or wouldn't have had an appointment scheduled unless I had asked. Every other appointment they booked for me and told me here is your pre, your day of your post and they then should have said and here is your 6 week follow up. It would have been nice to have something to read about possible "feelings", or sight adjustments. Once I called someone a week or so in, and asked I wasn't freaked out any more.

Something also like it could take up to.to fully have clear sight. Kind of like they do when you have knee or hip replacements. "it could take up to 6 months to a year to fully recover". Or people with Astigmatism might need a touch up surgery. Dr. Wickenberg is the best best best. So helpful, informative, patient. She filled in for Dr. Gilbert and is my eye doctor except for surgery. So far I am loving with my reading ability, good with my mid range and OK with my distance. It is getting better I think a little bit at a time.

Following a diagnosis of cataracts, Dr. Gilbert perform lens replacement surgery - the resulting improvement in my vision was astonishing.beyond that, my entire experience at Northwest Vision Institute was exceptional - from front desk to intake exam to billing/insurance arrangement to followup vision exams - staff and care was exceptional. I dare say this was the best healthcare experience I have ever had. I cannot recommend this group highly enough.

I have been using prescription glasses since i was 11 years old. I knew my eye test is due because it was getting difficult to read billboards etc. I was hoping the doctor will do the vision test but instead a young technician did it. I have taken the prescription to the Lenscrafters got my glasses the next week but i couldn't get use to it after using it for 3 weeks.

That's very unusual because it usually takes me only 1 week to get use to it, max! I have complained about it they have tried to adjust it first and then they have even replaced the lenses. However after 6 months I still have problem with BOTH reading and distance glasses. I suspect the prescription is the problem not the lenses. I give credit for their thorough eye health check that is being done by the doctor itself using up to date devices etc. I have wasted about $2700 and i need to start all over again. I will never use this clinic again.

Dr. Michael Gilbert is quite a magician! I am so pleased with the cataract surgery he performed on my eyes in February. My vision is back to 20/20 and now I can restore the font size on my computer monitor to normal non-magnified size, comfortably read my mobile with no reading glasses and drive at night with very clear vision. I do see sporadic brighter circles around some upcoming car headlights, but it is actually pleasant rather than annoying.

I originally went here for an eye irritation which the eye doctor corrected. However, I noticed they also perform eye exams, so I decided to switch doctors since I was due for an eye exam anyway. I thought it strange that they never asked for payment as I was leaving. I should have known something was fishy, back to this in a moment. So when I underwent my eye exam, everything seemed like a routine eye exam except for something I did not catch until I got my glasses.

I noticed some double vision during the eye exam, but the eye doctor said that would go away since I had initially come in for an eye irritation problem. I didn't think anything of it during the eye exam. When I finally got my glasses (note I did not get my glasses from Northwest Vision Institute, only the prescription), the left lenses seemed blurry, and not much changed in my vision.

But I went back to what the doctor said that it would go away. Well, I waited and waited, and it never went away. At work, a person told me that I could get the prescription corrected at no charge within six months. So I waited. Finally, I made an appointment to go in, and I specifically said I don't think the prescription was correct. Northwest Vision Institute wanted to charge me for their mistake.

They said it was outside of the three-month window. Really? An eye exam is only suitable for three months? To me, that's some straight-up nonsense. This triggered all kinds of alarms for me like they did not ask me for payment at the end of my visits because they were billing me and my insurance astronomical sums of money. I finally paid them, but it was painful financially, and in hindsight, I shouldn't have.

So the moral of the story is only go here if you enjoy flushing money down the toilet because I have glasses that do not work, and I'm out of thousands of dollars. I find it fascinating that they would rather lose me as a customer for life than fix their mistake in my prescription.

I cannot say enough about the entire staff at Northwest Vision Institute. From my first call to schedule with the front desk who was so warm and cordial, to the person who ran a million tests on me, to the actual doctor, Dr. Michael. I cannot thank them enough for digging in, taking extra time, correctly diagnosing me when two other doctors had blown me off. Dr. Michael J. Gilbert saved my life.

I owe them all a debt of graditude which I can never repay. Once they received a diagnosis from the doctor they referred me to, they called just to check in on me. Who does that these days? Decent, honest, caring people. Please go directly here if you have any issues with your eyes. Do not give up, persevere. They did and I'm still here as a result.

What an AMAZING experience to have my annual eye exam with Dr Wickenberg and the wonderful staff at NWVI! They are so thorough, friendly, timely, and trustworthy for all my ocular needs! They are true experts in caring for dry eye, changes in vision with aging, and ensuring the comprehensive health of my eye is top-notch! Thank you for another great visit! their customer service cannot be beaten!

My husband recently suffered some vision loss. A friend recommended going to Northwest Vision Institute and we are so thankful that we did. Dr. Michael J. Gilbert and his team were exceptional. They were knowledgeable, professional and compassionate. They truly took the time to explain all of the options available and helped my husband feel comfortable during the entire process. He now has hope for the future and is excited about his new glasses. We would highly recommend Northwest Vision Institute!

I was visiting from out of state when I was told about Dr. Abby. Fortunately I was able to get an appointment and was extremely happy with my experience. Dr. Abby made sure to explain everything to me about my procedure. I'm very happy with the results and will visit her again next time I'm in town.

This is my second year going to northwest vision institute and I just LOVE them! I saw dr wickenburg the first time there and then recently saw dr michalko! Great docs and great staff too! Scheduling with them was a breeze! I highly recommend them to anyone who needs an ophthalmologist!

Comments on Dr Michael L Gilbert for cataract surgery. After just having both eyes worked on for cataracts, I could only say the results were miraculous. Even though you may hear that you will see better afterwards, you have no baseline to compare to until you have at least the first eye done where you can then look through one eye and then the other.

The improvement in vision is mind blowing and you can thank technological advances to allow this to happen. But what is equally important is who implements the technology. There are many doctors who are probably very competent and some not so competent. But since you only have two eyes which are very delicate, you want to trust them with someone you can have total confidence in.

My recommendation is to trust your eyes to Dr Michael L Gilbert for an absolutely great experience. He is a professional, knows what he is doing and has a well established track record of successes. He'll tell you what to expect before and after the surgery, answer your questions, and most importantly, perform the surgery in the most efficient way possible. What seems like a somewhat terrifying ordeal to go through for yours eyes was a super efficient simple process with awesome results.

Scheduled a 10:15am appointment. I'm waiting. Receptionist told me they're short staffed. It's now 20 minutes past my scheduled time. May need to reconsider. It would be nice to go to a place that is not short staffed. They should owe me for my time waiting. AND I CAME EARLY!

Dr. Gilbert and his team are superb. From the beginning to the end of my cataract surgery, I was taken care of by competent, efficient, and caring professionals. The surgery went off like clockwork, and I was made to feel very comfortable at all times. I cannot recommend Dr. Gilbert and his staff more highly!

In the past 2 years I had 2 eyeglasses (frame and lenses) from them. Both eyeglasses broke already. They were reading glasses, nothing complicated, and each of the eyeglasses cost around $200-$250, ridiculous price I know but the insurance paid for them. To replace them I will go to Rite Aid and pick one of their $25 eyeglasses which will be cheap enough to replace if they break. I cannot recommend these guys to anybody.

This is the worst eye clinic I have ever been. I went there with a intention to have cataract removed. At the first appt as a new patient, they have me going thru some test and recheck my vision after a long wait. The list of exam that shown on the bill are confusing. I don't really know what exam are being performed. The second appt with the Dr Gilbert. Again, a long wait.

They did more exams before I could see him. He was rude during the exam and rushed me out of the exam room in 5 mins. After experienced his rudeness, I decided to look somewhere else for cataract surgery. Looking at the bill, I just don't know how much they have already made from me/insurance company.

I've been coming to this practice for around 12 years now and it has gone steadily down hill over that time. More significantly in the last three. More recently I find myself waiting a long time for my appointment to actually start, at which point an assistant now does some superficial checks that the doctor used to do. Then I end up waiting another 15 minutes for the doctor to come in and basically just review what the assistant did rather than doing the exam themselves. I came here for the doctor not the assistant. I won't be coming back.

On jan.3. 2018 i was in to see dr. eckman for a follow up exam, he prescribed restasis eye drops for me, on jan.5, 2018 i developed for the first time in my life a eye sty. only 2 days after being in his office. i called and asked for him to call me on jan.8, 2018 as i wanted to discuss about the eye drops restasis, as my insurance was not going to cover it, and price would be between $250.00 to $500.00 a month, which in no way can i afford, also wanted to discuss the sty. after 3 days with no reply i called back, this time i talked to a lady name chris. who informed me ''now'' dr. was out of office till monday, and hadn't returned my call as he needed to know more info first, which front desk girls didn't follow up on by calling me back. huh? what kind of dr. dosen't call back? now my eye needs attention ''now'', not next week as she (chris) was determined to make me wait for. the lack of knowledge she had was unbelievable, she admitted they see lots of patients with sty's, but she personally had no knowledge of them. she was not helpful at all, and she ended up hanging up on me. i then called my regular dr. to see if they could help, they got me in that afternoon, and my eye lid is infected. and in need of antibiotic ointment. end of story when i first met dr. ekman, i really liked him, but after this go around and the lack of communication between front desk ~ dr. ~ patient, or lack of interest what ever it is. i will not be back there! all i asked for was a phone call from dr.to discuss issue. if that is too much to ask, they don't and wont have any business from me again.not to mention lack of cleaning equipment or hands. of staff and dr.'s

I called to make an appointment, and it seemed to me that the phone system is a giant loop, and you can never get an actual person on the line (I may be wrong, maybe they really were just busy that day. i wouldn't know for sure as it was my first time calling them). Anyway after attempting to reach a person, i gave up and left a message for scheduling.

It has now been at least a month and no-one ever called me back. I can't for the life of me understand why customer service is so lacking now-a-days. If you don't care to call me back, i no longer care to be your patient. Hope someone listens, and this changes. Good luck to you.

My review only applies to the optical department who orders lenses. Dr. of Optometry was wonderful, but the optical department who handles ordering lenses are very loosely run. My first new lenses were not properly grounded by a lab, (we discussed technical glitches happen sometimes) so the optical department rejected them and returned them to the grinder, which was good and fine.

The person said that she would expedite the replacement. When I asked the person when they would be in, and the person said it would be in Friday.(7days later). So, I went to pick them up on following Monday after having been out of town, the first thing I was asked was, " Did we call you?" I told the person that you had told me the glasses will be in on Friday.

She replied, I don't have them. I asked the person when will they be in, she said "I don't know". I would have thought if the person told a client when the delivery date will be, she will either confirm the receipt to the client, or let the client know if the committed date can not be met. It has been three weeks since the eye exam and I still don't have my glasses with new prescription.

I made an appointment with NW Institute about 2 weeks ago. I just received a call 5 minutes before my appointment noting it was canceled due to a doctor's unavailability. Noted the earliest they can reschedule is 2 weeks from now. I'm taking my business elsewhere.

Went for annual vision check. Technician asks questions doctor should be asking to patients here. Doctor I made appointment with came in last 5 minutes and was not at all interested in checking me as she had some other person more important. This doctor left technician to enter the data in a computer and rushed out saying I can get a print out on the way home. Only 5 min and this doctor gets paid by an insurance company? I am not going back to this place again.

I just had an appointment with Dr. Carl Ekman, and it was wonderful! He came out to meet me right on time (maybe even a little early!) and shook my hand and introduced himself. The exam went super quick, since he was so friendly and personable and made me feel totally at ease. I would definitely recommend Dr. Ekart to anybody who is having eye issues, or just needs a regular eye exam!

This review is high because Dr. Ekman was incredible. I have a rare and serious eye condition that flares up every so often and when it happens I need immediate treatment. Dr. Ekman is my preferred doctor, but one time I had to make an emergency appointment and they fit me in with Dr. Hayes. I found him to be approximately the opposite of Dr. Ekman. Dr. Hayes treated me like I didn't know anything and was being overly cautious about my condition.

He told me that it was normal for my left eye to dilate randomly and stay dilated for days (in the 10 or 11 times I have had a flare up of my condition, this is the FIRST time this particular symptom has happened. I feel I was rightfully concerned). I was in and out in about 5 minutes, which would normally be fantastic, but I felt like he didn't spend any time with me or take me seriously, but rather rushed me out.

I should also mention that I am an optician and know a decent amount about eyes. Dr. Ekman treats me as such and takes my fears and experiences as legitimate. I never once felt like an idiot with him and I really appreciate that. Bellevue is pretty far out of my way, but if the choice is convenience with Dr. Hayes in Kirkland or fighting traffic and construction in Bellevue to see Dr. Ekman, I will choose Bellevue every time. Bedside manner can make all the difference. The front desk staff is always pretty friendly as well, at both locations.

I came in for an eye exam and to get a new pair of glasses and had a terrific experience! The front desk was great, the waiting area was clean and beautiful, and the doctor came out right on time. I had Dr. Hayes as my doctor and he was wonderful! I am used to nurses doing all the examinations and the doctor coming in only for 15 min to chat and then running off, but this was completely different.

He was very patient and informative and did all the examination on me. I also want to emphasize how sweet and quick the front desk woman was. I think her name was Diane. Thank you! I've had very iffy experiences with the Evergreen Health system, but this was great. I was pleasantly surprised!

Good location, good doctors, quality issues with their eyeglass selection. I went here for an eye exam after a few years and the technology was modern, the exam was quick, painless, and informative. I selected one of their pricier sets of glasses off the shelf (as I had a little bit of pocket money to spend) and was told they would have the lenses ready in 10 business days (two weeks).

The glasses arrived and looked great, but the construction was poor. The frames started falling apart less than a week after purchase. I had to revisit the location and ask for a repair. They opted to order me a new set in and then change my lenses out. This took another two weeks and required yet another visit to make the change. Although the process for getting the replacement set of glasses in was free, it was time consuming as I had to keep revisiting the spot.

I should note that a little bit of inspection on my part would have noticed the problems prior to accepting the first set of glasses which means that even though I didn't look for the quality issue, the Vision Institute was not checking their frames either.

Really clean place. The DR is beautiful and very good at what she does. I would come back again for sure.

I visited the Northwest Vision Institute in 2008 at the Bellevue location and had an awful experience. The staff was unfriendly and unhelpful; the wait time was unacceptable; and the doctor was unpleasant. He then informed me I had an ingrown eyelash, which he said "here, I'll pull it out for you." When I got the bill weeks later, they had charged me $180 for a "surgical operation" for the removed eyelash!

When I called, the billing department was kind enough to reverse that charge. In 2013, I decided to try the Kirkland office and had an appointment with Dr. Kitamura. She was very efficient and very nice. The staff was also efficient and professional and very friendly and helpful. The other reviews seem a few years old, and I didn't notice anything that would warrant complaints about a limited glasses selection or outdated equipment. I would definitely recommend the Kirkland branch office over the Bellevue one!

I woke up on the day of my birthday with my left eye all red and swollen. I was miserable, and kept hoping my eye would calm down since I had big lunch and dinner plans. Well. my eye never calmed down- I had to cancel my entire day! I called NW Vision and they got me in within an hour. Everything was great, until I met Dr. Gilbert. He wasn't very nice to me at all. and for someones birthday being ruined I was in a pretty upbeat mood.

He didn't introduce him self, made sarcastic comments, said I wasn't telling the truth and overall the appointment was miserable. He didn't tell me I needed eye drops, he just walked out of the room (while ignoring my thank you) after telling his assistant (very vaguely) I need drops for a week. I had to ask the front desk to double check if I should have a prescription.and I did, they said they would call it in. I would of walked out of there not knowing I needed meds. I may come back to see another doctor there but not Dr Gilbert. He has quite the ego.

Dr. Kitamura is great. I hadn't seen her for a few years after giving up contacts for awhile (too dry at my office.) She fitted me for daily disposables and I'm very pleased to be able to wear contacts again. While the office and some equipment is a little older, they also have new technology where it counts - I didn't have to get dialated because my insurance covers their new machines.

I actually started off seeing Dr. Stephanie Kitamura at the Bellevue location and then she moved to the poor stepsister branch in Kirkland. The place is very old looking. seriously, the eye exam chairs looks like they were bought from a optometrist supplies consignment store! But Dr. Kitamura is very good and a contact lens specialist to boot! I actually really like the fact that the NW Vision Institute is linked to other optometrists and a Lasix eye specialist so that if and when I decide to go down that path, the option is there!