T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Edward McDonald prepares to welcome patients. He will be moving his practice to retiring optometrist John Heiby’s site.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — At the start of the year, Optometrist Dr. Edward McDonald will be greeting patients at Dr. John Heiby’s former practice , who is closing out a 52-year career.

McDonald, from Glen Dale, has a practice in West Virginia.

“I worked in Glen Dale for about 15 years, and earlier this year I broke off and started my own practice in Moundsville,” he said. “Dr. Heiby talked about retiring, and I know what a great optometrist he was.”

He will be moving his entire practice to St. Clairsville.

McDonald’s field is primary care optometry.

“Anything from contact lenses to managing glaucoma and diabetes until it’s ready for referral,” he said. “Basically we kind of triage the eye care. They come in and we try to manage as much as we can by ourselves here, but if they need a specialist, then we definitely have places for them to go, so we place those specialty contacts. We treat anyone from six month to 106 years old. There are no limitations.”

McDonalds brings a knowledge and appreciation of the field’s engineering foundation, having started in that subject. “I started out in engineering and realized that wasn’t for me,” he said. “Optometry is a great profession. It has everything I was looking for. Helping and managing people. A nice environment.

“My dad was a coal miner, my mom was a beautician. I was happy to go to college, and to think I could be a primary physician for someone — especially their eyes, one of their most precious things — that was a great option,” he said. McDonald intends to maintain the personal touch Heiby’s patients have come to expect.

“I think it’s the time we spend with patients. Individualized attention and the are that they need. It appears that Dr. Heiby has a wonderful staff and a very loyal patient base, and I think it is because we get to know the patients. We get to know their families, their lives. It is a small community, and that’s one of the reasons why I like this place. I like the Valley,” he said.

He intends to retain Heiby’s staff and welcomes his patient base.

“As long as they’re comfortable with me, I’d be more than thrilled to maintain their care,” he said.

McDonald will also be bringing some new and expanded services.

“With optometry, it has been progressing into a more medical-based field, and so we have acquired some equipment that I’ll be bringing over here as well. Some equipment to help manage our diabetic patients, our macular degeneration patients, our glaucoma patients,” McDonald said.

His office will also have a scanning laser.

“More diagnostic equipment so that we can manage the medical patients,” he said, adding he intends to meet the needs of customers.

“As the aging population, especially in the valley, has macular degeneration. It affects millions in the United States,” he said. His equipment will differentiate the types of macular degeneration a patient is suffering and help guide the referral process.

Diabetes is another factor he will consider.

“The eyes are one of the only places we can see the vessels in its natural environment, and we can detect early bleeding from diabetes. Diabetes can cause vision changes and fluctuations that we’ll be able to detect,” McDonald said.

“I’m just excited to move into the area,” he said.

“St. Clairsville’s a wonderful community. I look forward to taking care of patients here, as well as any of the ones that want to come over from the Moundsville area.”

McDonald is working with Heiby during the transition of his practice. He has also benefited from his experience.

“What a privilege to get to know Dr. Heiby,” he said, adding he hopes Heiby remains available as a consultant for the first months of 2022.

“Just to glean a lot of his experience,” he said. “He’s an amazing person. I look forward to the collaboration I may have with him.”

The practice is located at 156 Woodrow Avenue, Suite 1. The number is 740-695-2860.