Interview with David J. Newman, optometrist
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: While going through the undergraduate program in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, I became interested in health care. After graduation, I enrolled in the doctor of optometry program at Southern California College of Optometry, returning to my hometown of Denver upon completion. After a couple of years working with several established practitioners, I ended up taking over a retiring doctor’s practice in 1988.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Our goal is to establish long-term relationships with our patients and customers. When someone walks in the door, we make a concerted effort to call them by name, greet everyone warmly and make them feel welcome. Patients will find a very stable staff, with more than 30 years of combined experience together. A very gratifying aspect of my practice has been seeing little kids grow up, go to college, get married and have their own children. It’s like being part of the family.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: I have always been a “people-oriented” person. I enjoy meeting new people, seeing returning patients, learning about their personal interests, their families and their pets. It gives me a great feeling of doing good when I put a new pair of glasses on someone for the first time, and a big smile slowly emerges from their face, seeing the leaves on the trees across the street instead of a giant mass of green.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: Keeping up with all the rules and regulations of the healthcare industry is a major challenge. New insurance codes, practice management tools, continuing education all create never-ending challenges for the entire staff, myself included. But, despite all these ongoing aspects of the eye- care industry, things never get boring or tedious.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: As someone who was born and raised here in the southern part of Denver, just blocks from Englewood, attending Denver Public Schools, I have a vested interest in the community. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for more than 37 years. One of our first dates was at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, right here in what was Cinderella City, now Englewood City Center.
Profile
Business: Englewood Eyecare
Address: 850 Englewood Parkway, Englewood
Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-noon Saturday
Founded: 1988
Contact: 303-777-6633,
Employees: 3
