Eye services to return to Gulf County
More than a year since the area’s only eye care provider shuttered its local facility, optometry services have returned to Gulf County.
According to County Economic Development Director Jim McKnight, PanCare has begun accepting new eye care patients at their Port St. Joe clinic, which opened in February.
“PanCare stepped up,” said McKnight at the Board of County Commissioners’ Aug. 22 meeting. “… They’ve decided they want to use their new clinic, which is located at 401 Cecil G. Costin Senior Boulevard. They now have appointments. You can call and get an appointment today.”
“… They’ve started offering services, they have most services there, but they intend to do some renovations, and maybe some expansion… so, the services will ramp up even more.”
McKnight has been working to secure eye services in Gulf County since the Eye Center of North Florida closed its Port St. Joe location in June of last year.
It was the only eye care office in Gulf County. Following its closure, county residents had to travel out-of-county to receive care, either at one of the Eye Center’s Bay or Washington County locations or at an alternate provider.
McKnight said that pancare expected to have all their eye care services available by sometime in November.
“They were targeting November to be in full operation,” he said.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.