A longtime Iowa City eye clinic and optical dispensary has changed hands, but the new owner says he plans to maintain the traditions of medical and customer care that his predecessor has established. Dr. Ian Hui assumed ownership of the Alberhasky Eye Clinic in Iowa City last January from Dr. G. Rodney Alberhasky, who established […]
Already a subscriber? Log in
Want to Read More?
Get immediate, unlimited access to all subscriber content and much more.
Learn more in our subscriber FAQ.
- Unparalleled business coverage of the Iowa City / Cedar Rapids corridor.
- Immediate access to subscriber-only content on our website.
- 26 issues per year delivered digitally, in print or both.
- Support locally owned and operated journalism.
A longtime Iowa City eye clinic and optical dispensary has changed hands, but the new owner says he plans to maintain the traditions of medical and customer care that his predecessor has established.
Dr. Ian Hui assumed ownership of the Alberhasky Eye Clinic in Iowa City last January from Dr. G. Rodney Alberhasky, who established the practice in November 1997 and will continue to see patients at the clinic.
Dr. Hui, a native of Windsor, Ontario, moved to Iowa City with his wife Ashley, a Tipton native. The two had graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry and practiced all over the United States, from Chicago and Connecticut to western Michigan and the University of Kentucky. After learning they were expecting their first child, they decided to return to the area to be closer to Ms. Hui’s family in Tipton, completing their move in October 2020, when Dr. Hui joined the Alberhasky staff and Ms. Hui took a teaching position in the University of Iowa’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
“We were looking at some different practices and were introduced to Dr. Alberhasky,” Mr. Hui said. “We met several times and fell in love with the practice, and it mirrored what we like to do. Everything fell into place, and shortly thereafter, we were moving this way and planting roots.”
Dr. Hui said his philosophy of optometric care matches closely with that of Dr. Alberhasky.
“He really cares about his patients,” Dr. Hui said. “He takes time to go above and beyond the eye exam, to relate to them on a personal level. That’s how I practice. I spend a lot more time in the room with the patient, not just talking about their eyes, but learning about their family, learning about their interests and having them join our family here at the clinic. So when I saw him interact with his patients, I said ‘this is exactly how I do things.’ I’ve been in other situations, unfortunately, where it moves a little bit faster, you’re just getting patients in and out of the office, and that doesn’t align with what I believe in.”
Beyond the routine exams, which often include screenings for eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes and macular degeneration, Dr. Hui said he also examines patients’ eyes for signs of more serious medical conditions.
“I pride myself in educating the patients on how eye health can be correlated to the rest of your body systemically,” Dr. Hui said. “I’ve found signs of colon cancer in a young man’s eye, increased pressure in a woman’s brain, lymphoma, melanoma and high blood pressure. It’s pretty amazing how that all pops up inside of the eye.”
For those reasons and more, Dr. Hui said he stresses the importance of routine eye exams.
“Some patients will say ‘I can see fine, I don’t need an eye exam.’ But it’s quite a bit more than that,” he said. “We dive into that conversation, and you can see the light turned on in the exam room. They go home with a piece of information that they didn’t know coming in, which I think is fantastic.”
Dr. Hui said he also stresses with his patients that he’s available for emergency eye care, at virtually any time of the day or night.
“If somebody is working on something and they get a piece of metal stuck in their eye, or if someone has a nasty eye infection or a really sudden change in their vision, their first thought is to go to the emergency room,” he said. “We take care of all that here as well, and we have an after-hours service. I’ll come in and take care of the patient. I practiced in northern British Columbia, and it was an oil town, a blue-collar town. I was taking metal out of guys’ eyes several times a week. It’s not fun for the patient, but we’re able to take care of them.”
And while he hopes to expand the business, including the possibility of adding another optometrist, Dr. Hui said he has no current plans to rename the clinic.
“The name Alberhasky stands for great care, a very personal approach,” he said. “Patients have grown accustomed to that, and they appreciate it. So I don’t feel like there’s any need for me to hurry up and change the name.”
