04/02/2024
UPDATE: We are no longer searching for additional team members, and greatly appreciate everyone who has submitted a resume, spread the word or expressed support. It seemed like our post disappointed some people for not paying comparable wages to the fast-food industry now.
We feel that every hard-working person should earn enough money to pay for the essentials of life, and we’re genuinely happy for every person hustling, who earns good money. We would love to pay better than McDonald’s, because we do truly value the people who help us serve our community.
However, what some may not realize is that despite being healthcare providers, we’re still a small business as well. Unlike our community health clinics, we don’t receive any government grants, and we’re a small fish in the health care ocean, which dramatically decreases our negotiating power to lower prices on goods. This is why Walmart or Costco can offer glasses, for example, at prices we can’t. Because we also rely primarily on insurance payments as our source of income, we cannot simply roll over an increase in cost to the consumer. McDonald’s may pay their employees $20/hr and can off-set that by simply increasing the cost of each burger by $0.50 for example. We don’t have that option. When we bill your insurance, the amount they will pay us is already determined in contracts. And those fees are usually 50-70% of what we charge. Insurance companies have actually decreased reimbursements (their payments to providers) for some services, all while cost for everything goes up. VSP, the vision plan we accept (it’s the best paying plan), has not increased payments to providers in decades! And again, because we’re a small fish, negotiating with insurance is utterly fruitless. Because we’re capped in a way on what we can earn, rising cost of goods and increasing labor cost, certainly put the pressure on us. You may say we can just take a pay cut, to pay better. This is also true. But we also have loan payments (that OD degree wasn’t free, neither was the purchase of the practice, the building or our state-of-the-art equipment) that need to be paid off still, as well as the reality that we also have kids to feed and doctor bills to pay, just like everyone else. In short, things may not always be as simply and straightforward as people may think.
The solution? We’re not sure. We’re healthcare providers, not politicians. But we will keep working on running a great practice that serves you well, and this will hopefully allow us to steadily keep improving pay & benefits for our employees. They’re wonderful, caring & hard-working people, who certainly deserve it. And if you want support our efforts, we certainly appreciate you coming to us for your care instead of the big chains!
Patterson Optometric Eyecare is accepting resumes to join our team.
Work hours would be Mondays through Wednesday from 8:30am - 5pm, with potential for more hours. Pay DOE or starting pay of $16-18/hr. Pay will increase as training is completed. Benefits include 1 week of PTO & paid holidays (2 weeks PTO after 1 year), free eye exams & glasses, 401K w/match after 1 year.
What are we looking for in a team mate:
- self motivated
- great customer service skills
- reliability
- desire to learn and grow
- honesty
- basic typing skills
- compassion
- ability to problem solve
- desire to stay for 2+ years
Email resumes to biller@pattersoneye.com.
