Clearly Seeing Success in the CBRM | Island Eyecare

How well do you take care of your eyes? With the average person’s daily screen time increasing, it’s difficult for our eyes to not experience some sort of strain. For any issues we may have with the health of our eyes, there’s Island Eyecare, Cape Breton’s premier eye care specialists.

Experts in all things eye care and optometry, Island Eyecare was acquired by optometrist Shaun MacInnis. Born and raised in Cape Breton, Shaun also began his studies on the island. He started his foray into the field of optometry at Cape Breton University (CBU), then University College of Cape Breton (UCCB), in 2000 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2003. Shaun furthered his studies at the University of Waterloo, the sole English-speaking optometry school in the nation. 

While working in Halifax after graduating from Waterloo, Shaun served many patients from Cape Breton. An opportunity arose, Shaun could operate an eye care clinic on Cape Breton Island, ensuring locals could receive their necessary treatment close to home. Shaun described the opportunity to return to Cape Breton as huge and added, “When we returned home, our goal was to have more people stay on the island to receive treatment, and we have been successful at that.” Shaun also notes the bonus of having family and friends here.

Island Eyecare cares for more than just the CBRM. Referrals are often made from places such as Port Hawkesbury or the mainland, including Antigonish. This is because Island Eyecare offers excellent service with the latest technology. They are often pioneers in Nova Scotia, or sometimes all of Atlantic Canada, being the first to use certain technologies in their treatments.

Island Eyecare offers a variety of services with general eye exams being the most common, these start with children as young as six months old. The specialty eye care offered by Island Eyecare is a personal point of pride for Shaun. These specialty treatments include dry eye treatments, treatments for nearsightedness in children, treatments for concussion patients, and macular degeneration. Emergency eye care is also provided. Our eyes are sensitive enough already, so any damage done to them is particularly frightening. Island Eyecare are experts when it comes to alleviating this damage.

In addition to their optometry services, Island Eyecare also offers a variety of name-brand glasses such as Gucci, Oakley, and Ray-Ban. They have their own brands of eyeglasses as well, Island and Cabot. They feature the outline of Cape Breton Island and the Cabot Trail respectively, highlighted on the temple of the glasses for a little local flair.

Shaun hasn’t just made it viable to receive top-notch eye care close to home, he’s also training a new generation of optometrists. Island Eyecare serves as a hands-on learning experience for optometry students from the University of Waterloo. In this way, Shaun is empowering students nationwide to reach their full potential, and doing so all from the island we call home.

To learn more about Island Eyecare, visit https://islandeyecare.ns.ca/