Clay Eye has been providing eye care for 43 years.  Opening in 1977 in Orange Park and offering everything from routine eye exams to surgical procedures, they now have five locations across northeast Florida to serve the community.  Construction is underway on the company's most ambitious project yet-a facility of more than 14,000-square feet on the East/West Parkway.

"With growth comes expansion," said Practice Administrator Eric King. "In the past 10 years, we've grown from a seven-physician group to 13, with an increase in staff to support these physicians.  We've expanded our demographics exponentially.  With this growth, we have significantly outgrown the current Fleming Island facility and knew that a larger clinic was necessary.  Our latest and largest project to date is currently taking place on the East/West Parkway in Fleming Island.  This is a significant project, as it is the first one in 40 years that we're building from the ground up."

The current location on Fleming Island at 1615 County Road 220 is 3,000 square feet.  The new site will be more than 14,000 to help support growth.  It will be a free-standing clinic, with easier patient access to comprehensive eye care being one of the leading design focuses.

Of the other main priorities, a one-stop environment for patients is just as important.  The clinic will offer everything under one roof, supporting sub-specialist in the areas of cornea, retina, glaucoma, oculoplastic and pediatrics, which makes it possible for patients to remain with Clay Eye instead of seeking other specialists elsewhere.  

With the new, more extensive facilities, Clay Eye anticipates an additional 15-to-20 employees to support the operation.  The new Fleming Island location is slated to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2021.  Overall, Clay Eye has 13 doctors on staff.  Of those 13, nine are ophthalmologists and four are optometrists.  Over time as Clay County has grown, so has Clay Eye.

"We saw the growth," Harris said. "We started treating families and cousins of families and then friends of families that we'd been treating, so it was sort of like we grew up with the community as it progressed and it grew in population.  We now are seeing people that are third and fourth general that grew up with us over the years.  We've seen the schools progress, we've seen the businesses progress, so we felt like we've grown up in the community and along with the community."

That connection to the community has even bolstered the Clay Eye staff itself.  Dr. Jack Bullock was a patient of Clay Eye as a child, and his father was a Navy buddy of Dr. Harris.  Bullock says that when he completed seventh grade, he received a card from Harris, which stated something along the lines: "can't wait for you to join Clay Eye as an ophthalmologist." One thing led to another, and Bullock eventually became an ophthamologist who now works with Dr. Harris after once being his patient.  Harris is proud of what Clay Eye has become in more than 43 years in existence.  The other four locations are at Orange Park, Mandarin, Riverside, and Middleburg.