Cardinal Family Eye Care Opens in Thorp

Effective Friday, October 12, 2007, the eye clinics in Thorp and Chippewa Falls, formerly owned by Drs. Melcher and Sprague, were purchased by Ryan Beloungy and Jacob Vergin, who are both 2007 graduates of the College of Optometry in Chicago, Illinois.  Both offices are owned by one corporation but will carry different names.  The Thorp office, located at 102 E. Stanley St., will be known as Cardinal Family Eye Care while the Chippewa Falls office will continue as New Vista Eye Care.  When choosing a name for their new corporation, Ryan and Jacob chose Cardinal Family Eye Care due to the school mascot of Thorp and Chippewa Falls being the Cardinal and they wanted a name with a hometown element and it just kind of worked,” stated Dr. Beloungy.

Patrons will be given the same excellent care that they have come to expect in the past and will also benefit from the following changes: expansion of contact lenses service, new equipment at both offices, future additions of new technology and expanded hours on Wednesdays.  They will continue to offer the following services: eye exams, contacts/glasses/computer glasses, treatment of most ocular disease, and referrals to surgeons and specialists.

Cardinal Family Eye Care will be open Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  Dr. Vergin will be in the Thorp office on Monday and Tuesday and Dr. Beloungy on Wednesday and Thursday with alternating Fridays.

Although Ryan and Jacob were both offered positions at other places they turned them down to start Cardinal Family Eye Care.  Concludes Dr. Beloungy: “We weren’t looking and the opportunity fell in our laps.”

Graduating from Rice Lake High School, Jacob Vergin attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls as an under-graduate and graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in May of 2007.   He currently resides in Chippewa Falls with his wife, Kara, who is a second grade teacher in Cameron, and their dog, Boone.

During his fourth year of college he endured the following three month externships: Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Montana; Southwestern eye Center, Mesa Arizona; and Hampton VA Hospital in Hampton, Virginia.  Commented Jacob; “An eye doctor in Rice Lake heard about Drs. Melcher and Sprague wanting to retire and contacted Dr. Sprague.  He gave Dr. Sprague my phone number and Dr. Sprague called me and asked if I’d be interested in their offices.  I then called Ryan Beloungy and asked if he’d be interested in doing it together.  I wanted to come back to the northern Wisconsin area and it seemed like a good fit.”

Ryan Beloungy grew up and graduated high school in Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin.  As an undergraduate he attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and then spent 15 months at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago, graduating in May of 2007.  “While attending school in Chicago, we saw everything across the board, from low vision ocular disease to every type of patient,” commented Ryan.

His externships, which each consisted of three months, took him to the following locations: Naval Base in Brunswick, Maine for primary care rotation; Mountain Home VAMC in Johnson City, Tennessee where he gained a lot of experience in ocular disease including: glaucoma, macular degeneration, dry eyes and cataracts; and finally at Winston Salem, North Carolina where he focused on contact lenses fitting and primary care.

“I’m happy to see children.  I especially like kids since my mom had an in-home daycare and I grew up with kids around.  I feel I can relate to them well.”  Ryan concludes, “I love it here, people have been great.”

Ryan, who recently married Julie, Thorp’s Public Library Director, lives in Chippewa Falls with their cat, Lily.  His hobbies include bow hunting, musky fishing, hiking and camping.

One interesting bit of information that Ryan chose to share is that both he and Jacob were born on the same day of the same year and less than ten minutes apart.  What a coincidence!