I wanted to let you know that as of March 29, 2023, after almost 41 years as an M.D., I will be retiring from ophthalmology practice and closing my office. I advertised nationally for a year for someone to take over the practice, offering to give the practice and all the equipment away with purchase of the real estate, but had no significant response. There is a serious shortage of job seekers in ophthalmology, particularly for rural areas. Additionally, job seekers prefer group and corporate practices to being self-employed, and prefer access to a dedicated ophthalmic surgery center rather than a hospital based operating room.
While the “facility fee” charged by hospital employers discourages MaineHealth from an interest in using my office, I am hopeful that MaineHealth will try in the near future to recruit an ophthalmologist to work in an office on the hospital grounds. That would be a welcome addition to the Mid-Coast for ongoing ophthalmic eye care access. In the meantime, to help in your search for alternate eye care, I have prepared a list of current eye practices in the 3 counties.
Thank you for your trust over the decades.
Howard W. Hoyt, M.D.
