Slade & Baker Vision Center

I’ve been going to Slade & Baker Vision Center for 6 months now and I assure you: they are the cream of the crop, top notch eye people!
I have keratoconus, which can eventually lead to blindness. Yeah, scary. There are only two procedures, one of which is outdated and more invasive. As well as more expensive! I researched and wanted cross linking… which is supposed to strengthen the fibers around the cornea to hold it in place. The problem? It wasn’t FDA approved yet and you can only get cross linking if done in an FDA trial. I live in San Antonio… only one practice here had done cross linking and that trial was over. Google was my friend and I found Dr Slade in Houston. Uh, he’s a bad ass, my research found. Literally the FDA’s first choice eye guy for all things eye since the 90s. No joke. OK, he’s THE best in the U. S…and only 3 hours away in Houston. Whew! Lucky me!
I called in March and was booked for cross linking within a week. The office manager, staff, Doctors… the best! I was so at ease and excited about fixing my eyes and 6 months later I couldn’t be happier. Did I mention Dr Slade was in D.C. The day before my consultation testifying to the final FDA panel about cross linking and it was approved? Yeah.
From June to September, my astigmatism reduced from 7.7 to 6.8. So, it’s WORKING! Go here if you need ANY eye procedure or surgery.

I had my Lasik procedure done a few weeks ago and the difference in my vision is like night and day! I had gone to several different doctors looking for information on Lasik and always left feeling confused and SCARED! My friend recommended me to Dr. Slade so I decided to give it a shot and made my appointment for my free screening. The staff at the office was so nice and helpful! From the first phone call to my most recent post op appointment. Dr. Baker was so patient and informative and the counselors, Delfina and Tami, were always available to help me with my million questions. Dr. Slade explained exactly what he was going to do and made me feel totally at ease.
Surgery day was a breeze and I left thinking «Why did I wait»? I guess I was just waiting to find the right doctors!
Thank you Dr. Slade and Dr. Baker!

My experience was phenomenal. Very professional and courteous employees. I was given the best customer service throughout. I was talked to respectfully and pleasantly. I felt comfortable and cared for immediately. I noticed how thorough Dr. Baker was to evaluate my eyes and talk about the process with visuals. I was quoted an amount and did some more research about other surgeons (reading reviews and getting more quotes). I came back because comfort seemed to be missing from other offices. On the day of surgery my eyes were very thoroughly reevaluated by several employees and machines. Dr. Baker and Dr. Slade checked my eyes and answered questions. My eyes were washed and numbed, given a Valium. I entered the dark room for the procedure. One wall is glass so my husband was able to watch (not up close but he could see I was there and I was okay). An employee welcomed me in and asked how I was doing. She walked me over to the table reassuredly. She held my hand! Whichever eye was being worked on, she held that hand! I loved it cause I felt like family was there and I squeezed it once cause it was so humbling to be that vulnerable. I was told I would feel pressure and to look at the green light. My eyelid was propped open by Dr. Slade, the machine came down and my site was clouded by my cornea being cut, and the green light was gone. So I looked in its vicinity. A red light activated and there was a burning scent. Dr. Slade smoothed over my eye. This was repeated on the other eye. Less than 10 minutes, it was over. I felt light-​headed but the same sweet nurse guided me to my husband. My vision was good but foggy. The numbness wore off in the car. I was told to go home and sleep for ⁴⁄₅ hours but the pain was too intense. My eyes watered for a couple of hours. They gave me eye shields to sleep in. I fell asleep several times but awoke to pain. I applied a regimen of drops which they prescribed with a chart/​check list to ensure they are used effectively. I had a Rx drop for pain the first day and it seemed to help mildly. After 2 hours I fell asleep and had dinner with my husband that night. I COULD SEE! Amazing. It’s been about 10 days and I have had 3 post-​op appointments with my local optometrist that recommended Slade/​Baker. All is well, healing nicely, ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision. It took a good 5 days to feel back to normal and for some redness to go away. I was able to work just fine with a lot of artificial tear drops and my Rx drops. Great experience. I really appreciate the care they took with me! It was priceless!

Excellent service with exceptional results. I recently had a cross linking procedure done for my karatakonis and it was done to perfection. I had another ophthalmologist look at it and he said it was the best he’s ever seen.

Our eyes are so valuable to us and trusting them to someone is a wrenching decision. Slade and have an outstanding refractive practice specializing in inter ocular lenses (cataract therapy), Lasik, PRK and other refractive procedures. The clinic is efficient. They keep their appointments.
I had some initial reservations about the results of cataract surgery and Lasik but I believe I got the best that anyone could do.

I have NEVER written a bad comment before, but I had to since I expect more from medical professionals.
This is a case of a Doctor’s excellent surgical reputation is unable to compensate for poor service by one in his office, one could ruin it for all. LASIK surgery is a serious procedure that should never be taken lightly so I did what any educated buyer does, RESEARCH. I was set up a consult appointment with Dr. Slade’s office after reading his credentials from a few reputable websites & speaking to his staff. It didn’t matter that he was the most expensive since I would never compromise my health or comfort for money. So, I was sure I found the place to help me. After days of research on the types of medical devices used for lasik and weighing out what I’m comfortable with, I called about 9 clinics and set up consult appointments on my top 4, as most Lasik advice websites recommended. I came prepared with questions specific to each doctor’s experiences & preferred method.
In Dr. Slade’s office, I sat in the waiting room feeling confident that I’ve found the clinic that would take all my eye troubles and confusing, extensive, migrating research would finally end, especially seeing all the books & awards that were displayed and also reading though the consent forms & how open they were about questions and wish to explain in a way for patients to fully understand and feel comfortable about the procedure, but the INTENTION DID NOT go very far. Other clinics were capable of staying professional and personable all at the same time. This staff was mediocre & certainly not personable but all that is forgivable, what floored me was how I was treated during my consult.
Once I was told that I would be a good candidate for the procedure, he asked me if I had any questions. I asked what was on my mind and his answers were very vague, not specific or helpful to me at all. His facial expressions were more of annoyance rather than of concern to help and provide full disclosure to the procedure specific to my personal optical issues. At one point he even said,
«For you to try and understand all the different type of lasers, would be beyond you.»
I was bit taken back for so many reasons, especially since I didn’t care about other devices, just the ones that would be used on me. I began to feel uncomfortable and sensed his short answers as an indication that the conversation should end. At another point, he asked me if I’ve ever heard of the phrase,” physicians make the worse patients?” I was floored. He initially asked if I had questions but didn’t mean it when I actually had a few. It is one thing if the person in Dr. Slade’s office was an uneducated staff member but it happened to be an MD whom I believe is also financially invested in the office. I would believe that he would want to establish a comfortable & trusting relationship with a patient, but from my experience it was not his priority and the comfort & trust was undermined.
I came in expecting the best service from a «world renowned» facility but I guess the «best» left to the conference with the «world renowned» doctor but I wouldn’t know because I never met Dr. Slade.