[oceanfeline]

Hello;

I'm an optometrist from another state and considering a move to Baldwin County. I have a few questions for those of you living in that part of the state.
1) Do you feel there is an oversupply of eye doctors there? 2)How long do you generally have to wait to get an appointment? 3)Do major employers in the area offer vision insurance? If so, do you know what the vision insurance plans are called?

Thanks for you help!

[cpg35223]

My sister in law is an optometrist in Birmingham and she's doing quite well. However, one thing that made a big difference is that she signed up with this company that specializes in practice development, based out of LA. They did a lot of numbers crunching regarding her practice, how many prospective patients she would have, how much revenue she should expect, etc. etc. I think you would be better off going to them first. Don't ask me the name, but if you look through some Optometry biz journals, you'll probably be able to find it pretty quickly.

[oceanfeline]

Sounds like she researched things the right way. I will be selling a well established practice in another state so will be ok if business is slow for a while. Just curious how folks in that area perceive the supply/demand issue and if there is a lot of vision insurance. Thanks again!

[Keeper]

You might check out the yellow pages in the towns you are considering.

Sorry I don't know enough about the insurance but there are a lot of retired folks in Fairhope. Foley has a mixture of folks. Spanish Fort is more family oriented.

There are a lot of smaller towns like Robertsdale, Loxely, Daphne and Silverhill, that might be in need of your services.

[Valnf]

The county is growing leaps and bounds that I think any business will be profitable. More and more people are moving in every day and you are getting in at a good time.

[Bravo35223]

Baldwin County Alabama is prosperous, with low unemployment, better than average household income and effective county government. It is one of the most rapidly growing counties in the state. The Mobile metro is booming like never before and Baldwin County is the resort/bedroom part of that metro. It is rated as one of the best places to retire in America, because of low property taxes and good quality of healthcare. There are several good small hospitals within the county but if you need tertiary care, the University of South Alabama medical center is located across the Bay in Mobile. USA medical school is rising in stature.

Unless there are an unusually high number of Optometrists there already, I think you would find it to be an excellent place to live and practice...

[oceanfeline]

It seems like a great place to be right now. My other main concern is in finding great schools there. My kids are 9 and 11. Thanks again for all the replies.

[Keeper]

Depending on where in Baldwin county you decide to move. There have been several threads about schools in Baldwin county. Spanish fort area schools have received good remarks here.
You can do a search, if you don't get any replies try making this a new thread.