About Us

Wheaton Eye Clinic’s humble beginnings providing excellent eye care started in the office pictured above in 1942. This location has since been transitioned to a large medical and surgical center with five peripheral locations throughout the western suburbs. The Wheaton Eye Clinic’s growth is continuing because we meet the community’s needs for ophthalmological non-institutional care from annual exams to the most complex problems and diseases.  Our comprehensive range of eye care is offered in all ophthalmic subspecialties at Wheaton Eye Clinic.

Patients travel to Wheaton Eye Clinic from throughout Northern Illinois, as well as from across the United States. Our referring physicians locally, across the United States, and from many international countries, send their patients to Wheaton Eye Clinic because of its unwavering reputation for exceptional patient care. More than 170,000 patient visits occur each year.

Our mission at Wheaton Eye Clinic is to provide comprehensive eye care services of the highest quality and value. This dedication to excellence is founded on how we strive to surpass each patient’s expectations in the delivery of competent, timely, and compassionate eye care.

History: An Enduring Dream

In the 1940s, a missionary doctor with a unique worldview of medicine founded the Wheaton Eye Clinic.  When the late P. Kenneth Gieser, MD (1910 – 1987) decided to give up a promising ophthalmology career in Chicago to move to the small suburb of Wheaton, many thought he was taking a risk. His world-class, specialized training, they said, should be part of a large and prestigious teaching institution. However, Dr. Gieser had a different vision.

As a former medical missionary in China, Dr. Gieser felt strongly that patients and colleagues from around the world would help him build a world-class eye clinic. Together, serving through compassion and encouragement, he believed the doctors of Wheaton Eye Clinic could provide academic-level eye care in the convenience of a private practice setting. Several Wheaton Eye Clinic physicians have traveled the world bringing their expertise and compassionate care to those most in need.

Modest Start to State-of-the-Art

Dr. Gieser began Wheaton Eye Clinic in 1942 with a cardboard box of used equipment and rental space in a dentist’s reception room. As patient needs grew, so did his ophthalmology practice. Soon a specialist in the field of contact lenses was hired, at a time when that technology was barely known outside medical circles. Not long after, a second full-time ophthalmologist joined the practice. Two separate facilities were built, and outgrown, in rapid succession.

By the 1970s Wheaton Eye Clinic eagerly embraced two significant trends—the recognition of ophthalmic subspecialties and the beginning of laser surgery. Several ophthalmology specialists joined the staff and Wheaton Eye Clinic was among the first in Illinois to introduce lasers for eye surgery.

Expansion Continues

The current Wheaton location, significantly greater in size from  the previous clinic building, was dedicated in 1980. Today it houses doctors in all ophthalmology subspecialties and serves as the hub for five other satellite locations as well as the DuPage Eye Surgery Center.  This location is considered a landmark in the community.

The Wheaton Eye Clinic is now the largest independent ophthalmology clinic in the Midwest. We pride ourselves on serving the community both as a caring eye care provider and as a reputable employer.  We also acknowledge our success due to our outstanding associates, some whose tenures exceed greater than 40 years.  We also acknowledge our success due to our outstanding associates, some whose tenures exceed greater than 40 years.

Dr. P. K. Gieser’s vision of a world-class eye clinic in Wheaton is now a reality that is continuing to be enhanced. Wheaton Eye Clinic provides state-of-the-art treatment to patients from Chicago and the Midwest as well as from throughout the United States and many foreign countries. At the same time, Wheaton Eye Clinic physicians travel the world teaching and providing compassionate eye care to those most in need. His legacy will continue to live on in the excellent care provided both in the Chicago suburbs and throughout the world.