Dr. Elliott Klonsky

July 2019

Dear patients,
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As you undoubtedly know by now, I retired as of January 1, 2019, after 43 years of providing eye care to the greater Crofton community. Although I am enjoying retirement very much, I think about the office (my former co-workers and patients) on almost a daily basis. In fact, I still occasionally dream about it! In the months leading up to my retirement Dr. Nina Doyle and I tried to get the word out as much as possible. Nevertheless, my retirement has come as a surprise to some of you. I have asked Dr. Doyle to make this letter available to as many of you as possible.

During the span of 43 years we (you and I) developed more than a doctor-patient relationship. When you came to the office for eye care, many of you shared news about your personal lives and families, and I was happy to do the same. It is therefore sad for me to consider that we may not see each other again, and I have heard that some of you have expressed the same feelings. So, this letter is one way of expressing my gratitude for your loyalty as patients and for the friendship we developed.

My deep feelings for you have also been expressed in another way. In 2004, I hired Dr. Nina Doyle to become my partner and eventual successor. In 2016, when the office was moved to its current location, Dr. Doyle took over as owner of Crofton Family Eye Care. Those of you who have scheduled your yearly eye exams with me may never have gotten to see or know her. I want to tell you about her.

There is much I could say about her qualifications as an eye doctor. She has specialized Residency training in medical eye care, low vision and orthokeratology. Please check the Crofton Family Eye Care web site and FaceBook page to learn more about these credentials. Suffice it to say, she’s highly qualified.

Aside from her training and qualifications, Dr. Nina Doyle feels a strong sense of responsibility to her profession and to her community. She has been recognized by the Maryland Optometric Association with various awards for her contributions to the profession and to the citizens of Maryland. She continues to serve in leadership capacities on various committees devoted to eye care and public education. She has testified on behalf of optometry in Annapolis. Again, please check the CFEC web site for details of her impressive resume.

She is also the mother of two beautiful daughters. It should come as no surprise to learn that Dr. Nina is heavily involved with their activities and has served as volunteer coordinator for some of them, such as Girl Scouts (wanna buy some cookies?). She is married to Dr. Andrew Doyle. That’s right: the newest doctor to join the CFEC team is her husband, Andrew (Drew) Doyle. More about him Later!

Most important, to me, is her character. As an optometrist, as owner and employer of Crofton Family Eye Care, and as a person in general, she is professional, caring, compassionate, honest, fair. I know no one with a deeper sense of responsibility and commitment to values. I feel lucky and honored to have someone like Dr. Nina Doyle take over for me, and I’m sure that as you get to know her you will feel the same.

Now, let me tell you about my friend Dr. Andrew Doyle. In 2002, I hired Drew to join me in the practice. He did a wonderful job here and I hoped that one day he would become my partner. Evidently, he had a different partnership in mind because after working together for over a year he moved to California to be with an optometrist who was doing a Residency in Ocular Disease. They married and moved back east, at which time his new wife, Nina, joined me at CFEC, and he started a position within the Maryland Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System at the Glen Burnie Outpatient Clinic where he worked until December 2018.

Dr. Drew is another rising star in Maryland optometry. Like Dr. Nina, he completed a Residency in Ocular Disease and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. He lectures on medical eye care, and his colleagues often seek him out for opinions on medical eye conditions. The Maryland Optometric Association has recognized his contributions to the profession by awarding him the Young Optometrist of the Year Award in 2008. Then in 2012, he was appointed by the governor to sit on the Maryland Board of Examiners in Optometry. Since 2016, he as served as the president of that board (his term ends in 2020). He is a highly qualified optometrist, a friend, a sometimes golfing buddy, and he now wears all of my optometry-themed ties!

As an optometrist, my special interest has been the relationship between vision and learning difficulties, sports, brain injury. Dr. Nina was fortunate to find and hire a young optometrist, Dr. Sadia Haque (pronounced hawk) to continue providing these specialized services. Dr. Haque completed a Residency in Pediatrics and Vision Rehabilitation. For the past several years she has been providing neuro-optometric rehabilitation at the Center for Vision Development in New Market, Maryland, a practice specializing in treating children and adults with vision-related learning and development problems, but with particular expertise in rehabilitating patients who sustain brain trauma (i.e. concussions) which results in visual deficits. I am gratified to know that this important and unique specialty is being managed by someone like Dr. Haque who truly is uniquely qualified. ​​​​​​​

So, I want you to know that I miss all of you, but I take consolation in knowing that you are in good hands with three truly excellent and wonderful doctors.

Thank you again, and I wish you all the best.

​​​​​​​Elliott J. Klonsky, O.D.