Our practice
A family practice rooted in the Blue Ridge.
Book your next exam online — 24/7, with the doctor of your choice.
Annual exams catch most eye disease years before symptoms appear.
Pediatric eye care from age six months, led by Dr. Krempecki.
Lindberg to Ray-Ban — frames curated for fit, craft, and character.
Daily, monthly, or specialty contact lens fittings — by every doctor on staff.
For three generations, Haywood Family Eye Care has looked after the eyes of Waynesville families — children scheduling their first exam, parents finding the right frames, grandparents managing complex disease. Same mountains. Same neighbors. Same quiet commitment to do this work carefully, and to do it well.
Heritage
Since 1955.
Our practice opened its doors in Waynesville the year Eisenhower was in the White House and Highway 19 was the fastest road into the mountains. The town has changed in the seventy years since — new neighborhoods on the ridges, a different downtown, an interstate that brought the world a little closer. But the families we care for here have stayed remarkably constant. We see the children of children we examined a generation ago, and grandparents who first sat in our chairs as young couples. That kind of continuity is rare in healthcare, and we don't take it for granted.
What hasn't changed is the way we work: unhurried exams, clear explanations, decisions made with you rather than at you. Eye care is technical, but it is also deeply personal — what you see shapes how you live, work, drive, read to your kids. We believe a family practice owes its community real attention: time enough to ask the second question, equipment good enough to catch what matters early, and the honesty to tell you plainly when something needs watching, treating, or simply leaving alone.
70+
Years caring for Waynesville
4
Doctors of optometry on staff
17
Insurance plans accepted in-network
30+
Frame brands in our optical boutique
What we stand for
Three values, every visit.
The principles that have guided this practice from the start, and that still guide every decision we make today.
Compassion
Eye exams can feel rushed and impersonal. Ours don't. We sit, we listen, we explain things twice if you'd like. Whether you're an anxious five-year-old or a grandparent navigating a new diagnosis, you'll be met where you are — with patience, plain language, and care that treats the whole person, not just the prescription.
Clarity
You should leave knowing exactly what we found, what it means, and what comes next. We walk you through the images on your retinal scan, show you what your prescription is actually correcting, and price options up front. No surprises on the receipt, no jargon between you and your own eyes.
Community
We belong to this place. Our doctors raise their kids here, worship here, hike these trails on the weekends. That shows up in how we practice — supporting local schools, providing free care for neighbors who need it, and traveling further when we can. The work is the same whether the patient is from down the street or across an ocean.
Technology
Advanced diagnostics, made comfortable.
The instruments behind a thorough exam — chosen because they catch more, earlier, with less burden on you.
A retinal image of the kind every Optomap® scan produces — the visual record behind a thorough comprehensive exam.
Optomap®
Ultra-widefield retinal imaging captures more than 80 percent of the retina in a single, dilation-free scan — revealing peripheral signs of disease that traditional exams can miss entirely.
AdaptDx®
A ten-minute dark-adaptation test that detects early macular degeneration up to three years before a patient notices symptoms — giving us time to intervene when intervention still matters most.
Optical Coherence Tomography
High-resolution cross-sectional scans of the retina and optic nerve, layer by layer. OCT is essential for monitoring glaucoma progression and diagnosing macular conditions long before vision is affected.
Visual Field Testing
Maps your full range of peripheral vision to detect blind spots from glaucoma, neurological conditions, or stroke. A quiet, click-when-you-see-it test that produces remarkably detailed maps of how your eyes see the world.
Slit-Lamp Biomicroscopy
A finely focused beam of light and high magnification let us examine every structure of the front of the eye — cornea, iris, lens, tear film. It is how we diagnose dry eye, cataracts, and corneal disease with precision.
Meibomian Gland Imaging
Infrared imaging of the oil glands along your eyelids — the hidden cause of most chronic dry eye. Seeing the structure of these glands lets us treat the underlying problem rather than chasing symptoms with drops.
Community
Of this place, for this place.
Caring for Waynesville's vision since 1955 — and a few corners of the world beyond.
Practicing in a small mountain town means the people you treat on Tuesday morning are the ones you'll see at Friday night football, in the choir loft on Sunday, in line at Ingles. We've never wanted it any other way. Our doctors are active in Lake Hills Church and other congregations across Haywood County, support local schools and youth programs, and try to show up for the community that has sheltered this practice for seven decades.
That commitment extends past the county line. Dr. McBride has spent years providing free vision care to low-income neighbors here at home, and has traveled with mission teams to Honduras to bring exams, glasses, and follow-up care to villages where eye care is otherwise unreachable. A pair of well-fitting glasses can change a child's school career or let a grown adult keep working. We are grateful for the chance to do that work — both on Sulphur Springs Road and a thousand miles south of it.
Generational practice means something specific to us. It means parents bringing the children of children we examined twenty years ago. It means older patients telling our newer doctors stories about Dr. Pinkston's predecessors. It means an obligation: to keep this place worthy of the trust the community has invested in it, one careful exam at a time.
Schedule
Become part of the family.
Online booking, 24/7. Most insurance accepted. New patients always welcome.