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Agencies work to help one another

BEVERLY -- The members of a community -- individuals and businesses -- work together to help take care of each other, whether it be through education, food, healthcare, public safety or some other function.

One business in the Village of Beverly that helps take care of members of the community is Eye Care Associates -- Beverly. It is located at 505 Fifth St., Suite C, Beverly.

According to their website, Eye Care Associates – Beverly has provided optometry services and vision care products in Beverly since 1980. The doctors at the office offer comprehensive vision exams and specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of many eye diseases, conditions and problems.

Eye Care Associates – Beverly is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are open 9 a.m to 12 p.m. on Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays, according to their website.

Lynetta Heddleston, office manager of Eye Care Associates – Beverly, has worked at the company for at least 15 years, she said.

Heddleston was working at a grocery store when the office manager for another optometrist in town asked if she was looking for a job and said she looked like a hard worker, so Heddleston went to work there the next day. That is how she got into working with glasses, Heddleston said.

Judy Stevens, the optical technician at Eye Care Associates – Beverly, has worked there for 28 years. She has a similar story to Heddleston as to how she started working for an optometrist.

She was working at a grocery store when the office manager for Eye Care Associates – Beverly came in asking if she was looking for a job. She took the job. She started doing the pretest in the office, then switched to being an optical technician, she said.

"When I started it I just liked it ever since," Stevens said.

As an optical technician Stevens helps patients pick out glasses, line up their bifocals, put orders in the system, and send orders out to labs, she said.

The office conducts pretests for diabetes and glaucoma and if patients need it they refer them to an ophthalmologist or surgeon. The office takes different types of insurance. The main eye insurances they take are EyeMed, VSP, and Medicare. They do not take Medicaid eye plans, and they do take patients without insurance.

There is more than one office for Eye Care Associates. They have offices in Marietta and McConnellsville, according to Stevens.

The original location was in Beverly farther down Fifth Street. That office burned down on Good Friday in 2000. Then the current office was opened in Beverly, Stevens said.

There are different doctors that work at Eye Care Associates. Some of them work at more than one location, Stevens said.

Dr. Gregory C. Ingram started Eye Care Associates in 1980. He works in the Beverly office. Dr. Mark M. Ruff and Dr. Matt R. Ingram also work in the Beverly office, according to the website. Eye Care Associates – Beverly does testing on opposite days of when the doctors are in the office. They see about 20 people a day for appointments, Heddleston said.

One of the tests that they do at Eye Care Associates – Beverly uses a machine called the optomap. This machine takes the place of dilation for taking pictures of a patient's eye.

"Insurance (companies) don't cover it yet. It's an extra charge, but once (patients) do it, they're like, `wow, I should have had that done years ago,' because you don't' have the burning, you don't have the side effects of the light sensitivity and a lot of people get headaches with the dilation," Stevens said.

Another new thing they started last year was using a scribe. The scribe sits with the doctor and takes notes so that the doctor has more time for patients. This has been amazing for the doctors, Heddleston said.

Heddleston said she loves to sell glasses.

"I love glasses ... I love to work with people. It's fun to restyle people. Someone comes in with a really old-fashioned looking frame and you're just like, they could look so much better, and when they do it's amazing," Heddleston said.

Another business that has been taking care of the residents of Beverly is Dietz, Futrell and Walters Insurance Inc. located at 535 Fifth St., Beverly. It has been in operation for more than 75 years.

Paul C. Dietz started Dietz Insurance in 1948 in Beverly and wrote Midland Mutual Life Insurance policies. Over the years, his family members joined the agency, including Paul Noble Dietz in 1961, Monica Dietz in 1966 and Dana P. Dietz in 1986.

In 1976 F. Les Futrell joined the business as an insurance agent for Dietz. Rick Walters joined the agency in 1983. In 1992, Rick G. Walters and Dana Dietz were added as corporate partners and the agency name was changed to Dietz, Futrell and Walters Insurance Inc., according to information provided by Partner Dustin Becker.

An office was opened in Marietta in 1994. The Marietta office is located at 324 Fourth St. There is also an office in Chillicothe that opened in 2005. It is located at 60 Riverside Drive, according to the website and the information provided by Becker.

"We sell all types of insurance. Property and casualty for businesses. Property for businesses, liability for businesses. We sell home and auto. We sell health insurance, Medicare. We do it all," Becker said. "We also have River Cities Financial Services, which works with investments."

The company is currently owned by partners Dustin Becker and Michael Anthony. Michael Anthony started working at Dietz, Futrell and Walters Insurance Inc. in 2014, and Becker came on board in 2015, according to Becker. River Cities does personal investments, 401(k)s and stuff like that, Becker said. Dietz Futrell and Walters Inc. sells property and casualty insurance from companies including Grange, Nationwide, Ohio Mutual, Progressive, and others. They sell health insurance from any insurance company, such as Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mid-America, Med Bin and Medical Mutual Becker said. They sell life insurance from companies such as Ohio National and Cincinnati life insurance. They also handle 401(k)s and health insurance for some businesses, he said.

Becker never really thought he was going to end up in the insurance industry. He was in the College of Business at Ohio University. After school he moved back to the area and got a job at a different insurance agency. He enjoyed it and has been doing it ever since, he said.

Becker said the insurance industry is challenging and fun.

"I like being there for somebody after a claim and trying to make them whole again. What we're doing is selling a promise. A lot of people don't use their insurance but when they do have to use it that's when we're supposed to shine," Becker said. Becker said the agency does what is best for the customer and always tries to treat all their customers like family members.

"We wouldn't do something for somebody that we wouldn't do for our own," Becker said. "I make sure I sell insurance limits the same that I would to my family," Becker said.