Moscow vision clinic has eye on Port of Lewiston location

By ELAINE WILLIAMS of the Tribune

ClearView Eye Clinic is one step closer to expanding in Lewiston.

Greystone Holdings has acquired almost 2 acres at 2840 Juniper Drive in the Port of Lewiston’s Business and Technology Park for a clinic.

The company is owned by Dr. David Leach, a surgeon and the founder of ClearView Eye Clinic, a medical practice that started in Moscow. That’s where he now has a staff of 22, including Dr. Katherine Gleason, a medical optometrist.

Port commissioners announced the deal had closed at their Wednesday meeting, where they also changed the boundaries for port commissioner districts.

The purchase price of $320,009 was a compromise between Leach and the port. Originally, the port wanted $400,000, $140,000 more than what Leach had initially offered, according to figures shared last April.

ClearView Eye Clinic hopes to break ground in the spring and be finished by the end of the year.

Leach has leased space in Lewiston since 2008 and needs a place to serve a growing number of patients, said Brenda Halen, administrator of ClearView Eye Clinic.

The clinic offers a range of care such as eye exams for people of all ages, cataract surgery and Lasik surgery, which Halen said corrects conditions such as near and farsightedness so patients no longer need glasses or contacts.

Whether surgery will be housed in the new location is still being decided. Halen said the clinic is also working out a number of other specifics, such as how many square feet the new building will have.

Presently, ClearView Eye Clinic operates from a clinic at 1630 23rd Ave., and a surgery center at 318 Warner Drive that’s affiliated with the Lewiston Orthopaedic Institute, Halen said.

Once the new building is finished, ClearView Eye Clinic’s Lewiston payroll could grow from two to about 20 employees, with wages for hourly staff members averaging $14 per hour, Halen said.

Among those being recruited are a doctor who will rotate between all of ClearView Eye Clinic’s sites, including one in St. Maries.

In other business, the port commissioners voted to make the boundaries of their districts match those of the Nez Perce County commissioners. The boundaries have historically been the same, but the commissioners didn’t adopt a change the county commissioners made in 2012.

Doing so would have put port Commissioner Mary Hasenoehrl in the same district as port Commissioner Jerry Klemm in a year when Hasenoehrl’s position was on the ballot. This year, the seats of Klemm and Mike Thomason are up for election.

Port commissioners have to reside in their district at the time of the election. After that, they can keep their seats until the end of their six-year terms if they move to another commissioner’s district, but not if they leave Nez Perce County.

The filing period for those seeking county and port positions in Idaho runs March 3-14.

Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.