Dr Jared Long joined the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare Centres in 2003 and has been a managing
partner since 2008. He enjoys the challenge of switching between patient care and management of
teams in the respected clinics.
Dr Long is a 2003 graduate of the Doctor of Optometry program at the University of Waterloo. He also
received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba. While in optometry school, Dr
Long completed clinical externships in primary care and ocular disease with optometrists and
ophthalmologists in Calgary and Vancouver with a focus on Glaucoma treatment.
Dr Long delight in providing continuing care to both new and existing patients and has developed a
special interest in the areas of pediatrics and ocular trauma and pathology. With many advancements
in digital imaging of the eye, such as Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and autofluorescence (AF),
he is excited to demonstrate areas of concerns to patients, early before vision loss occurs.
Away from the clinic, Dr Long is committed to providing eyecare services to those in need and has
participated in projects in rural communities in Jamaica, Malawi and Mexico. He is a member of
Canadian Vision Care and the Alberta Association of Optometrists.
Dr Long grew up on a grain farm in rural Manitoba and is typically found skiing, hiking, biking and
camping in the nearby Rocky Mountains.
Dr Amy Forrest
Dr Amy Forrest, originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, completed her Doctor of Optometry degree at the
University of Waterloo in 2003. During her final year of study, she participated in clinical
externships in primary eyecare and ocular disease in Regina and Fort Myers, Florida. Following
graduation, Dr Forrest moved to Taber, Alberta where she opened the Eye Health Clinic and practiced
there for nine years before joining the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare team in 2012. Dr Forrest
became a partner at the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare Centres in 2014 and enjoys the new challenge
of practicing and managing a larger, multi-clinic practice.
Dr Forrest has a special interest in contact lens fitting and ocular trauma and pathology. She
divides her time between the Airdrie and Innisfail locations.
Since 2009, Dr Forrest has been a council member with the Alberta Association of Optometrists and has
filled many roles, including Director of Member Education and Director of Government Relations &
Insured Services. She is currently acting as Director of Programs & Benefits.
Away from the clinic, Dr Forrest enjoys spending time with her husband, their two young sons and two
dogs. She is often found camping during the summer and cheering for the Saskatchewan
Roughriders.
Dr Bryan Thome
Dr Bryan Thome grew up in Airdrie and lived here until the end of his Undergraduate degree, a
Bachelor of Science in Biological Science in 2005. He then went on to Optometry School at Pacific
University in Oregon and graduated in 2009 with distinction. It was at Optometry School where he met
his wife, Dr Melissa Thome. In his final year of study, Dr Thome participated in a humanitarian
eyecare mission in Honduras. He also completed internships at a Refractive Surgery Center in Denver,
Colorado as well as an Ophthalmology Practice in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The first five years of
his practice were spent in the interior of British Columbia. In the summer of 2014, Dr Thome was
thrilled at the opportunity to return home and join the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare team. Dr Thome
and his wife are very happy to be back in Alberta and continuing their careers in Airdrie.
Dr Melissa Thome
Dr Melissa Thome grew up in Devon, a small town south of Edmonton. She attended the University of
Alberta for most of her undergraduate degree and completed it at Pacific University in Vision
Science in 2005. It was at Pacific University in Oregon where she met her husband, Dr Bryan Thome.
She completed her Optometry Graduate degree in 2009 and during her final year of study she
participated in a humanitarian eyecare mission in Costa Rica. She also gained experience at
internships at a Vision Therapy clinic in Denver, Colorado, as well as at a Native American Health
Centre in Miami, Oklahoma which was focused heavily on ocular disease. Melissa and Bryan practiced
for five years in Penticton, BC and in the summer of 2014 moved back home and are excited to join
the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare team. They both look forward to getting involved in this thriving
community.
Dr Jessica Bylsma
Dr. Jessica Bylsma was born and raised in Red Deer. She then moved to Calgary and finished her
Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Calgary in 2013. She spent the next four years
in Waterloo, Ontario where she graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Doctor of Optometry
degree in 2017. In the summer of 2015, she was able to provide ocular health exams to patients
without access to eye care in Lima, Peru. Dr. Bylsma completed an externship in ocular disease and
therapeutics in Pinellas Park, Florida.
She has a special interest in contact lenses, myopia control and dry eye management. She is a member
of the Canadian and Alberta Association of Optometrists. Dr. Bylsma joined the Airdrie and Innisfail
Eyecare Centre team in 2022. She is looking forward to connecting with new and returning patients
and helping the Airdrie and Innisfail communities with their eye care needs.
Outside of work, Dr. Bylsma enjoys spending time with her family and fishing, baking and taking
trips to the mountains or Sylvan Lake.
Dr Nicole Deschamps
Dr. Nicole Deschamps grew up in small-town Saskatchewan. She obtained a Bachelor of Vision Science
prior to attending the Optometry program at Pacific University in Oregon. Following graduation in
2011, Dr. Deschamps settled in Alberta. Clinical training included diverse primary care externships
in Alberta and North Dakota, as well as ocular disease management at the Hot Springs Veterans
Hospital in South Dakota.
In 2017 Dr. Deschamps joined the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare group. Dr. Deschamps welcomes the
opportunity to travel throughout North America to attend continuing education conferences, which
keeps her well-informed about advances in eyecare. Dr. Deschamps enjoys providing optometric care to
patients of all ages, and looks forward to developing long term doctor-patient relationships at the
Airdrie Eyecare and Innisfail Eyecare Centres.
When not working, Dr. Deschamps can be found spending time with her husband on their grain and cattle
farm. She also dedicates a great deal of time and skill to showing and riding reining horses.
Dr Tania Marcolin
Dr Tania Marcolin grew up in Calgary Alberta. She graduated from Ambrose University with a bachelor
of science, prior to completing a Doctor of Optometry degree from Midwestern University in Arizona
in 2018. Clinical training included internships at two veteran affairs (VA) facilities in
Tallahassee, FL and Tulsa, OK as well as a private practice in Phoenix, AZ.
Dr. Marcolin joined the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare Centre group in early 2019. She looks forward
to providing exceptional optometric care to both communities. When not working Dr Marcolin enjoys
traveling and spending time with her family. A movie buff, she can often be found catching the
latest blockbuster on a Friday night.
Dr Rebecca Milkovich
Dr. Rebecca Milkovich was born and raised in Rycroft, Alberta. Dr. Milkovich graduated from the
University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science prior to completing her Doctor of Optometry at the
University of Waterloo, graduating with Honours in 2016. She participated in an eye care mission
trip to Peru during her studies and hopes to be involved in future trips.
Dr. Milkovich completed clinical externships in primary care, binocular vision and ocular health
settings, including a Veteran’s Affairs Medical Clinic that allowed her extensive experience in
detecting various ocular pathologies.
Dr Milkovich is pleased to join the Airdrie and Innisfail eyecare group and looks forward to living
and practicing in such a growing and vibrant community.
Away from the clinic Dr.Milkovich enjoys time with family and friends. She is always looking forward
to finding the next place to travel and loves getting outdoors. She also enjoys trips to the
mountains, running, hiking and skiing.
Dr Lillian Rieck
Dr. Lillian Rieck grew up in Airdrie, and lived here until she finished high school. She went on to
earn a Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph before completing her
Doctor of Optometry degree with honours, at the University of Waterloo in 2017. Through her
internships in Olds AB, Victoria BC, and at a Veteran Affairs hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Dr.
Rieck gained knowledge and experience in the management and care of ocular disease. In October 2019
she participated in an eye care service trip in Yreka, California and hopes to continue to give back
on future service trips!
Dr. Rieck joined the Airdrie and Innisfail Eyecare Centre group in 2020 and is happy to be practicing
in the city where she grew up. Dr. Rieck focuses on providing comprehensive eye care to patients of
all ages - starting with infants as young as 6 months old. She enjoys learning how each patient uses
their eyes, and making recommendations that work with their lifestyle. She is interested in
educating patients, dry eye, and children's vision including myopia control.
Away from the office she enjoys travelling, or can be found hiking in the mountains. She is
passionate about figure skating and has won 2 silver medals at the World Synchronized Skating
Championships.
Our Practice
Airdrie Eyecare Centre has been serving the community of Airdrie since 1983.
Patient centered eyecare focused on you and your family.
Dr Larry Kanters founded the Airdrie Optometry Centre which later became Airdrie Eyecare Centre.
Over the years, Airdrie Eyecare Centre has continued to grow to service the needs of Airdrie and
the surrounding communities with an emphasis on patient centered care. Dr Jared Long, Dr Amy
Forrest, Dr Bryan Thome and Dr Melissa Thome now manage the clinic and are pleased to continue
providing patient centered eyecare focused on you and your family.
Airdrie Eyecare Centre’s longstanding presence in the community allows us to take care of your
vision needs today and into the future. We believe in the importance of continued education and
use of technology to provide you with eyecare that will impress. Our knowledgeable and
professional team will provide you and your family the highest calibre eyecare to protect your
sight, today and tomorrow.
If this is your first contact with us, we hope this website gives you an overview of the
experience you can expect when you visit us in person. If you have been to our clinic
previously, perhaps you will learn a little more about our dedicated team.
Our mission is to provide the highest value Eyecare for you and your family, today and
tomorrow.
Our team of Opticians and Optometric Assistants are eager to help you with all your eyecare
needs. With extensive training and experience we are able to learn about your lifestyle and
vision needs, which we then use to educate you on personalized vision solutions that are
available.
We are proud supporters of many local community events. You will find us sorting food at the
Airdrie Food Bank, visiting patients at the Innisfail Hospital, volunteering at the Airdrie Pro
Rodeo and delivering Lioness Christmas Hampers during the holiday season. We love to support the
arts community in many ways and were proud finalists for Patron of the Arts at the 2016 TD
Mayor’s Night of the Arts Awards.
Legal Notice
The information below applies to all the information contained on the airdrieeyecare.com Website.
The users of this Website agree to comply with the terms set out below.
TERMS OF USE
Airdrie Eyecare owns and operates a Website at airdrieeyecare.com (hereinafter referred to as the “site” or
“Website”). Airdrie Eyecare® trademark except as otherwise noted on the site, which is accessible
to all users (hereinafter referred to as the “user” or “users”). Refrain from using this Website unless you
agree to comply with the conditions.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INFORMATION
Information on this Website is intended for informational purposes only and has no contractual value.
Airdrie Eyecare reserves the right to modify the content of this site. At any time, without prior notice.
Airdrie Eyecare assumes no liability for errors or omissions in the content of this Website or for
information reliability or completeness of said information.
Information published on this Website is based on marketing, statistical or commercial services or other sources
the Airdrie Eyecare considers reliable and are the sole responsibility of their authors and not of
Airdrie Eyecare. We do not assume any liability for the accuracy or completeness of said information and in
no circumstance should this information be regarded as such. Opinions and information as presented on this site
reflect our position as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
UPDATING OF THE WEBSITE UNDER THE RESPONSIBILITY OF Airdrie Eyecare
Airdrie Eyecare, its employees and directors will not be liable for damages incurred as a result of the
information published on this site, for the views and advice published, expressed or implied regardless of its
nature.
Airdrie Eyecare expressly refuses any and all responsibility for the manner in which the user of the site may
use the information contained, in any decisions that may be made and in the actions that may or may not be taken
based on said information.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
Presentations made and contained on this site are the intellectual property of Airdrie Eyecare. Reproduction
in whole or in part of this site on any other medium in prohibited without the express permission of
Airdrie Eyecare.
User may solely use the information contained on this site for personal use. Reproduction in whole or in part of
said information on paper may only be performed for personal use. Said information is not to be copied,
distributed or transmitted to third parties nor may it be inserted in a document or other medium.
HYPERTEXT LINKS
The links to external Websites and their content shall not be prejudged and Airdrie Eyecare will in no way be
held responsible for any direct or indirect prejudice that may result from gaining access to and usage of said
sites.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Airdrie Eyecare draws the attention of the user to the fact that all communication transmitted through this
Website remains in the public domain and not the private domain. OSI cannot accept responsibility for the
security of the transmission of information.
The confidentiality and integrity of the information circulating over the internet cannot be ensured.
Airdrie Eyecare cannot accept responsibility in the case that data contained on this site is intercepted.
Airdrie Eyecare site uses cookies. These cookies are small text files saved on the hard disk of a user's
computer. These files are completely harmless and cannot contain viruses. These cookies are used to analyze
visits to the site. Airdrie Eyecare calls upon Google Analytics to help track how users use the site. The
number of visitors, path taken to access the site and length of each visit are measured. The cookies cannot, in
any way, identify the user. All data is completely anonymous and compiled solely for the purpose of improving
the site and tailoring the content to the needs of its visitors.
The person responsible for the protection of personal information is the owner of : Airdrie Eyecare
VIRUSES AND TECHNICAL GLITCHES
Airdrie Eyecare makes no representations that the content of this site is free of infections, viruses, worms,
Trojan horses and/or other codes with contaminating or destructive properties. It is the user's responsibility
to take protective measures.
Airdrie Eyecare DECLINES ALL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE EVENT OF ANY INTERRUPTION OR NON-AVAILABILITY OF THE
SERVICE
Under no circumstances shall Airdrie Eyecare be held responsible for transmission errors of any sort, such as
loss of or damage to data, or changes of any type whatsoever, including direct or indirect damage resulting from
the use of the services provided on this site.
JURISDICTION
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of AB.
Any dispute arising of this Agreement shall be brought before the court in the judicial district of
Airdrie Eyecare's head office. Address: 120 2 Avenue Ne, Airdrie, Ab, T4b 2n2; Tel: 403-912-0999.
Thank you for visiting airdrieeyecare.com (the “Website”), provided to you by Airdrie Eyecare (“We”). We
respect the privacy of every individual who visits the Website and are sensitive to privacy
issues on the Internet. We believe it is important that you know how we deal with information
received about you.
This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect
the personal information of our customers and Website users ("you"), describes the types of
information we may collect from you or that you may provide to us, and our practices for
collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information. The Website is for
general audiences and is not specifically targeted to or intended for use by children.
We will only use your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy unless
otherwise required by applicable law. We take steps to ensure that the personal information that
we collect about you is adequate, relevant, not excessive, and used for limited purposes.
Privacy laws in Canada generally define "Personal Information" as any information about an
identifiable individual, which includes information that can be used on its own or with other
information to identify, contact, or locate a single person.
By accessing or using the Website, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy
Policy, and you are consenting to our processing of your information as set out in this Privacy
Policy. We may modify or update this Privacy Policy from time to time; if we change this Privacy
Policy in a manner that materially impacts your privacy rights, we will provide a notice to you.
Your continued use of the Website or our services after any modification to this Privacy Policy
will constitute your acceptance of such modification. However, when required by law, we will
confirm your consent to the revised Privacy Policy terms. This Privacy Policy is incorporated
into and considered a part of the Website Terms and Conditions of Use, located here
What information we collect
We collect and use several types of information from and about you, including:
Personal Information, that we can reasonably use to directly or indirectly
identify you, such as your full name, email address, telephone number and any other
identifier we may use to contact you online or offline.
Non-personal information is information that does not directly or
indirectly reveal your identity or directly relate to an identified individual, such as
demographic information, or statistical or aggregated information. Statistical or aggregated
data does not directly identify a specific person, but we may derive non-personal
statistical or aggregated data from Personal Information. For example, we may aggregate
Personal Information to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific Website
feature.
How we collect the information
Information You Provide to Us
The information we collect directly from you may include:
Communicating with us: When you contact us about a customer service issue,
Vision Entrepreneur services or to make other inquiries, we collect the content of those
communications, as well as your full name, clinic name, email, phone number, city, province,
and any additional information that allows us to answer your request.
Information We Collect While You Interact With Us Through Cookies and Other Automatic Data
Collection Technologies
We use your information, including your Personal Information, to manage our business and to
maintain and develop commercial relationships with you. We will collect, use, and disclose such
information only to the extent that is necessary for those purposes.
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any Personal
Information:
To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
To fulfill the purposes for which you provided the information or that were described when
it was collected, or any other purpose for which you provide it.
To improve the Website, products or services, marketing, or customer relationships and
experiences.
To allow you to participate in interactive features, social media, or similar features on
the Website.
To measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve to you and others,
and to deliver relevant advertising to you.
In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
For any other purpose with your consent.
How we share your information
We will not rent or sell your information to third parties without your consent. We only share
your data as specifically provided in this Privacy Policy.
Other Disclosures
In addition to any disclosure you may have consented to or permitted under the terms of this
Privacy Policy, we may transfer your data, including Personal Information to third parties in
the following limited circumstances:
information you expressly consent to be shared;
when relating to anonymized information (individuals cannot be identified by it);
when you decide to make the information indexable by search engines, to share or to
distribute the information to people or otherwise to make it available to the public;
to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request
within or outside your country of residence when we have a good faith belief that the law
requires it;
to enforce this Privacy Policy, the Terms, or an agreement, including investigation of
potential violations thereof;
to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or protect the
operations or you;
to protect our rights, property or safety as well as yours, the public, or others;
in connection with an acquisition, merger, change in control, debt financing,
reorganization, sales of assets, bankruptcy or other change of our corporate structure or
status; or
as necessary in connection with the performance of requested services or solutions, or as
otherwise appropriate in connection with a legitimate need.
How we store and secure your information
Information Security
We are committed to protecting the confidentiality, integrity, availability and privacy of your Personal Information. We have put appropriate physical, technological and procedural security measures in place designed to help prevent your Personal Information from being lost, used, modified or accessed in an unauthorized way, or improperly disclosed. Examples of such measures include restricted access to offices, training of personnel, using passwords and well-defined internal policies and practices. We also use encryption technology and Secure Socket Layers ("SSL") in all areas of the Website where your personal account information is required.
In addition, we limit access to your Personal Information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will be required to process your Personal Information only on our instructions and they are subject to an obligation of confidentiality. Our service providers are required to maintain adequate security protections in place designed to help safeguard your Personal Information and are not permitted to use it for any purpose other than fulfilling services to us.
If you have any questions about securing your personal data, please contact us in accordance with the “How to Contact Us” section below.
Information Retention
We will retain your Personal Information for as long as it is needed:
to provide the products and services that you have requested;
to communicate with you about a purchase or a request you have made to us;
to manage your choices and rights you have exercised pursuant to this Privacy Policy;
to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and to demonstrate compliance,
to resolve disputes and to enforce our rights and agreements.
We may retain non-personal information that has been sufficiently aggregated or anonymized for a longer period.
Once the retention period is over, we will dispose of your Personal Information as provided for in our internal data retention and disposal policy.
Where We Store Information
We use facilities operated by "Amazon Web Services" and located in Canada as our information storage and processing infrastructure. Our service providers can also, from time to time, store your Personal Information in accordance with purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us at 403-912-0999.
Cookie Policy – airdrieeyecare.com
This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are and how we use them. You should read this Policy to
understand what type of cookies we use, the information we collect from the cookies, and how
that
information is managed. For further information on how we handle, store and keep your personal
data
secure, see our Term of use.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files which are stored on the browser or hard drive of your computer or
mobile
device when you visit a webpage or application. A “session cookie” stores temporary information
that
is deleted when you close your web browser or turn off your computer or device. A “persistent
cookie” enables the site to recognize when you return to it and remains stored on your computer
until you delete it. Cookies work to make your experience browsing our site as smooth as
possible by
remembering your preferences the next time you visit the site.
What types of cookies do we use?
There are four variety of cookies which operate on our website:
Essential cookies allow you to be able to experience the full functionality
of
our site. For example, these cookies allow you to change your preferred language and enable
the
website to remember it. Without these cookies, some parts of our site may not work as they
should.
Performance cookies tell us how you use our site and help us to improve it.
For
example, these cookies count the number of visitors to our website and see how visitors move
around when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our site works, for example,
by
ensuring that users find what they are looking for easily. The information collected by
these
cookies is anonymous.
Google Analytics are performance cookies used to track visits to
our
website and user behaviour on site. The data collected is anonymous and is used for
benchmarking purposes to monitor the performance of our site and to measure user
engagement on our site.
Social media cookies from social media sites such as
Facebook, Instagram, and
Pinterest
are used to enable social media buttons on our site to work. Social media buttons
allow
you to share content and interact with your social network. These social media
platform
may set their own cookies on your device. We do not control the settings of these
cookies so we suggest you check the social media website for more information about
their cookies and how to manage them. Our website will not collect or store any
personally identifiable information from the user. To find out how you can opt out
of
accepting these cookies, please visit the cookie policy and privacy policies of the
social media site.
Customizer cookies allow our site to remember your preferences, helping to
customize your experience on our site.
Our customizer cookie, which helps us to manage the technology and cookies which are
used across our site.
Targeting/advertising cookies are set by third party advertising partners
through our digital touchpoints to build profiles based on your interests. These cookies
enable
us to send you relevant content and advertising based on your preferences and track the
effectiveness of our ad campaigns.
Below are several advertising and targeting cookies that are used to identify
different
browsers and devices. They collect data anonymously for the purposes of ad
selection,
reporting, behavioural targeting, and cross-device advertising (i.e. associating
multiple devices together). In some instances, we may provide a hashed version of
your
email address or other information to the platform provider for such proposes. More
information can be found at the following links.
How do you change cookie preferences or block cookies?
Within your browser, you can choose whether you wish to accept cookies or not. Different browsers
make different controls available to you. Generally, your browser will offer you the choice to
accept, refuse or delete cookies at all times, or those from providers that website owners use
i.e.
third party cookies, or those from specific websites. Each browser’s website should contain
instructions on how you can do this.
If you block cookies on our website, you may be unable to access certain areas of our website and
certain functions and pages will not work in the usual way.
Changes to the Cookie Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes we will let you know
but
please regularly check this Policy to ensure you are aware of the most updated version.
This Cookie Policy was last updated on September 25, 2023.
By navigating our site, you accept the use of cookies in order to offer you tailored offers
and services. To learn more and to set cookies, see our
Terms of use and Privacy Policy.
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