Loading...
  • 900 Westchester Drive, Salina, KS, 67401
  • Mon - Thur | 8:00a - 5:00p

About Us

WHO WE ARE

LEADING EYECARE SOLUTIONS
AND OUTSTANDING TREATMENT.

In 1977, Dr. Lewerenz and Dr. Welsh each opened separate individual practices in Salina. Wishing to provide the best service to their patients, they merged into one practice in 1998.

Dr. Murphey joined the practice in 2000. In 2007, Dr. Lewerenz accepted a teaching position at the optometry school in Oklahoma and Dr. Zerger joined the practice. In 2012 Dr. Welsh retired and we welcomed Dr. Smith to our practice.

It is our goal to provide our patients with the highest quality vision care possible. Our experienced staff prides itself on delivering to you eye care with a personal touch. Our patients generally find us because someone was kind enough to refer them to us. We appreciate this confidence and trust very much and take it very seriously.

MEET OUR DOCTORS

ALWAYS READY TO DELIVER
THE HIGHEST QUALITY CARE.

Todd Zerger

Optometrist

Dr. Todd Zerger graduated from Bethel College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry. After teaching chemistry and physics at Peabody High School for two years, Dr. Zerger attended the Southern College of Optometry.

His training at the Southern College of Optometry also included an extern rotation at the VA hospital as well as a rotation in a private practice. These rotations emphasized ocular disease, contact lens, pediatrics, cataract, and LASIK co-management as well as general medical optometry. While at SCO he spent numerous hours tutoring future colleagues in areas such as pharmacology and neuroanatomy. In May of 2006, Dr. Zerger graduated with honors from SCO. He is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Kansas Optometric Association.

Dr. Zerger enjoys watching and playing sports including basketball, football, ping-pong, and water sports. His wife, Krisha, is a registered nurse with experience in pediatric cancer while working at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Zerger and his wife Krisha have three daughters, Ava, Adelin and Ayla and one son, Garrison.

Robert Murphey

Optometrist

Dr. Murphey grew up in Clay Center, Kansas. He joined the United States Army after graduating from Clay Center Community High School in the spring of 1988. After serving his country and being honorably discharged, he began his college career at Kansas State University in the fall of 1990.

After his first semester, he was recalled to active duty to serve during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 but still managed to graduate in the spring of 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Kansas State University. He then attended the University of Houston, College of Optometry in the fall of 1994 and received his Doctorate in Optometry in the spring 1998. Dr. Murphey practiced in the Wichita area for 3 years. before he moved to Salina in late 2000 to join Dr. Lewerenz and Dr. Welsh.

Dr. Murphey is a member of the American Optometric Association, The Kansas Optometric Association, the Heart of America Contact Lens Association, is Board Certified by the American Board of Optometry, and is a life member of AMBUC’s. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Janell, and his two sons, Logan and Ryan. He also enjoys cheering for the local sports teams including the Wildcats, Chiefs, and Royals, playing cards, playing pool, cooking, grilling and smoking, watching movies and spending time with friends and family.

Brandon Smith

Optometrist

Born and raised in Salina, KS, Dr. Brandon Smith graduated from Salina South High School. He received his undergraduate degree in cellular/molecular biology from Fort Hays University. While in school, he participated in numerous extracurricular activities including the Tiger baseball team and a worship band leader for Christian Challenge.

He received his doctorate from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 2011. While attending optometry school, Dr. Smith was involved with several organizations, including Fellowship of Christian Optometrists, where he served as the chapter’s President. He also traveled to rural Kenya in 2009 and spent seven days providing medical eye care to over one thousand patients in need.

Throughout his education, Dr. Smith has received several letters of clinical excellence, become a member of the Beta Sigma Kappa Optometric Honor Society, and was inducted into the Gold Key Honor Society for outstanding academic performance and leadership ability.

Since graduation, Dr. Smith has become licensed as a therapeutic optometric glaucoma specialist in both Texas and Kansas, and is active in his local city and state associations. His specialties include ocular disease, including glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration, as well as fitting specialty contact lenses.

When not in the office, Dr. Smith enjoys singing and playing guitar at church on Sundays or in the local band, The Blades. He also enjoys snowboarding in Colorado and being in the company of friends and family. He and his wife, Erin welcomed their son, Samuel, into their family in 2016 and their son, Oliver, in 2018. You may also see him out and about playing with his dogs, Maddy and Shiner.

MEET OUR STAFF

DEDICATED TO PROVIDING
THE BEST EYECARE IN SALINA.

Billie

Lab Manager

Billie is our Lab Manager with more than 20 years experience. Billie is originally from St. Joseph, Missouri and moved to Salina in 1986. She enjoys working with our patients to help find a frame that will meet all their needs and look spectacular! Billie attends Vision Expo in New York to purchase our large selection of frames. Billie is married to Kenn and she has four children: Jimmy, Andrea, Ryan, and Russ. They share their home with two golden retrievers, Tobie and Tucker. Billie enjoys gardening in her spare time and loves to visit Estes Park, Colorado every chance she gets.

Amelia

Practice Manager

Amelia has been with EyeCare Associates since 2012 starting in our dispensary. She made the move to the insurance department in 2013 and became our Office Manager in 2018. You may see her around the office working in different departments. Amelia has a daughter and a son. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and crafting.

Cathy

Optometric Technician

Cathy is our low vision technician. She works with all of our visually impaired patients. Along with pretesting and training our low vision patients, she helps them with their magnifiers, lamps and low vision needs. You might also find her in other areas of the office where needed. Cathy started at EyeCare Associates with Dr. Lewerenz in 1978. She loves spending her free time with her family. She is married to Larry and they have a son Adam, daughter in law Rachael and a daughter Haley. Along with her children, her pride and joy is her grandson Reed.

Teresa

Insurance Clerk

Teresa will be taking care of filing your insurance for you after your visit with the doctors. If we have current insurance information prior to your appointment, she will work to determine the expected out of pocket amount for your visit.

Outside of work, Teresa keeps plenty busy working on her bucket list. She enjoys creating works of art, her favorite medium being watercolor. She also enjoys many outdoor activities including hiking, biking, and kayaking. She and her husband have hiked to the top of several 14ers in Colorado, biked scenic trails on three continents and find time to lake or ocean kayak on most trips. After exploring and photographing many areas above water, she and her husband learned to scuba dive so lately most of their vacation time has been centered around diving and underwater photography. In her downtime, she also enjoys spending time with her granddaughter born in February of 2018.

Michelle

Patient Care Coordinator

When you come to our office, you will be greeted by Michelle. She will help you with checking in and out for the doctors, making any appointments that you may need and answering any questions you may have.

Michelle enjoys working in the healthcare field helping and assisting patients. She started her career at St. John’s Hospital, worked in the dental field for over 23 years, and has been with EyeCare family since 2016.

Michelle has two children Ryan and Carly. She is also blessed to have a daughter in law, Kat, and two granddaughters Kashlei and Brylee.

In her spare time, she loves to read, go to the lake, spend time with her family, and four-legged friends. In the near future, she would like to travel more and start checking items off her bucket list.

Julie

Patient Care Coordinator

Julie works in our front office coordinating patients schedules and assisting our patients in a friendly caring way. She has been a part of our team since 2017 and brings with her years of customer service experience in the Salina market. Julie and her husband, Steve, keep busy with their blended family of 7 children, 12 grandkids and the best cocker spaniel in the world, Ringo! To relax and unwind she enjoys yoga and gardening.

Michele

Eyewear Stylist

Michele can help you decide which frame and lenses will work best with your prescription and your face shape. Sunglasses, safety glasses, swim and ski goggles, computer glasses, whatever your needs are, she can help you out.

Erin

Eyewear Stylist

Erin started her optical experience at EyeCare Associates in 2015. She is educated in what design of lens work for your lifestyle and can help you get the perfect fit of frames! In her time away from work she loves being a mom to her wonderful daughter. She is engaged to the love of her life, Russ. Her and her family love spending time camping and being outdoors as much as they can.

Tammy

Contact Lens Specialist

If you have any questions regarding contact lenses, give Tammy a call. She can help answer any questions and assist you with what is new in contact lenses. Tammy has been in the optical field since 2009. She is also a mother of four wonderful children.

INSURANCE

We are providers for most major insurance plans. Insurance and billing can be confusing and we want to help minimize any problems you may experience regarding payment from your insurance company for your services.

Please be aware that payment from your insurance company cannot be guaranteed, and benefits are not determined until your claim is processed. You will be financially responsible for any claim your insurance company denies.

Types of Payment:

Cash
Personal Checks
Visa®
Master Card®
Discover®

We strive to provide the best in complete eye care at a reasonable cost to our patients and request payment be made at the time services are rendered.

Consider Care Credit