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Additional provider, new location to allow for expansion at Hodge Woodall Optometry
As the Woodall family continues to expand, so too does its local optometry practice.
When Dr. Nick Woodall and Dr. Leslie Harman-Woodall first bought the Hodges Woodall Optometry practice on East Washington Street in Greencastle from longtime owner Daryl Hodges back in 2018, they were a family of two about to expand to three.
Now as a family of four expanding to five, the Woodalls are in the midst of another big move professionally.
In addition to recently welcoming Dr. Craig McManis as a third provider to the practice, Hodges-Woodall will soon be moving to a larger location, most likely in early January.
“We bought this building when I was pregnant with my first. We were building our house when I was pregnant with the second, so why make this one feel left out?” Harman-Woodall said with a laugh.
The new location will be at the old Fresenius Kidney Care building, 316 Medic Way, right in the midst of various other doctors’ offices, Putnam County Hospital and The Waters of Greencastle. The location should make coordination with other doctors and the assisted living facility much easier, not to mention the ease of sending someone just around the corner in emergency situations.
Expanded space will be the most immediately-obvious change to patients. The move will triple the usable space at the practice, expanding from about 2,000 feet of usable space on the first floor of the current location to more than 6,000.
“The most obvious thing and what patients will notice right away is the space,” Woodall said. “When patients come in, it’s sometimes standing room only. We’re double parked and we sometimes have to move patients around quite a bit.”
There will be double the parking, nine exam rooms as compared to three and a larger waiting area.
“So patients won’t feel so squished and feel like they’re being shuttled around from place to place,” Woodall said.
Despite the limitations of the current location, the Woodalls did not entirely want to leave the location where retired Dr. Daryl Hodges first moved the practice back in 1984.
“Before we bought the building, we had thought a long time about staying at this location because it’s kind of well known and the building is kind of quirky and we kind of like it,” Woodall said. “But a while back we talked to an architect and found out that whatever we did, it wasn’t going to be what we wanted.”
Moving out of a location that was originally a 1920s residence will also increase accessibility, as the new location is a modern building that was designed as a medical facility from the very beginning.
The extra space will also mean expanded services, such as adding a laser to the practice to do minor procedures. The optical lab will be expanded, as well as the selection of frames and the stock of frames and contacts. Lenses will even be able to be made in house.
“After Covid, the labs we deal with — sometimes it’s taken two weeks. So the turnaround should be better," Woodall said.
With these new services also come more staff members.
“We’ve been hesitant to get more staff because there was really nowhere for them to be in the building,” Woodall said, noting that three new staff members have been added. “It’s easier for patients to talk to somebody rather than having to stand in line.
Then there is Dr. Mac, as McManis is affectionately known, who started with the practice in July.
McManis comes to the practice with decades of experience in Lafayette, then out of state and most recently in Indianapolis. He has spent much of his career in surgical practices, so he’s done a number of things on the medical side of optometry, which is what the Woodalls were looking for.
“I really liked the philosophy when I came over here,” McManis said. “The thing I liked is patients came first, and most places have lost that. Since I’ve been here, that’s what I’ve found.”
He noted that some patients want a female doctor, some prefer younger doctors and some a provider with more experience.
“Whatever they’re wanting, we can kind of fit one of us into their mold,” McManis said.
He and wife Donna are also comfortable with the Greencastle community, as their son was a football player at DePauw University.
“We were over here for every home football game for four years. So we got to know the community quite well,” McManis said. We knew it was a smaller community, and we liked it. We’ve always liked smaller communities.”
The additional provider is already paying off for patients, who are seeing a doctor much sooner.
“We went from me being booked out for six months to just to the end of year,” Woodall noted, adding that McManis is booked out for only a few weeks.
The wait list used to be in excess of 100 patients, but now folks can see someone within a week or two if their schedule is flexible.
“Now there’s always two doctors in here,” McManis said.
This, however, still has its limitations in the current space.
“Right now, even with three doctors, we can’t all work at the same time,” Woodall said.
That makes those first couple of weeks of January an important benchmark for the practice.
“As of now, anybody being scheduled past the first of the year, we’re going to tell them they’re at the new building,” Woodall said. “People who are already scheduled, we’re going to be reaching out.”
Even as they prepare to leave the location that Hodges moved into 40 years ago, Woodall believes his mentor is likely happy to see the expansion.
“I think we’re carrying on with what Daryl wanted,” Woodall said. “We worked hard to make it a two-man practice. When he retired, he said, ‘You’re going to have to work hard to keep up.’ And now we’re at a two-and-a-half doctor practice. We’re hoping to make it three full-time doctors.”
Woodall first came to the practice in 2013, bought it from Hodges in 2018 and is now making this big move.
“I remember when we first got out of school and we weren’t sure where we were going to land, and we were looking for two positions,” Harman-Woodall recalled.
They ultimately decided that Greencastle, Nick’s hometown, was the best landing spot.
“I drove all over Indiana, but this is the payoff,” Leslie said. “We could not be any more grateful for what Daryl started. He’s a huge credit to our success. And Nick’s family is here, so we want to be here. So we’re not going anywhere.” “Yes, we’re not going anywhere,” Nick said.
“Just across town,” Leslie added.
“We’re very excited,” Nick concluded. “It’s going to be lots of changes, but it’s going to be good for patients, good for staff, definitely good for the community with the expanded services.”