Seeing Success for New Mineola Optometrist

After ProVision Eye Care in Carle Place closed its doors, Dr. Melania Napolitano who had been subleasing store space, decided to move elsewhere.

“They gave me a three-week notice, I had my patients and I decided to open my own store,” she said.

Fluent in Italian, Spanish and some Portuguese, Napolitano settled on Mineola, feeling that the village with its diversity was missing an optical store.

“Not only is it a nice community but there are many Italians and people who don’t speak English as a first language will be able to come in, communicate and understand,” she said.

Born and raised in Italy, Dr. Napolitano spent her early life in Naples before coming to the United States in the late 1990s. Back home there was no professional known as optometry; rather, ophthalmologists and opticians. When she came to New York, she found her love and passion for the profession, completing studies at the SUNY College of Optometry.

Dr. Napolitano says she can easily remember the day she first learned she needed glasses as an 8 year old: when her father took her and her sister to school one morning and begging into a scuffle with her older sister.  

“We started teasing each other, I don’t even remember what it was about,” she said. In trying to defend herself she called her sister a “four-eyes” because she wore glasses. It was a coincidence that the same day was her yearly eye exam at school and she too ended up with glasses.

“Ever since then I have needed glasses, if anything it makes me more relatable,” she said. “If it’s a child, and the parents are concerned or upset I am able to reassure them this isn’t that bad after all.”

The age of Napolitano’s patients ranging from four to 99 as long as they can read or recognize colors, letters and words, and while the 20/20 Mineola Eye Center takes most insurance plans and offers full comprehensive eye exams, Napolitano has been known to offer free lenses to children whose parents cannot afford to pay for them.

Within the next few months the office will receive more specialized equipment to check patients’ peripheral vision and a retinal camera to take pictures of the back of the eye.

Napolirtano says she finds it shocking how many people are quick to label children who misbehave with having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, explaining vision plays a factor in their inability to communicate simply because they may not be able to see very well.

“My passion for what I do really comes out in my office, if a patient doesn’t understand something I take the time to explain it again or give them the training or knowledge to get it,” she said.

Additionally, Napolitano hosts free lectures and screenings at area events to raise awareness of the importance of getting regular eye exams.

“When I see my patients, I think it shows that I am passionate about my profession and I really care,” she said.