Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group

I need 2^nd opinion for my eye operation, so I went to see Dr. Jeffrey Liu at Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group. Dr. Jeffrey is an extremely knowledgeable young doctor. He did a very through exam on my eyes and spend extra efforts to explain what is the problem of my eyes, and all the facts related to the operation, not like my previous doctor. I strongly recommend his professional service to everyone.

The waiting time to see the doctor is very long, like 30+ minutes, not sure what the «appointment» does to this???

Not a good experience. Made an appointment and was assigned Dr Valpolicelli.
Slick and dismissive. Provided some reading glasses and called back a few weeks later to be fitted for contact lenses. Valpolicelli couldn’t fit me in his schedule for several months so I asked to be assigned to any available doctor. On the day of the appointment, miraculously was re-​assigned to Valpolicelli — apparently he does not like his clients to go to other doctors. After my eyes were re-​examined — (I don’t think they would have changed in a matter of weeks), was to be fitted for contacts in a small open room off to the reception area and also charged another $ 100.00 to be fitted. The women who run the eye glass fitting area said that I had to learn how to put the lenses in and out before they would give them to me. It was a challenge and I was nervous. The room for the fitting is right out in the open. Needless to say I couldn’t get the contacts in satisfactorily and it didn’t help that the entire reception area could see and hear what I was doing. So… I lost $ 100.00 — bad luck. Of course they encouraged me to come back anytime but I won’t be coming back. Dr Valpoliceli takes out full page ads advertising lasik surgery. I guess fitting for eye glasses and contacts is a necessary evil but not nearly as lucrative as the lasik. Perhaps not all the doctors at Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group are like Dr Valpolicelli but would not recommend.

I think this is the best place to go in the Bay Area if you’re going to have LASIK eye surgery. Dr. Beers is an expert at performing this surgery, and both my wife and I had him perform our LASIK surgeries with excellent results.
I’ve only used them for LASIK and a follow-​up eye exam and prescription reading glasses seven years after having the LASIK surgery, so I can’t really comment on them for other eyecare experiences, other than I didn’t have any problem with my follow-​up exam.
My wife is a nurse at El Camino Hospital, and before having LASIK she asked the surgeons there who they used for LASIK surgery, and that’s how we chose Dr. Beers. My wife’s eyesight was so bad that even high-​index lenses in glasses were Coke-​bottle thick and heavy. She was legally blind without glasses or contacts. After years of this, she went to having ²⁰⁄₂₀ uncorrected vision after LASIK surgery.
I’d been a glasses-​wearer for more than twenty years with horizontal corneal astigmatism. I had Dr. Beers evaluate me to see if I was a candidate for LASIK, and after my exam, he simply asked me «Well, would you like to get rid of your glasses?» We scheduled my LASIK surgery, I took the prescribed Valium before my appointment, and the procedure was completely painless and took just ten minutes. In 24 hours I could see perfectly, with post-​care consisting of artificial tears eye-​drops for a few months. After seven years in my mid-​forties, my eye’s lens is stiffening up, so I now use reading glasses to read close fine-​print, and I’ve developed a very slight astigmatism in one eye. I went back to Peninsula, and we opted for prescription reading glasses. Again, there were no issues with my exam or ordering my glasses.
If you’re considering LASIK surgery, I highly recommend Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group and Dr. Beers.

My wife was experiencing significant discomfort with one of her eyes, so I took her to see Dr. Beers, who I had seen for years. After a cursory search he found nothing, and was pretty dismissive about it. I asked him to look again, and this time he prescribed some eye drops and said the condition would clear up in a day or so.
Well, luckily my wife insisted on seeing another doctor and we went over to Stanford Ophthalmology. There, the excellent physician we saw immediately diagnosed MRSA and provided immediate treatment that I believe saved my wife’s eye. If we had waited another day this aggressive infection would have reached her optic nerve.
My opinion is that Dr. Beers is a fine, experienced physician but he’s focused on his laser eye surgery practice pretty much to the exclusion of anything else. I can’t help but reach the conclusion that he’s more interested in more financially rewarding procedures than more «mundane» optical issues.

I’ve been Dr. Beers’ patient for a few years now. I have to admit, the man knows his stuff, (I would hope so) is friendly, and efficient but is also a little rushed and quite short. I work in the healthcare field, so I understand busy. If you have questions, I recommend writing them down because when you’re in the room with him, you will forget them. I haven’t had to wait for my appointment very long, compared to my primary care provider.
I have been asked if I would like to pursue Laser eye surgery as I am a good candidate for it, but I always politely decline and they don’t push it. It isn’t the right time for it now, but I may change my mind later on.
The staff is friendly, and organized. They order my contacts for me every time I need them, and yes I realize that is my responsibility but they don’t mind helping me find a good deal. :) Overall, I would say my experiences here have been good. They do their jobs well, and I will be their patient indefinitely.

I went to them for eyeglasses. Bad experience!
It was the fastest eye exam I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, the
prescription was way off. I waited awhile for my eyes to adjust,
but they never did. So I went back for a second exam, which resulted
in better glasses but still not the correct prescription. I will never
deal with these people again. They are very interested in getting
your money and not so interested in providing good service.

So, Dr. Volpicelli is amazing.
The whole process went to well. The first couple minutes Gigi took care of me and talked to my parents about the whole drops situation.
Tear drops ever 30 mins first 24 hours, Vicodin if I’m in pain, antibiotic drops, the whole thing.
They wiped my eyes with alcohol swabs and put a net around my hair. After that, Gigi walked me to the room and made me lay down. She asked if i wanted a blanket, i said yes b/​c it was quite cold.
The whole process was really easy «just look at the blinking orange light the whole time». Dr was very nice and told me every single step that was happening. Before he even did the cutting he made me listen to the sound so i wouldn’t freak out. I mean, i still did, but Gigi was there to hold my hand and encourage me that everything was almost done.
After, everything was really foggy, but i could see! I was a –5.25 in my right eye and –4.75 on my left. I don’t know what i actually have now since my follow up appointment is at 4:30 (but I’m using the comp. the next day, so woo!). We will see what the final say is.

I was referred to see Dr. Volpicelli from my optometrist to have a catarac removed. I guess the warning signs should have been there when I was reading all the letters of recommendation in the waiting room, and they were all about lasik procedures. I was there to have a catarac removed, but since he came highly recommended, I trusted my optometrist.
Dr. Volpicelli encouraged me to get a multi-​focal lens so I would be able to see both distance and close up, and recommended the Restor lens. I thought I was worth the extra $ 2400 out of pocket expense that it would cost, so I went for it. What I didn’t know, and he should have known, was that I was not a good candidate for a multi-​focal lens due to the fact that I had previous Lasik surgery ten years prior. After the Restor lens was implanted, I couldn’t see well at all. Halos at night were more like fireworks. I couldn’t read street signs, and I couldn’t read books either. I felt dizzy all the time from the blurred vision. I saw better before I had the surgery. After months of hoping the vision would get better (was told my brain had to adapt to the lens and that I had very dry eyes too and problems with my retina, which he knew prior to the surgery as well), Dr. Volpicelli said he would take it out and replace it with a regular lens, but that it was very risky.
Since I felt extremely uneasy about the riskiness of another surgery, I decided to get a second and third opinion. I finally ended up having the second surgery done by Dr. David Chang, who is THE BEST CATARAC surgeon there is in this area! He teaches other surgeons, and has written textbooks, that a prior lasik patient should not have a multi-​focal lens implanted. I highly recommend him for anyone needing catarac surgery! I now can see, and am very happy with a regular lens in my eye!

I got laser eye surgery at the Peninsula Laser Eye Center. Dr. Beers did my surgery. My surgery took just a few minutes for the entire procedure. As soon as the surgery was complete, even though everything appeared cloudy, I could see better then I had in years—
Dr. Beers and his staff were very professional, caring and took the utmost care and concern with my eyes, my surgery and my follow up visits.
I am very pleased with the service and level of care that I received. When I choose this center for my eye surgery I choose it because it was very close to my home. It was a great choice for me that produced excellent results. As of the day of my eye surgery I have tossed my glasses that I use to wear for distant vision.
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it was when I was able to get rid those glasses!

Sure, they’re not as fancy as Hyver or Furlong, but do you really need to be paying hundreds of dollars more just to sit in a fancy room? I was treated by Dr. Volpicelli and it went without a hitch. There wasn’t any upselling of intralase or parading around a plethora of local celebrities who’ve been satisfied customers — sure it adds some credence but so does the fact that the doctors here do *real* eye surgery. I’m pretty sure I’d have been as satisfied going to some of the more popular doctors in the area, but having the endorsement of my friend who also had his Lasik surgery done by Volpicelli (more than a year and a half ago, and has had no problems whatsoever), I’m pretty happy with my choice.

Dr Beers and the staff there are amazing. Super friendly, GREAT experience and I can see! I have sent so many of my friends and family to Dr Beers for Lasik… highly highly recommend him if you’re looking for the best eye doc in California. Thanks Dr B!

This place is AWFUL! My optometrist referred me here for an exam to check on proptosis in one of my eyes. That exam was one of the worst medical experiences in my life. I can’t imagine trusting these people with surgery on my eyes!
When I made the appointment, I clearly stated my reason for coming in, the doctor who referred me, and the two exams she wanted me to have. When I get there to sign in at the front desk, one woman ignores me while another just continues her phone conversation. After a few minutes, the woman who ignored me tells me, «We’ll be right with you.» And I’m thinking, why can’t you be right with me right now? You’re not doing anything! I guess only one of them deals with signing in new people because it is such a complicated task that only one of them can be specialized in doing so? When the other woman finally finishes her phone conversation, she checks me in and hands me some paperwork to fill out. While I’m filling out the paperwork, she informs me that they didn’t get any of my medical records from my optometrist. When I tell her that I did ask for my records to be sent over, she just repeats that they didn’t have them and just stares at me like I’m lying or something! She then informs me that they’ll give them a call. OK, so if you’re going to call them anyway, why make me feel like I’m a slacker?
I wait a good ten or twenty minutes in their waiting room when another woman finally calls my name. She didn’t introduce herself but she was perhaps the rudest person I’ve ever encountered in a doctor’s office. The first thing she tells me is that they don’t why I’m here (umm, hello, I clearly stated why I was coming when I scheduled the appointment). I tell her why I’m there and explain that my optometrist wanted me to get a couple of exams. She dismisses me by saying that the doctor would have to decide which exams I got. Great. So this appointment is going to be a total waste of my time. And if that was the case, why didn’t they just tell me that when I made the appointment?
She then decides to sit me down in front of a machine to look at something in my eyes but then decides not to do that. We then walk around looking for an open exam room. She abruptly leaves me in one and then comes back and makes me go to another exam room. She then starts asking about my medical history. When I inform her that I don’t have high blood pressure or diabetes, she kind of gives me a weird doubtful look. I know I’m fat but that doesn’t mean that I have every fat person disease on the planet! She then tells me, «Yeah both of your eyes look like they’re bulging out pretty far!» Umm, thanks?
She finally leaves and takes her awfulness with her. I wait in the exam room for a good twenty or thirty minutes. The doctor finally arrives. He doesn’t apologize for being so late and he’s really rushed. He was pretty rude and kind of pushy. He even grabs my messenger bag at one point so that he could see my driver’s license photo! Apparently looking at my old (TINY) driver’s license photo would give him some clue about whether my eyes have always bulged out or if this is a recent condition. My entire awful experience took an hour — the actual exam was about 5 minutes.
Unless you like being medically raped, I don’t recommend going here.

I have used Dr. Beers for years. As my reading vision has slowly gotten worse, he’s prescribed stronger prescriptions. I usually buy them from his rather expensive eyewear shop, for convenience.
I saw him recently to find out about getting a monovision contact lens for reading. A woman in my office uses this product, and although she said it was tough to get used to, now she loves it.
So I got my mono vision lens. Here’s what I’m annoyed about: After he examines you and writes your prescription, Dr. Beers then gives you the option of having his nurse assistant give you a 10-​minute lens-​usage «class.» You panic, wondering how you’ll figure the lenses out without a class. Then the non-​doctor assistant teaches you how to put lenses in and out, and works with you till you get it right. THE DOCTOR THEN CHARGES $ 85 FOR THIS ADDITIONAL SERVICE THAT HE DIDN’T PERFORM. Ridiculous. My insurance had already paid him in full for his initial exam This is a perfect example of a doc gouging customers for every last nickel and dime he can get out of them.
The lens didn’t work out for me anyway and I went back to reading glasses. I don’t blame that on him – the glasses just work better for me.
I’ll continue to go in for my annual exam for reading glasses, but that’s all. Am going to buy the glasses elsewhere.

I have been going to Dr. Beers for a long time and recently I went in to get an eye exam. From my past experience, I knew I could trust Dr. Beers and only wanted to return to him because I trusted him AND ONLY HIM. They have always been a friendly staff and understanding of my needs and anxiety toward anything in or around my eyes! This time was a lot different… I had a wondeful eye technician at the beginning who made me laugh and who treated me like a human being. I appreciated that. When Dr. Beers arrived at my room he was not as friendly as he was in the past… no hand-​shake, which is not like him. So, from the get go I felt kind of disconnected. I have personally felt that my Rx could be increased a bit for my contacts, as I’m having a little difficulty seeing details. Dr. Beers is usually very conservative in his Rx changes, which I always appreciated. He ended up switching my Rx only in 1 eye, making it weaker and keeping 1 eye the same. I thought that was weird since I am having some clarity issues!!! So, I guess I’ll try out the contacts and see if it helps. He tried to sell me on the Laser surgery… again. I wish I could do it, but I still need to think about it. I would need A LOT of valium to get me relaxed enough!!! And i mean, A LOT! I feel like I can trust Dr. Beers and know that he knows his stuff. But, for some reason… this time, I just didn’t like the pushiness on Dr. Beer’s behalf. I will probably go back, but if there are any recommendations of other Dr.‘s please pass on the word.

I would give this place negative stars if I could. For more information on my negative experience with Dr. Beers, check out my review for him:
Like the other reviewer, I could see clearly within a couple of hours of the surgery. I was ecstatic, and it was short-​lived… the rest turned into an horrible experience that will probably never be rectified.
Aside from the permanent eye damage, my general experience with this office is that the desk folks and assistants are generally nice. However, I think that there is an emphasis on getting as many bodies in as possible. I once waited in a room for 45 minutes, during which I could hear another 2 other disgruntled patients arguing with Dr. Beers. The walls there are thin, and if not for that one visit, I wouldn’t have known that I wasn’t the only one. When Dr. Beers finally got to me, he spent like 3 minutes with me and left.
If your LASIK surgery goes well and they don’t have to put any effort into your post-​LASIK care, then you’ll be just fine. However, if something goes wrong, be prepared to be abandoned and treated like it’s your fault.

Very professional. I was able to see clearly within a few hours of the 2 minute surgery.