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Eye Emergencies in Phoenix Arizona
Don't go to an emergency room for an eye emergency
Call an emergency eye doctor
An Eye Emergency Can Happen At Any Time
AZ Eye Emergency is a service of Phoenix Eye Care, an award winning state of the art optometry practice providing unparalleled eye care for patients throughout Phoenix and the Southwest US. Our eye doctors, Dr. Arthur Epstein, Dr. Shannon Steinhäuser, and Dr. Cory Lappin have well earned reputations for excellence in managing a broad range of eye problems regardless of complexity.
We are available for eye emergencies during normal office hours – Monday through Friday from 9AM to 6PM and emergency calls after hours and on weekends. Most calls will be returned within 30 minutes. If calling after 11PM, your call may be returned the following morning. Please reserve our emergency number for eye emergencies only. If you are having a life threatening emergency please call 911 immediately. See additional information below.
Getting Help For An Eye Emergency
Emergency Rooms and Urgent Care Centers
Call AZ Eye Emergency for ophthalmic emergency consults or referrals from anywhere in Phoenix or surrounding areas
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The following eye emergencies require urgent attention:
Injury to the eyes including a foreign body within or on the surface of the eye
Chemical burns of the eye’s surface
Signs of rapidly progressing infection including pain, light sensitivity, redness and discharge
Sudden appearance of floaters and/or flashes in your vision
Complete or partial loss of vision in one or both eyes
Onset of double vision or distorted vision
Deep pain in or around the eyes especially if worsening or accompanied by nausea
Trauma to the eye including contusions and lacerations of the lid
Rapid or severe swelling and redness of the eye or eyelid
Instructions for after hours emergency calls:
- Please call the AZ Eye Emergency after-hours number 602-730-4393.
- Carefully listen to the announcement for additional information.
- Leave a message with your name, phone number and a brief description of your problem.
- Between 6 PM and 11 PM and on weekends your call will be answered within 30 minutes. If you don’t receive a return call, please try again.
- We are generally available 24/7 but after 11PM, your call may be answered the following morning.
- After speaking with the doctor on call, if you need to be seen, an appointment for the emergency visit will be set and the doctor and staff will meet you at the office.
- Please complete the online patient registration form before coming to the office. The form will generate a confirmation number. Please bring the number with you.
- Our medical building is closed after normal business hours. Please let us know when you arrive so you can be let in the building.
- Note the list of medical insurance plans we accept for most, but not all services and procedures. Plans are listed below.
- There are additional fees for after hours visits that are not covered by insurance.
Our Doctors
Dr. Arthur Epstein
Dr. Arthur B. Epstein is a native New Yorker who grew up in the Bronx, NY. He now resides in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Epstein graduated from the City College of New York, CUNY, with a B.S. in psychology and received an O.D. degree from the State University of New York, State College of Optometry where he also served as the college’s first resident in ocular disease.
Dr. Epstein heads the practice’s Dry Eye – Ocular Surface Disease Center and serves as its Director of Clinical Research. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, a Full Member of the International Society of Contact Lens Specialists and a Diplomate of the American Board of Certification in Medical Optometry. He is also a member of the American Optometric Association, the AOA Contact Lens & Cornea Section, the Arizona Optometric Association, and the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS). He is a past-Chair of the AOA Contact Lens and Cornea Section.
Listed by Optometric Management as among the most influential doctors in optometry, Dr. Epstein is a sought after speaker, having presented more than 1200 invited lectures on a variety of eye care topics in the US and throughout the world. He is also a prolific author with many hundreds of articles, scientific papers and book chapters published.
Dr. Shannon Steinhäuser
Dr. Shannon L. Steinhäuser completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska-Kearney as a pre-optometry major and California State University-Fresno majoring in molecular cellular biology. She earned her bachelors of visual science and her doctor of optometry degrees from the Southern California College of Optometry in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
She has been a Phoenix resident since 1998. In 2000 Dr. Steinhäuser completed a residency in Primary Care and Ocular Disease at the Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital in Sacaton, AZ, on the Gila River Indian Reservation. She earned the distinction of Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry that same year.
Dr. Steinhäuser is a member of the American Optometric Association, the Optometric Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Optometry, and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Certification in Medical Optometry. She serves as Continuing Education Chair of the Arizona Optometric Association from 2007-present and the AzOA’s President from 2010-11. She was awarded the AzOA’s Young Optometrist of the Year in 2009, AzOA’s President’s Award in 2014, and AzOA’s Optometrist of the Year 2019.
Dr. Cory Lappin
Dr. Cory J. Lappin was raised in New Philadelphia, Ohio and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Miami University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with Honors with Distinction. He earned his Doctor of Optometry degree from The Ohio State University College of Optometry, where he concurrently completed his Master of Science degree in Vision Science. He served as Class President and was a member of Beta Sigma Kappa Honor Society.
Dr. Lappin has been recognized for his clinical performance, receiving the American Academy of Optometry Foundation Practice Excellence award. He has also been actively engaged in research, being selected to take part in the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute (NIH/NEI) T35 Research Fellowship program and receiving the Vincent J. Ellerbrock Memorial Award in recognition of accomplishments in vision science research.
Following graduation, Dr. Lappin continued his training by completing a residency in Ocular Disease at the renowned Cincinnati Eye Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Lappin is a member of the American Academy of Optometry, the American Optometric Association, the Arizona Optometric Association, and the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS). He also volunteers with the Special Olympics Opening Eyes program. He currently resides in Scottsdale.
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Medical Insurance We Accept
- AARP Medicare Advantage
- Aetna
- Arizona Care Network (ACN)
- Banner Aetna
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (excluding Alliance, Select or Neighborhood Networks)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Advantage
- Bright Health
- Bright Medicare Advantage
- CIGNA Open Access
- Golden Rule
- Medicare Part B
- Meritain
- Prime Health Services
- Railroad Medicare
- Tricare
- United Health Care (excluding Lifeprint & Banner Networks)
How To Get To Our Office
Phoenix Eye Care & AZ Eye Emergency are located at 3805 East Bell Road - Suite 1800 on the lobby level of the Cigna Medical Group Building on the campus of Paradise Valley Hospital. The campus and our building is right off of the 51 Freeway on the Southeast corner of Bell Road and 38th Street. After hours the building front entrance may be locked. Please call upon arrival so you can be let in.
PARKING: There is a 5-story free parking garage with an elevator located just south of our building.