New Dunes Clinic Offers Complete Eye Care and Midwest Hospitality

The gift of clear vision is one of the many medical miracles happening at the Dakota Dunes Tower Medical Center. A simple surgical procedure offered at Bruening Eye Specialists is changing lives.

"It's such a gratifying procedure," Dr. Beth Bruening, M.D. explained about cataract surgery, a procedure she has been doing for 17 years. "Patients come in that haven't been able to see to read. They come in the next day (after surgery) and they're like "Wow!" One lady said to me, "Wow, it's like you put telescopes in my eyes, so now I can really see." And you feel so good about that."

Making people feel good is just one of the many goals Bruening has as a Board Certified Comprehensive Ophthalmologist in Dakota Dunes, SD.

Her practice assists patients with a range of eye health concerns including the need for cataract surgery, treatments for glaucoma and macular degeneration to eyelid lift surgery, basic eye exams and fittings for contacts or glasses.

"We see anybody who complains of decreased vision, eye pain or eye redness. We take care of all eye concerns," Bruening reassures of the multiple services her practice can provide.

Bruening and her staff are happy to work with her patient's family optometrist when planning a surgical procedure or other medical treatment options. "We're here to work as part of a team with all the eye care providers that are around," Bruening noted.

Bruening moved her practice to the Dakota Dunes Tower Medical Center in February, after practicing in Sioux City since 1991.

"We have such a beautiful facility to be able to offer our patients. Everything about it is relaxing and more calming," Bruening explained about their new business building. "It makes you feel good to have somewhere nice for your patients."

But, the decision to move Bruening Eye Specialists to Dakota Dunes was not an easy one.

"I labored over whether or not to move my practice, because I have been in Sioux City for so many years," Bruening said after leaving per position at Eye Associates Siouxland in the Grandview Professional Building in Sioux City and starting her own business venture in Sioux City before relocating to the Dunes.

Concerned that her patients may not make the move across the state line, Bruening has been pleased to see the majority of her clientele follow her footsteps.

"I would say that we have retained probably 95% ," Bruening estimated of her returning client base.

And in April, the business can expect another growth spurt with the addition of Dr. Thomas Pratt, an Optometrist from Sioux City. Pratt will bring nearly 20 years of experience in the industry to the practice.

Bruening is excited about the upcoming expansion in her practice. "We'll be able to complement each other," she explained.

Now that she and her staff at Bruening Eye Specialists are part of the growing Dakota Dunes medical community, she knows she made a good decision.

"I think it was a good thing to be able to branch out, and maybe to reach out to more people who need eye surgical services. It just feels right," Bruening commented on her new South Dakota location.

"Part of coming to the Dunes was to be part of the medical community that has really developed out here. There is a very wonderful atmosphere of practicing out here amongst the other health care providers. It's almost like a small town atmosphere."

And this small town woman is no stranger to the Midwest. Growing up in Crofton, Nebraska has instilled in this doctor a friendly, open approach to her patient relations.

"I always discuss with patients all of their problems myself. A lot of offices will delegate that to staff. I feel it is very important that I do it myself," Bruening explained. "I love my patients. I have the worlds greatest patients."

Bruening is a people-person, and it shows.

"I love taking care of people. I like it when they come in and I get to visit with them, and what's going on with your family. "Oh, how's the grand baby?", you know, all those things, that's all part of the package. It's not just knowing their conditions. You know them. And that's why they come back and why they are willing to come from Sioux City to over here."

From a private consultation complete with models of the eye, instructional pictures and all questions answered, Bruening personally makes sure her patients are well cared for with an open line of communication. Her ability to throughly communicate with her patients shouldn't be a surprise, after all, she earned an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

"It (Journalism) was a very good basis for being able to help communicate better with patients, to hear what they're saying, to be able to get the information from them to better identify what their problems are and the be able to better interact with them to try to tell them about what they have," Bruening noted.

After J-School, Bruening went on to complete four years of medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center before serving a one year internship in internal medicine at Creighton University in Omaha.

"Ophthalmology was one of the rotations that I picked to do (in medical school) and it was then that I decided that was what I wanted to do. Partly because I found it very interesting and partly because of the other residents who I spent time with," Bruening explained of her decision to become an eye doctor.

"They really inspired me and told me, you know, you have all the good qualities to be an Ophthalmologist; your very particular, exacting, a good eye for detail. And, of course when you have somebody else who tells you that they think you would be good at something, you start to believe it. It was a very good choice for me."

With her medical field chosen, Bruening headed South for further training during a three year residency in Ophthalmology at Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, before returning to the Midwest to practice medicine in Sioux City.

During her many years of college education, Bruening met her husband, Steve, a structural engineer in Sioux City with his business Draco Engineering.

The couple have two young boys whose activities fill up most of the family free time with sports and music lessons. Cole is 12 years old and Will is nearly 10. The family lives on the Northside of Sioux City on an acreage where pet horses, chickens, cats and dogs give them enjoyment.

"We (Steve and I) came from a rural background, growing up in Crofton (NE.), and I grew up on a farm. I guess you can take the girl off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girl. So we have those little things, and we enjoy them."

***This article was originally published in the Dakota Dunes/North Sioux City Times by Sedgwick Publishing on April 3, 2008.***