The word “family” in Duquette Family Eye Care Inc. of North Smithfield means much more than just a business willing to serve families in the community.
That is part of what the business does, of course. But there is also a super-sized family dynamic behind the company that truly differentiates it, according to owner Lori Duquette – and it comes with built-in workplace benefits.
Duquette was born into a family in Central Falls with 11 children – seven boys and four girls – that includes two sets of twins and a set of triplets, and parents married for more than 65 years. Duquette has great memories of being part of such a large tribe. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she said.
“Growing up in such a loud, active household has really taught me how to focus,” said Duquette, who remembers doing homework and blocking out the noise of many siblings around her. She now sees the benefits of being raised in such a large family and leverages those benefits as she leads her company. “I am able to multitask very well as a result, including listening to multiple conversations at the same time,” she said.
The fact that all family members still live nearby puts resources at the ready when hiring needs to be done and qualifications are in line. For instance, Duquette’s twin sister Linda is the eye care center’s director of operations. Linda’s daughter handles appointment confirmation calls. Their sister-in-law Kathy Duquette is the resident optician, and niece Meghan Duquette is assistant manager.
In turn, patients who come to Duquette Family Eye Care are treated to a family-oriented, family-centered practice, Lori Duquette said. Its patient roster often includes members within the same extended families, who have unexpectedly met up with another at the office when both have appointments at the same time, she said.
‘Growing up in such a loud, active household has really taught me how to focus.’
LORI DUQUETTE, Duquette Family Eye Care Inc. owner
Duquette said her staff is committed to professional development and equipping the practice with the very latest technological advances. Patients have access to highly specialized diagnostic tests such as optic nerve scans, for example.
“We call it old-fashioned care in a state-of-the-art facility,” she said. “That’s our culture.”
Having practiced now for two decades, her educational road to optometry was not a completely straight path.
Duquette started out studying zoology – “a fun major,” she said – at the University of Rhode Island. She knew she wanted to be either an optometrist or a veterinarian. After earning her bachelor’s degree in zoology – completing pre-med educational requirements such as organic chemistry and anatomy – Duquette decided to change course and go the optometry route, eventually completing her doctorate at Boston’s New England College of Optometry with clinical honors.
She started her own practice in 2010, purchasing an office from an optometrist in Woonsocket before moving to her location on Pound Hill Road in North Smithfield in 2013.
It isn’t the more-routine work, such as exams and fittings for contact lenses, pediatric eye care, emergency eye services or management of patient conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma that make ophthalmology a rewarding career for Duquette. She said she finds great satisfaction in being there for her patients in times it matters most, using her knowledge to make a difference – and saving a life in one case.
She recalled that one Sunday a patient called while Duquette was out for a jog. He was losing vision in one eye, so Duquette immediately met him and his wife at the eye center.
Recognizing the situation as a condition of carotid artery disease, she called ahead to the nearest emergency room. Duquette knew that cholesterol-containing deposits, or plaques, can travel and block blood flow, causing blindness and possibly a stroke. “He had to have a carotid artery procedure,” she said. “After he’d recovered, they came back in to thank me.”
Educating patients on how changes in the eyes can indicate changes in the body is another part of her role, she said.
Since 2000, Duquette has been the Special Olympics Lions’ Club International Opening Eyes Program’s clinical director. The volunteer program offers free eye health exams, vision screenings and eyewear to the athletes who compete at the Rhode Island Special Olympics each summer at URI.
“I started with that organization when I first graduated, as I wanted to volunteer in some fashion,” she said. She said that the work was rewarding, as she was able to see progress in an underserved population realizing the importance of regular vision care.
“As we grew the program, we would see the same athletes, year after year, and we were then able to see that they had been going to an eye doctor year after year,” she said. “So many had said they hadn’t been going at first, but then – over time – they were.”
Giving back to the community is another way Duquette is serving others.
“I love what I do,” she said.
