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Culture shows up in the smallest moments: the way the front desk greets a nervous patient, how a technician handles a delay, whether a physician trusts the team or escalates every hiccup. When those moments add up, you get either a clinic that feels calm and capable or one that feels tense and brittle. That’s why I sat down with Joey Hamel, Executive Director at Eye Physicians and Surgeons in Delaware, to talk about how real culture change actually happens inside an ophthalmology practice.

Joey shares what surprised him about ophthalmology compared with heart and vascular care, then gets specific about the leadership moves that rebuild trust fast. We dig into hiring for personality over pure experience, training motivated medical assistants into strong ophthalmic techs, and partnering with the University of Delaware to bring in student interns. We also talk about a practical way to create a marketing footprint when you don’t have a marketing department, from restarting LinkedIn and Instagram to planning a grand opening event that strengthens community awareness.

We go deep on leadership habits that keep teams engaged: meeting every staff member one on one, listening and making ideas actionable, reshaping staff meetings so people actually speak up, and giving frontline leaders the space to lead. Joey also explains how he handles resistance to change and what to do when a physician unintentionally becomes part of the culture problem by bypassing the team.

If you want better staff retention, stronger patient experience, and smoother operations in your eye care clinic, hit play, subscribe, share this with a fellow Eye Care leader, and leave a review so more practices can find these conversations.

Connect with Joey here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joey-hamel-91696165/

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This episode is brought to you by Seasoned Advice HR, where I help eye care clinics to hire, retain, and manage better — helping you get Better Results Through People. Learn more at seasoned-advice.com.

Contact me directly at mike@seasoned-advice.com

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