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Shammas Eye Medical Center We ask that anyone that enters the facility wear a mask prior to entering, maintain 6 feet distance between others when possible, and have anyone accompanying stay in the car unless needed for assistance. Come prepared for the visit to decrease your wait time. We have three locations in Southern California, including Lynwood, Downey and Whittier. Dr. H. John Shammas has been in practice in Lynwood since 1977.

The practice has been known for pioneering modern cataract surgery, being amongst the first in the area to offer phacoemulsification for removal of the cataract; amongst the first to utilize ultrasound measurements of the eye to calculate the power of the intaocular lens (the implant); and amongst the first to insert these implants into patients' eyes so they do not have to wear thick lenses in their glasses, often called "coke bottle glasses".
Services
Cataracts are a clouding of the natural lens causing a decrease or blurring of the vision. An examination can determine if a cataract is affecting your vision and if surgery if surgery is recommended. Diabetes can have a number of affects on the eye, and routine examinations are critical for early detection and treatment. Various tests can supplement an eye exam to make a diagnosis or follow disease progression. Learn more about what types of testing can be done.
We take the safety and well-being of our patients very seriously. We ask that anyone that enters the facility wear a mask prior to entering, maintain 6 feet distance between others when possible, and have anyone accompanying stay in the car unless needed for assistance. Come prepared for the visit to decrease your wait time.
At M/S Surgery Center your safety is our highest concern. We ask that anyone that enters the facility wear a mask prior to entering, maintain 6 feet distance between others when possible, and have anyone accompanying stay in the car unless needed for assistance. M/S Surgery Center Lynwood and M/S Surgery Center Whittier are dedicated to the surgical treatment of eyes. By being focused on only eye related surgeries, our surgeons and staff have the experience and expertise needed for better outcomes.
Reviews (19)
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OnePeguin
Apr 19, 2022
Dr. Shammas was very professional and very caring with my elderly mother. I'm not sure why people rate this place badly, my mom had two major eye surgeries and both came out really well. Make sure your finances are straight before coming here since the medication from CVS might be expensive. I highly recommend this place can't say enough Dr. Shammas has been very caring about my old mom I really appreciate it!
A'Janeya Brown
Nov 18, 2021
Simply the worst place with the worst staff. They are so rude and nasty they will poke your eye out to make a dollar.
Manny
Nov 06, 2021
Very friendly from the receptionist to nurses and Dr Lee and Dr Shammas, Dr Lee accurately diagnosed my eye And Dr Shammas fixed it in matter of secondds thanks for your everything.
Martha Vasquez
Nov 03, 2021
We paid 60$ for eye exam with insurance. Then they said my husband would need laser surgery. Then at Costco it turned out that he just needed a new pair of glasses. While it the waiting room I pushed a chair to sit close to my husband. The receptionist told me to put it back. She got upset cause I told her he was my husband and was getting ready to pull me wit while sitting in the chair.
Juliet W.
Nov 03, 2021
Waited months to get a scheduled appointment. They mis-managed the authorizations from my insurance twice. I confirmed with my insurance that the approval was submitted. Yet they would not make me an appointment because there was a billing code that was incorrect. Instead of them trying to call the insurance to correct their billing issue, they expected me to handle it, when I didn't even know there was an issue.

So I got my insurance to resubmit my approval with the corrected billing number that they gave me. A week goes by and again Dr Shamas's office manager says it's still wrong. I explained how my medication cannot be filled unless this eye test was done. I respectfully requested to make me my appointment while she takes over this administrative task herself to insure the office receives the information needed.

She said it was against policy. It did not matter that my medicine was being held up not that I already attempted to correct their billing issue. Two weeks later the receptionist called me to make an appointment. She said her manager decided to override the billing code issue and authorized it herself. Ridiculous. It has now five months later. I saw the doctor and he said he has to order one more test which needs to be AUTHORIZED. My appointment is at the end of November because they are soo busy. My opinion is that they don't deserve to have patients.
Janet B.
Jul 28, 2021
Not bad, the place is clean and most of the staff was friendly. Dr Roberts was very informative and nice. One dummy, the one that did the eye exam in the first room, was all of sudden a Dr. My dad advised her he has constant tearing in his eye, she told him it was nothing and to get eye any drops from the pharmacy. Once I spoke to the actual Dr, he explained something completely different and prescribed two specific eye drops. If you do give this place a chance, please let the Drs know your symptoms not just the med assistants.
Ronny G.
Jul 06, 2021
Zero stars if possible! Horrible customer service! I went with my dad to help book his appointment well over a month ago. He goes to his booked appointment and they tell him he didn't book an appointment and made him rebook for another month! We asked if they could call us if there's a cancellation or if someone were to reschedule. They won't do that either. In dire need for my dad's eye sight to get checked and this is how they are to their patients! Very unprofessional and harsh. No empathy!
Callie F.
Jul 07, 2020
When I went I had an amazing experience, seeing the other 1-star reviews made me a bit confused because I didn't have any problems at all. I came in with a referral due to a blind spot I had developed in my eye that I feared was a retinal detachment. I needed to get a dilated exam by an Ophthalmologist to determine what was going on with me. I came in and they had me fill out paperwork as a new patient, and I didn't even wait for 2-3 minutes before they swiftly called me back to do a vision test and retinal photos.

The nurses/assistants were very nice, not rude at all as mentioned in the other reviews. I was assigned to Dr. Lee who was very kind, professional and polite. She asked if I wanted to have my eyes dilated since I had never done it before, and I agreed. She was able to diagnose me with a harmless condition that would go away, rather than a retinal detachment which I was extremely worried about. Overall, my experience with this office is 5 stars for the quality of care and the speediness and urgency in which they assisted me. If I have any more problems with my eye I will definitely come back.
Eliana T.
Oct 08, 2019
Horrible experience! Ugly service Receptionists do not care, they're very careless and say they don't know what goes on in the back & they don't know why they take so long Appointment was at 1:45 & it's 3:15 and no where to be called yet I Do not recommend this place to anyone!
Amanda Escobedo
Jun 12, 2019
I had medi-cal my doctor sent me here, I was 18 they refused to tell me what my prescription is and I spent 2 years wearing glasses that gave me headaches because they kept saying I wasn't wearing them for long enough periods of time to adjust, but i admit I could see using then. Gave up talking to them and only wore them when I needed to which was in class to see the board from a distance.

They said I had chronic dry eye and my eyes weren't making enough tears and were straining themself that was back in 2012. 2019 now learned I have 20/50 vision my left eye has vision loss.
Blaze- Groovemint
Apr 01, 2019
VERY unprofessional. Over booked and under staffed. I had a appointment that was scheduled over a month ago because they they didn't have anything sooner for a simple eye prescription update. The lobby was full with people that were all complaining of the back log who had appointments. They told me they made a mistake and scheduled me for another location. Then said they would correct it and had me waiting for two hours
Erika Chavez
Mar 19, 2019
Wait time is more than 2 hours Do not come here. Dr. didn't even bother to introduce herself. absolutely no manners
Helen Jackson
Oct 24, 2018
I went in with my eyes feeling perfectly fine but I was told that i had fluids in both of my eyes and that I would need laser surgery on October 24th, 2018. They said if I didn't have it done I will have problems and I could go blind because I'm a diabetic. My God I am worse off now! I can't see out of my right eye, I have constant pain in my right eye, it's hard to see.

I can't believe this I go in trusting them with my eyes and now it's worse. The Doctor who worked on my eyes was a Doctor Renu Jivrajka. I pray that I can get my sight back this has messed up my life. I wouldn't recommend this eye doctor to anyone. She has messed up my precious eye sight. Who ever goes in and comes out worse. That's not right.wow!
Priscila R.
Mar 16, 2018
GO ELSE WHERE! HORRIBLE customer service, rude ladies at the front desk obviously don't care about the customers only the insurance money that pays their hourly jobs. We got there at 830am to find out that they scheduled the wrong date & time so we waited patiently (when there was only one other customer) not complaining the whole time, till 1030am.

Still no one had called my mom in, while they all sat there, gossiping & doing absolutely nothing. That's when we had enough, got up and told them that the insurance company is going to switch to a different doctor, OH and the doctor wasn't even there to top of the long unnecessary wait. Horrible experience.
Maria Cervantes
Jun 19, 2017
I called last minute as emergency and once I explained my emergency they spoke to the doctor and They gave me an appointment right away. Thank you Shammas Eye Medical Center Staff and Doctor.
Y. P.
Mar 24, 2017
Takes incredibly long to get an appointment. They schedule on wrong days (i.e. needed doctor isn't available on the day of your appointment and you find out once you're already there). Receptionists are unhelpful and uncaring. Doctors are unpleasant. I am patient when it comes to human error and occasional poor service, but this is unbearable. Go elsewhere.
D. Castaneda
Dec 23, 2016
Do not come here! Again, stay away! Very frustrating place to deal with, did you get put on hold for 10 minutes? Well, that's just the start, many other places to go, stay away!
Christina R.
Sep 27, 2016
Office staff unprofessional, Optometrist not sure how they received their medical license or pass the exam. Went in twice and still wrong RX wasn't going for a 3rd time went somewhere else. What a scam they are doing to seniors wasted money and bad pair of glasses. Should get no stars. Patients be ware and speak up don't get taken advantage of its your money its not something you are getting for free.
Melissa M.
Feb 17, 2015
Horrible Service! Scheduled me on a day that they were closed and even though this was obviously their fault they still couldn't do much for me. Receptionist didn't seem to care at all. Very busy spot with appointments booked for practically 2 months. I don't get it!