Northwest EyeCare Professionals - Our Staff - Northwest EyeCare Professionals

FRONT DESK

Abby Robillard, Assistant Manager, Contact Lenses and Administration

Abby joined Northwest EyeCare Professionals in 2004. She manages all things contact lens related, from inventory and ordering to follow ups. She also files vision insurance claims and helps answering phones. When you talk to Abby, she’s probably actually in Dayton, where she works remotely. She has lived in Dayton since 2013, where she lives with her husband and her fabulous dogs.

Austin Crist

Austin was born and raised in Ohio. He joined our front desk team in April 2018 and is the wonderful friendly face you most often see when you walk in our front door. He enjoys movies, walks in the park, great music, and playing basketball.

Janice Halpin

Janice is from Springfield, OH and attended The Ohio State University. She joined our front desk team in the summer of 2015 and occasionally works remotely from her home in Springfield. Janice is particularly experienced with insurance verification and is in charge of contact lenses on-site. Her family includes her husband of nearly 35 years, three daughters, one son and daughter-in-law, one grandson, one dog, and two cats.

Kelly Markiecki

Kelly joined the administrative stafff at Northwest EyeCare Professionals in the fall of 2018 and is rapidly learning the ropes. She married her high school sweetheart in 2003. He served in the U.S. Navy, and they had the opportunity to live in 3 different states in the course of 2 years. Kelly and her husband moved back to columbus in 2008 and now have 2 sons; Matthew and Michael. She enjoys DIY projects and loves to bake and decorate (especially when it comes to Christmas)! When she is not at Northwest EyeCare Professionals, she is usually hanging out with friends and family.

Nikki Pelgrino

Nikki is from Columbus, Ohio and joined the practice in the summer of 2016. She is currently going to school at The Ohio State University to become a Speech Pathologist and enjoys spending time traveling with her family and staying home with her kitten. You may find her at the welcome desk, answering phones or helping with various tasks around the office.

Emily Halpin

Emily was born at Riverside Methodist Hospital and was raised in Springfield, Ohio where she still lives. She joined Northwest EyeCare Professionals in 2016 as our second home-based customer service professional. Emily enjoys baking, cooking, laughing, and spending time with her family, especially her son, Brian, and their pets.

OPTICAL

Alexa Pelgrino, Assistant Manager, Optical

Alexa has been with Northwest EyeCare since 2013, and is experienced in all of areas of our office. She began as a technician and scribe in our clinic, has taught many patients about contact lens care and usage, and has provided support to the administrative staff. She was promoted in 2016 to an Assistant Manager, and is now responsible for our optical operations and coordinates communication between our doctors and local surgeons and eye specialists with which we share patients. Alexa is a certified by the American Board of Opticianry and licensed by the State of Ohio. She grew up in Grandview and currently lives Upper Arlington with her husband and with her Schnoodle, Winnie. She loves spending time in Florida when possible to soak up the warmth and rays.

Ben Hickey

Ben was raised in Upper Arlington in a large family and graduated from Upper Arlington High School. He is currently taking courses at Columbus State Community College. He has worked in the optical industry since 2011 and has been American Board of Opticianry Certified and a licensed optician in the State of Ohio since 2013. Ben joined Northwest EyeCare Professionals in January of 2017.

Gina Beard

Gina has a background in human resources prior to joining the optical industry in 2013 and has experience in both private practice and retail locations. Gina joined Northwest EyeCare Professionals in January of 2017. She enjoys spending time with her family, serving as a Cub Scout Den Mother, and pursuing her interests in modeling for print and digital media and advertising.

Connie Kirschner

Connie was raised in Pennsylvania and attended Washington and Jefferson College. She has experience as a paralegal and Office Manager before discovering her interest in optometry in 2007. Since then she has gained experience in both private practice and retail locations. Connie enjoys how the industry is changing with new technology and feels it provides the opportunity to always be learning and sharing new information with patients in order to provide them with the best possible choices for their vision needs. Connie is American Board of Opticianry Certified and a licensed optician in the State of Ohio. In lieu of a photo, Connie has chosen to display her collection of eyeglasses!

Kelsey Velazquez

Kelsey is from Upper Arlington and has worked in optical offices for several years. She joined our office in 2016 as an apprentice optician; she is now American Board of Opticianry Certified and is a licensed optician in the State of Ohio. She lives in Worthington with her husband, Freddy, and she enjoys being involved in the Shamrock Club of Columbus and traveling to Disney World whenever possible.

CLINIC

Shannon McClain

Shannon was born and raised in Columbus, where still still lives with her cat O'Malley, and joined our front desk team in the summer of 2015. In 2016, she added responsibiliities in our clinic as a pre-tester and scribe. Shannon is a BlephEx-Certified Lid Hygenist. She enjoys watching sporting events, especially soccer (Go Crew!), spending time outdoors, hanging out with friends, and planning / decorating events.

Natalie Reynolds

Natalie joined Northwest EyeCare Professionals as a clinic technician in 2018 after graduating from Franklin University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Allied Health Care Management. She is from the small town of Ada, OH. She now lives in Columbus with her fiancé that she met in high school and their furchild Calvin, an aussiedoodle. Fun fact: she has an identical twin sister!

Alex Schober

Alex joined NWECP as an optical tech in July of 2016. Alex is a regular pre-tester and scribe in our clinic, and is also responsible for coordinating prescription verifications. She also continues to provide support to our optical staff when needed. Alex was recognized as a Certified Paraoptometric in 2018. She a BlephEx-Certified Lid Hygenist. She is from Perry, OH and got a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Otterbein University. Alex is Currently living in Upper Arlington and enjoys reading and photography.

ADMINISTRATION

Deborah Bosner

Deborah has been the Chief Operations Officer for Northwest EyeCare since 2011 following a 13-year corporate career at Battelle Memorial Institute: she is responsible for the strategy and direction of our organization. She grew up in Springfield, Ohio and attended the University of Notre Dame for her undergraduate degree, then received her MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. She and her husband, Dr. Bosner, live in Upper Arlington with their son, Quinlan. They are active members of St. Agatha Parish and Deborah is a frequent volunteer at St. Agatha School.

Kim Hickey, Administrative Manager

Kim is originally from Northwest Ohio, outside of Toledo and studied at Bowling Green State University. She moved to Columbus in 2003 and joined Northwest EyeCare as our Administrative Manager, as well as the Security and HIPAA Officer for our practice. Kim is a American Board of Opticianry Certified and is a Licensed Optician in the State of Ohio. She lives in Delaware with her husband and two sons, Evan, 12, and Logan, 9. She enjoys do-it-yourself projects, football and baseball, baking, and drinking coffee.

Colin Wood

Colin is from Charleston, West Virginia and joined Northwest EyeCare in 2013 as an Optometric Technician. He now works as the insurance and billing specialist for the practice. He is also an active musician and music educator in Columbus. He lives in the university area with his wife and two children.