Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VIDALIA, La. — Miss-Lou Eye Care and Milliken Family Dentistry will soon move their practices from Natchez and Ferriday to a new 7300-square-foot facility in Vidalia, Louisiana.

Representatives from both practices spoke to attendees at the Concordia Parish Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon on Tuesday.

Bridget Milliken, an optometrist who owns Miss-Lou Eye Care and a Ferriday, Louisiana, native said she is “excited” to be moving her practice to Vidalia.

“I’ve been practicing for the last 14 years in Natchez and I’m excited to be moving my practice back across the river to Louisiana,” she said.

Currently located at 239 John R. Junkin Drive, Miss-Lou Eye Care provides routine eye exams and fittings for eyeglasses and contacts as well as treatment of an array of eye diseases and infections such as glaucoma or pink eye, she said.

Her office is set to move to the brand-new facility at 202 Advocate Row in Vidalia in late September or early October, Milliken said.

Construction on the building began in November 2021, she said.

The 7300-square-foot eye and dental clinic will house both practices on opposite ends of the building. Approximately 3,500 square feet of the building will house the eye clinic’s four exam rooms and “the latest technology” to take eye measurements and diagnose and treat eye conditions.

Tom T. Milliken III, DDS, will move his practice of 13 years from Ferriday to the other side of the building, said office manager, Drew Thompson.

“Tom T. Milliken has been practicing general dentistry since 2009 and in 2015 started practicing family dentistry,” he said. “We’re very excited to be in the new building as well. It will give us more space to grow and to move around. For myself, I’m looking forward to not as far of a drive from Natchez.”

Thompson said what Milliken Family Dentistry is most excited about with the new office space is being able to provide localized pediatric dental care.

“Pediatric dentists in Monroe and Alexandria are overwhelmed and flooded with patients and it takes them longer to treat them,” he said. “We’re hoping to get our kids in the community faster so they can get the dental care that they need in a timely manner. They won’t have to drive out of town. They don’t have to wait as long in lines. We’ll see kids and adults of all ages.”

They said current and new patients will be transferred over to the new office.

“We look forward to providing eye and dental care to Vidalia and the surrounding communities,” Milliken said. “We want to see you and smile.”