Jon M Portis, MD

Greenpeace and Whole Foods would approve of this eye doctor!
Dr. Portis has been my eye doctor for over a decade. I saw him yesterday and was impressed by a few things:
1. He’s never been one to push expensive prescription remedies. Here’s an example: Dry eyes? «Try fish oil supplements. Here’s the research to support it…»
2. Not only did we discuss fish oil supplements (which I’ve been taking for two years and have helped immensely with dry eyes), but he made the distinction between buying the ester form (sold in most formulas) vs the trigylceride form (only two brands, PRN and Nordic Naturals).
3. Taking it one step further, he also discussed responsible sourcing of the fish oil. Because it isn’t just about his patients’ health, it’s also about maintaining a healthy ecosystem and not depleting our precious ocean resources.
His office staff that I interacted with yesterday were all perfectly efficient, empathic, upbeat and professional. His office is clean with good magazines to peruse for the 15 seconds before you’re called in.
In summary, if you’re looking for good care from someone who keeps up to date with research in the field AND looks for nutritional rather than pharmaceutical fixes AND cares deeply about the environment, wanting to leave the planet a decent place for our future generations… this is the office to make an appointment with.

There are few things that men should always try to ensure they have the best of because we spend our whole lives depending on them: shoes, tires, his bed, and EYE CARE and when I visited Dr. Portis I knew that I had one out of the four secured.
Dr Portis has an incredibly gentle but meticulous approach when it came to making sure my contacts were the absolute best fit for my eyes. His staff was friendly and helpful. And nothing beats the location as Queens POB 1 for parking availability and convenience for me.
I highly recommend that you visit Dr Portis as eye care is nothing you should leave to chance.

Dr Portis’ office is terrific! Had something wrong w my left eye today & needed to find eye doctor. Called several — most couldn’t see me same day as new patient & one actually wouldn’t take me unless I did full eye exam w dilation which wd’ve taken 2 hours! Finally found Portis — who let me come in right away just to look at my eye & I was out of there in about 30 min w antibiotic prescrips! Dr Portis was great & staff were very friendly. Thank god I found Dr. Portis!

Loving Lasik! Had Lasik done last week Thursday and went from ²⁰⁄₆₅₀ to ²⁰⁄₂₀ in just 15 minutes. 4 weeks of Restasis to prevent the dry eye that is anticipated with the procedure, 2 weeks of glasses (probably the hardest part) and then two Valium later I was waking up with perfect vision. Despite being rather squeamish about my eyes, my vision was finally stable and my window to reading glasses was looming. I made the mistake of watching the procedure being done on the person ahead of me, which was morbidly fascinating but not good for my eyeball phobia. The reality was about 15 minutes of pressure on my eyeball that was ⁴⁄₁₀ at the worst and then just focusing on the green and red blinky lights. When I sat up I could read the time on the clock! The follow up care included antibiotic and steroid drops in my eye four times a day for a week, in addition to the Restasis twice a day and Systane Ultra drops as needed. I had a very mild foreign body sensation in just my left eye for 6 days, now completely gone along with the dryness. Some mornings when I wake up I have a split second of panic that I left my contact lenses in. Then I realize that my life has been permanently changed for the better.

This is my first Unilocal review, but there is no doubt that ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision in my left eye for the first time in 47 years is worthy of a review. When my Optometrist started having problems correcting my vision completely with corrective lenses, I knew that with my bad eyes, it was time to find a good, preferably great Ophthalmologist. Fortunately, two good friends recommended Dr. Jon M. Portis.
Dr. Portis quickly diagnosed cataracts in each eye and because of my retinal pathology, he also insisted I see a Retinal Specialist prior to him being able to do any cataract surgery. My Retinal Dr. agreed that there were multiple holes and one partial detachment that needed his care.
Two retinal surgeries later, it was back to Dr. Portis to start dealing with the cataract that was blurring my vision in the left eye. For the first time in my life, the «E» at the top line of the eye chart, was the only line I could read. I was a bit scared at how bad my eyes had gotten.
Fortunately, Dr. Portis, with his skilled, knowledgeable, informative and confident bed-​side manner is here to help folks like me. Dr. Portis was very careful not to make any promises or raise my hopes due to the «complicated» nature of my case. After two rounds of visits and several measurements, Dr. Portis also recommended that I go with a single focal lens rather than some of the multi-​focal products that I had read about and was interested in. As he put it, «we only have one chance to do this right» and with my eyes, some of the fancier lenses might become problematic over time. I followed Dr. Portis’ advice and recommendations to the letter. I chose a single focal lens that was focused on improving my distance vision, or any vision «beyond arms length.»
The day had finally arrived and after a couple of hours at his Surgical Suites, staffed with friendly, attentive nurses and an anesthesiologist, I was set to go. The actual cataract Sx only took about 25 minutes. Dr. Portis mentioned to me that once the cataract was removed, he had the only laser equipment in the state of HI that allowed him to take one final measurement before implanting the artificial lens. Based on this last minute measurement, Dr. Portis made the decision to change the lens size even a bit more prior to implantation.
I have just finished my second follow-​up appointment and needless to say, Dr. Portis, his staff, and myself are all delighted with the results. ²⁰⁄₂₀ and now my left eye is my «better» eye. WOW!
Our vision is truly a gift and i am delighted that there are people out there like Dr. Jon Portis who have the skill and expertise to deal with problematic eyes such as mine. It is a treat to be able to wake up and see the world, through at least one eye, the eye that Dr. Portis has worked on and corrected! My heartfelt thanks to this Dr. and his staff.

Dr. Portis is the eye doctor for both my husband and I. We have been going to him for about 8 years and would never consider going to anyone else in Hawaii. He is the only one we trusted when we decided that we wanted LASIK.
He has a professional and friendly staff and we have always enjoyed our eye doctor appointments.
I highly recommend Dr. Portis to anyone either looking to do LASIK or just looking for a wonderful ophthalmologist.
And if you are even thinking about LASIK — just do it! Both my husband and I can’t believe that we waited as long as we did. The surgery has been amazing and I can’t begin to tell you how awesome it is to not have to scramble for contacts or glasses every morning.
Dr. Portis is fun, professional, and just amazing at what he does. In fact, I’m due for my yearly appointment so I’d better make that call. :)

I had LASIK about a month ago and it’s awesome! The procedure took about 20 – 30 minutes and was almost painless (you’ll feel pressure when they create the flap). But, it was worth it! If you’re tired of wearing contacts or glasses then you should definitely get LASIK!

I recently had a surgical procedure called blephardplasty to correct my droopy eye lids done by Dr. Jon Portis. I am very pleased with the surgical results. Now my eyes open wide, my vision is better, and my eyes has healed nicely with a very natural look. Dr Portis was always very patient, pleasant, informative, and caring.

I just got LASIK done with Dr. Portis and it is truly life changing.
I went from ²⁰⁄₆₀₀ to ²⁰⁄₁₅ with no pain and no down time.
I have been wearing contacts for about 20 years so I was very used to them. I felt I could see fine with them and had become accustom to the minor inconvenience of wearing them, storing them, taking them on/​off and traveling with them, etc. I did dream of getting LASIK because I had heard great things, but I didn’t feel any immediate need to spend the money or take the risk of a bad result. However, after my daughter was born, ²⁰⁄₆₀₀ vision at night when my contacts were out was a hazard. My vision was so bad if took my glasses off I could barely find them. Kids get up a lot in the middle of the night so its not helpful to wake up blind. Plus, any inconvenience that could be removed was now welcomed. I figured if there were a time do it, now would be the most helpful. So I consulted with Dr. Portis who has been my eye doc for many many years and decided to go for it.
The procedure was quick and painless and recovery is so easy there is literally no downtime. I was definitely a bit freaked out prior to surgery, but now I could not recommend it highly enough. It is AMAZING! It is not like the eye sight I had with my contacts, it is so much better. Even though I could see fine with contacts, that was like watching regular TV and after LASIK it is like watching life in High Definition. Vision is crisp and clear.
The surgery was done at Aloha Laser Center. The staff there are very friendly, professional and informative. They gave me a valium which I was hesitant to take because I am fairly holistic and generally don’t take any meds. But I took it in this case because like anyone thinking of LASIK (probably you if you are reading this) the idea of cutting my eye open was creating some tension. My body felt more relaxed, but my brain was still actively creating horrifying scenarios in my head. Anyways, I am sure the staff is very used to this and calmly answered my steady stream of irrational questions like, «What if i sneeze while the laser is working on my eye?»
After a pep talk in a room with calm soothing music it was show time. Dr. Portis talked me through the whole thing and made sure I was doing ok. The first portion of the surgery was the most uncomfortable part because they put a plastic ring in my eye and pressed down firmly. And even though my eye was totally numb it was just weird and awkward to have something on my eyeball knowing that an incision is being made. However, that part lasted for what I felt to be less than a minute for each eye so not enough time to become truly unsettling. Then the bed moved me under the other laser and I stared at some lights for a very brief moment. The laser created a strange smell, but they told me beforehand to expect that. Then it is over. Voila! I could see.
I don’t even think the surgery lasted more than 10 minute total.
I still cannot believe how fast and easy it all was. No regrets, I encourage everyone who has really bad vision to do it. It will change your quality of life for the better. Dr. Portis did a great job and I am very grateful.
On an additional note, even though this review is focused on my LASIK experience, Dr. Portis has also been my eye doc for many many years and is just great, informative and efficient in all tasks. I have not had any other eye surgeries with him, but there have been many vision checks and some infections over the years. Through it all Dr. Portis has been and continues to be a great doctor.

«Holy Cra@, I can see.» I’ve said this twice in my life. The first about 15 years ago at Kahala Mall, when I jokingly put my friend’s glasses on and my eyes came into focus. I didn’t know I needed glasses until then. The second time, was when i woke up the next day after my LASIK surgery performed by Dr Portis, three weeks ago, looking at my clock across the room.
So on the day of surgery, you go to the LASIK center in the First Insurance building, and you check in and they give you a Valium to calm your nerves. (Though I felt nothing) The pre-​op nurse gives you some instructions and some heads up as to what is going to happen when you’re under the «laser.» Pretty comforting. I was so relaxed… K maybe that WAS the valium. Anyway, the whole procedure takes less than twenty minutes or so. No pain, just a little eye discomfort. But right after, i could already tell that my sight was better.
I would highly recommend Dr Portis for your LASIK surgery. It was in and out. No problems, even with my small eyes.
Yes, it does cost some big bucks, but I figure it’ll pay for itself in about 8 years, not having to pay for contacts or solution. It’s also worth it when I fall asleep on the couch and I wake up to take my contacts out and I realize… NO CONTACTS! WooHoo
Even better, for the last three weeks playing softball, my hitting has been craycray. (Sorry, it’s what the kids are saying these days) Im batting almost 1000! I know my teammates are happy that I got LASIK!
Thank you Dr Portis!

It was a blessing in disguise that my old ophthalmologist’s office gave me a really hard time returning to their office even after 16 years of being a «regular» customer. I was conned into an eye exam by another eye doctor and my old OP’s office said, «sorry, you transferred care to another physician so we can’t take you back»…only they were defensive and rude. OK. No problem. I didn’t have a beef with my old doctor but I didn’t want to go back to a business that had that much drama anyway. I paid my bills, I showed up on time and never missed an appointment; whatever beef the staff had with the doctor was none of my business… literally.
First thing was trying to find another ophthalmologist — very difficult to do on this island. I did extensive research and called a bunch of offices. Long story short, nothing matched my criteria for an acceptable eye doc. This was my criteria for finding a specialist:
1) a SPECIALIST in eye diseases, especially when family members were suspect or have/​had eye disease.
2) trained in special surgery and related to the eye diseases.
3) good patient ratings — Unilocal didn’t have any information on Dr. Portis so I went to
. Not only did I look up patient satisfaction ratings, I checked out the whole gamut of information: years of experience, schooling, areas of expertise, surgery experience.
4) front desk staff — how do they treat you on the phone? In this case, great. No problems. A minor few ruffles early on with the phone ringing off the hook, holding for 2+ minutes, a bit of scrambling to correct insurance claims but other than that everyone was professional.
And before I go any further, you cannot just make an appointment… you need to have a referral from your primary care physician first and your insurance needs to be covered by Dr. Portis’ office… just so you know.
Dr. Portis and his staff were immaculate (front desk, optometrist, technicians, billing). I am especially grateful for Dr. Portis’ taking time to explain every aspect of the exam and the findings. I’ve never experienced that much one-​on-​one before. He showed me the screen, what he had found, what was to be expected and future expectations. He explained the tests, the parameters… every thing. If I had a question, he’d answer it in plain English and he did not cut corners. Dr. Portis’ demeanor is very approachable and there are no airs about him (Harvard graduate too :-)
Gone are the days of finding just any old doctor/​dentist closer to town. Do your research as your eyes/​ears/​teeth are invaluable. You cannot replace what God has given you when you were born but you can find those that are most qualified to have your best interests at heart when you are trying to protect your precious assets that can never be replaced.