Cynthia Baker, OD, had been through a lot in her Denham Springs, Louisiana building she constructed in 1995. (She was in another building down the street for about 13 years before that.) She essentially lost her entire practice when in 2016 when the Amite River crested during a devastating flood, which left her practice five feet underwater, But she rebuilt it, adding two more exam lanes in the process of the reconstruction.
Then in January 2020, she sold it to her daughter, Celeste Baker DiCarlo, OD. Dr. DiCarlo chuckles at the timing. “Right at the start of COVID was not great for me, but it was probably terrific for her. I’m sure it would have been very difficult to withstand a second blow like that,” she says.
Dr. DiCarlo never considered working with mother while she was growing up. Her father was an OD as well, and she started her undergraduate studies in a pre-pharmacy program. It was actually a younger OD who was working in her mother’s practice (where she also worked part-time) who convinced her that optometry was a great career option.
But even after she graduated, she wasn’t sure she’d come back to the area. She had been working in New Orleans while her husband, Vincent DiCarlo, MD, was finishing his endodontic residency. When he was offered a job in Baton Rouge, less than 20 miles from Denham Springs, Dr. DiCarlo says the idea of buying her mother’s practice became appealing.
Dr. DiCarlo admires all her mother had done in building a loyal patient base and hiring an excellent team. Plus, the practice and all the equipment was just four years old.
SWITCHING PLACES
For a short time after Dr. DiCarlo and her husband came to Baton Rouge, she worked part-time in her mother’s practice and part-time for a former associate of her mother’s, who now had her own practice. Once Dr. DiCarlo took over, Dr. Baker continued to work two days a week for a few years.
“I hadn’t really thought about retiring, and in the months leading up to last July, I didn’t think I wanted to. But once I did, I loved it.” She knows her patients and the practice she built are in great hands. “I’m very proud of her. She’s an amazing doctor, a great mother and a wonderful daughter.”
Dr. DiCarlo says she is thankful to have acquired such a complete practice. “I’ve added technology and electronic health records, but she was dedicated and gave life to this practice. Seeing how much she cared about her patients was inspiring.”
Read more stories about multi-generational ODs below.
