Dr. Derek Blair Hess, MD

Dr. Hess had an amazing bedside manner and even better knowledge of our diagnosis! He really listened to my son took his time with our exam. He got my son to cooperate and that is not easy! His vision is great now and we are forever grateful.

Dr. Hess is so patient and charismatic! He was excellent with my 4 year old daughter and made going to the doctor a fun experience for her. We really appreciate all of his hard work and dedication.

Dr. Hess did a wonderful job on my son’s eyelid surgery. He is a skilled surgeon, however here are the issues that I had with him and his office: Each time I went to his office, it took 1-2 hours after our appt time to be seen. My account was sent to collections for $40 after I had been to the office twice and was never told that I had a bill. Lastly, the nursing staff gave my son morphine after his surgery (they said it would help him calm down) and he stopped breathing in my arms. Luckily they were able to get him breathing again but I would never plan another surgery at All Children’s again. Dr Hess never even mentioned it.

My son has been seeing Dr. Derek Hess for a little over a year now. Dr. Derek Hess has performed two surgeries on my son. I was worried about how my son was acting after surgery so I called his office at night and left a message. He called me back two minutes later and wanted me to follow up with him in a couple hours. He is the nicest, most caring Doctor I have ever met.

Impossible to reach anyone in the clinic. Staff is very rude. Did not follow up when they said they would. Decided to pursue another physician because if my daughter has surgery then I need to be able to reach them if there was a problem. Had to call 17 times to reach someone each time I called and no way to leave a message: When I addressed this with the manager I was told that they were busy and I wasn't their only patient.

Dr. Hess is the best. He fixed my lazy eye after another doctor's unsuccesful surgery. I went to see many doctors that specialize in strabismus surgery. No one could help me. Then I met dr. Derek Hess. He took a lot of time with me. I was impressed with his maneurism. I decided to give another surgery a shot and did not regret it. I have straight eyes now. Thank you dr. Hess with all my heart.

Dr. Hess is the best Pediatric Opthomoligist in the Tampa/ST. Pete area. I had been to 2 others prior to being referred to him by an adult opthamologist. He spends so much time with my daughter every time we have an appointment. He did not rush us into surgery and watched my daughters progression for 3 years. When it came time to do the surgery, he was amazing! I understood exactly what my options were, the pros and cons of the surgery, and all of the things that could happen even the ones that the chances were so minimal . After the surgery I asked my 4 year old two questions and here are her responses: 1. "Did anything hurt today?" "No Mommy, although the popsicle was cold when I had my first lick (post op)" 2. "Were you scared at all " Nope". That sums up her experience:) I would reccomend Dr. Hess to anyone and everyone!

Dr. Hess has been wonderful with my daughter. He performed laser eye surgery for ROP because it was advancing. This was due to her prematurity. Dr. Hess was eager and excited to answer all my questions. The surgery went great just as he said. My daughter has followed up with him becsause she has CVI and cannot see well; however, this is not because of him but her brain is damaged from cerebral palsy and it affects her vision. Overall, great doctor I recommend him.

Dr. Hess diaganosed my daughter with Retinitis Pigmentosa at 3 years old. He also guided us in the right direction to see Genetics based on his observations of my daughter. He was sure that she had a very rare genetic disorder (Bardet Biedl Syndrome) which usually gets diagnosed mid-late childhood. Thanks to his caring and observations, my daughter was able to start receiving the appropriate therapies and seeing all the specialists that she needed to early on. That has made an incredible impact in her progress and development. He's is trully wonderful and great with children with special needs. He's very patience and understanding. We recently moved and can no longer see him. We will miss him and I am sure we will never find an ophtalmologist like him again.