About

CENTRAL DAKOTA EYECARE was started by Jeffrey Rausch in 1980.

Dr. Rausch was raised on a farm north of Pierre. After attaining his BS at University of South Dakota and his OD at Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago he was ready to “come home”. Pierre seemed to have a need for another eye doctor so he opened his practice in a small store front location downtown. Rapid growth of the practice allowed Dr. Rausch to join forces to build the current building in 1986.

In 1988 another local student, Dr. Denette Eisnach decided it was also time to “come home”. After undergraduate at South Dakota State University and obtaining her Optometry Degree from Pacific University near Portland, she invested four years of practice in Brookings but knew it wasn’t her forever location. She then made the decision to “come home” to Pierre and joined Dr. Rausch at Central Dakota Eyecare.

In 2005, another Pierre native also felt the call to “come home”. Dr. Jill (Novotny) Hart had followed Dr. Rausch’s academic path of attending the University of South Dakota and then on to the Illinois College of Optometry. After practicing for four years in the Sioux Falls area, she too felt she was ready to give back to her own community and chose to “come home”. Although all three doctors knew it would be a bit crowded in their current location, some innovative scheduling made the addition of Dr. Hart work out great.

Later, another Pierre native, Dr. Nick Marso, felt the urge to “come home” and give back to this great community as well. After obtaining his BS at the University of Minnesota and his Optometry Degree at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, he joined Central Dakota Eyecare in the summer of 2016. Dr. Marso brought a fresh perspective and valuable new energy to the practice. With the addition of Dr. Marso, we remodeled and expanded our clinic in 2017 to accommodate for the remarkable growth of the practice.

Most recently, Central Dakota Eyecare gained another Pierre native, Dr. Matthew Blaseg. Dr. Blaseg is another T.F. Riggs High School graduate that went on to receive his Bachelor’s at South Dakota State University, followed by obtaining his Optometry Degree in Memphis, TN at the Southern College of Optometry. He then also felt the call to “come home” to serve his community and brings forth another layer of fresh perspective for our practice.

Central Dakota Eyecare began and continues to successfully provide care to the Pierre/Fort Pierre area and surrounding communities, by striving to be a sense of “home” to each patient that entrusts their care to our office.

At Central Dakota Eyecare, WE CARE ABOUT YOUR EYE CARE!