Menominee Tribal Clinic optometry short staffed, optical closes midday for a week

Patients who needed glasses adjustments, prescription refills or routine vision care at the Menominee Tribal Clinic had to plan around a midday cutoff as the Optometry Department was short staffed for the week of May 11 and into the following week. During that shortage, Optical closed from noon to 1:00 p.m., creating a narrow but important gap for anyone trying to pick up eyewear or handle an eye-care task in one trip.

The clinic’s optometry department lists two providers, Robert Chelberg, O.D. and Nicholas Keszo, O.D. The broader clinic said it was open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and its medical-services page urged patients to call the appointment desk at 8:00 a.m. for same-day appointments. Patients with urgent eye needs, prescription problems or already scheduled visits were the people most likely to feel the pinch, especially if they depended on the optical counter as part of a single stop at the clinic.

The public service notice matters because the Menominee Tribal Clinic is a core access point for the reservation and the surrounding county. The tribe says the reservation is nearly coterminous with Menominee County and includes Keshena, Neopit, Middle Village, Zoar and South Branch. Residents from Legend Lake also regularly travel to the clinic for care, making even a short staffing reduction more than a minor scheduling issue in a county where transportation and appointment timing often shape whether care gets delayed.

That local pressure is heightened by the county’s size and population makeup. Menominee County’s estimated population was 4,199 on July 1, 2025, and 78.5% of residents identified as American Indian and Alaska Native alone. In a place that small, a temporary shortage in one specialty can ripple through school vision checks, work-related prescription updates and the basic logistics of getting to Keshena, finding an open window and making it back home without another trip.

The clinic says its mission is to provide “quality, accessible and comprehensive health services,” a goal that depends on enough staff in departments like optometry and enough flexibility for patients trying to fit care into a short day. The clinic’s main number is (715) 799-3361, and the after-hours nurse hotline is (715) 786-4006. The short staffing raised a larger question for Menominee County: whether this was only a one-week disruption, or a sign of the broader provider-capacity strain that can quietly limit tribal health access across the community.