About the practice
Named after a family farm
We opened in 2012, named after Dr. Sorensen’s grandparents’ farm. We’re still independent and doctor-owned, with three optometrists in one office on Chattanooga’s east side.
The Wrenfield story
Wrenfield was the name of Dr. Maya Sorensen’s grandparents’ farm outside Dayton, Tennessee. Carolina wrens nested in the barn eaves every spring. They were small and very loud, and her grandmother used to say they ran the place.
Maya got her first pair of glasses at seven. She still talks about the drive home, when she could suddenly read street signs and make out the leaves on the trees instead of a green smear. That was more or less when she decided to become an optometrist.
She opened Wrenfield Eye Care in 2012 with two exam lanes and one part-time optician. From the start she set exams at thirty minutes, which is about how long it takes to do a thorough job and still answer questions. Thirteen years later there are three doctors and four lanes, and the exams are still thirty minutes.
We’re independent and doctor-owned. No corporate office sets our schedule or decides which frames and lenses we carry. The doctors who own the practice are the ones who see you.
The doctors
Dr. Maya Sorensen, OD, Founder
Maya grew up in Dayton, Tennessee, and earned her Doctor of Optometry in Memphis. She focuses on medical eyecare: dry eye, glaucoma monitoring, and diabetic eye exams. She’s the reason Wrenfield added Optomap retinal imaging to every comprehensive exam, back when most practices charged extra for it. Outside the office she’s slowly restoring an old cedar canoe.
Dr. Cole Whitaker, OD
Cole joined in 2017 and runs the pediatric side, from first exams through the teenage years. He built our myopia management program after seeing too many kids’ prescriptions get worse every year. He’s good with nervous kids, and he’ll talk University of Tennessee baseball with you if you give him the opening.
Dr. Priya Natarajan, OD
Priya joined in 2023 and sees patients Tuesdays and Thursdays. She fits the lenses a lot of practices refer out: sclerals, keratoconus, post-surgical corneas, and other hard-to-fit eyes. Patients drive in from Georgia and Alabama for her fittings. She’ll happily explain what a well-fit scleral lens can do for someone who’d given up on contacts.
What we believe
How we run the place
Same doctor, every visit
When you see the same doctor each time, they remember what your eyes looked like last year and the year before. That’s how small changes get caught early.
We don’t rush exams
Our exams run a full thirty minutes, with imaging included and time for your questions. We’d rather see fewer patients and do it right.
Honest about money
We check your benefits before your visit and publish our self-pay prices. What we recommend is based on your eyes, not on what sells.
The people up front
Gina has run the optical shop for over a decade and has been fitting glasses for fifteen years. She’ll tell you when a frame doesn’t suit you, which most people end up thanking her for. Our three front desk staff handle benefits, scheduling, and the phones, and they’ll go over your coverage and costs before you commit to anything.
Every fall we run vision screenings at the elementary schools on the east side. Plenty of kids who can’t see the board don’t realize anything is wrong, so the screenings catch problems that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Come meet us in person
Stop by, or book an exam whenever you’re ready.