(PRESS RELEASE) ST. LOUIS — EyeCare Partners (ECP), the nation’s leading clinically integrated network of ophthalmology and optometry providers, announced it entered into an agreement to acquire CEI Vision Partners (CVP), a premier network of ophthalmology practices in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, to create a combined group of more than 280 ophthalmologists and over 700 optometrists supported by almost 5,000 clinical staff and 1,200 support services team members across 18 states. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are excited to have the doctors and team members of CVP join forces with the ECP family to deliver our mission to enhance vision, advance eye care and improve lives,” said David Clark, CEO of EyeCare Partners. “Our partnership with CVP will be transformative in the industry, creating a premier network of top doctors who can deliver the best patient outcomes, provide optimal patient experiences and achieve the highest efficiencies in the delivery of care. We truly will be better together.”
The combination, the largest in the clinically integrated eye care field, will bolster ECP’s national medical group, expanding patient accessibility to nationally recognized doctors dedicated to serving their vision needs at different phases of life. CVP adds more than 150 industry-leading providers across all major subspecialties in ophthalmology and optometry in 47 clinical centers and eight ambulatory surgical centers, expanding ECP’s eye care services across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia.
“CVP has grown substantially over the last three years by partnering with leading ophthalmology practices in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic region, and we are excited to take this growth to the next level in partnership with EyeCare Partners,” said Clyde Bell, CEO of CVP. “As soon as we initiated the conversation with ECP, it was apparent that together, our organizations’ strengths and mission-driven cultures will expand on our ability to provide the highest level of vision care for our patients and better opportunities for our doctors and team members.”
ECP emphasizes the importance of doctor leadership, through medical executive boards, in partnership with a diverse group of business leaders with broad healthcare experience, all working closely together to achieve the best results. ECP supports its practices by leveraging practice management expertise with the resources and knowledge inherent in its national medical group, while providing efficient and effective business functions in support of the growing demand for eye care, allowing doctors to focus on what they do best — deliver personalized patient care.
“The benefits this partnership with CVP will bring to ECP’s patients, doctors and team members is compelling,” said Antonio Capone Jr, MD, of Associated Retinal Consultants and Chairman of ECP’s Ophthalmology Medical Executive Board. “Medicine is changing. There are a number of inefficiencies in healthcare which ECP will help to address for our patients and clinical teams where we provide care today and into the future. The leadership of EyeCare Partners has an eye towards that future and is shaping our organization to achieve these results, supporting delivery of the highest quality care throughout the full continuum of eye care for our patients.”
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“CVP is excited to partner with ECP” said Daniel Miller, M.D., Ph.D., CVP’s Chief Medical Officer. “They share our vision for recruiting leading practices and the highest quality eye care providers. This partnership will accelerate our mutual goal of creating the leading integrated eye care company in the U.S.”
The partnership is expected to formally close in mid-November.
