The History of Vantage Eye Center

Vantage Eye Center continues a long tradition of the best in eye care on the central California Coast. With locations in Monterey, Ryan Ranch, and Salinas, Vantage Eye Center stands alone as the premiere center for comprehensive eye care and services in central California.

History of Cataract and Anterior Segment Surgery at Vantage Eye
Vantage Eye Center has its roots in Salinas Valley Eye Associates, which was created in 1980 when Dr. Stuart Paul, MD joined the practice of Dr. Glenn Smith, MD. Dr. Paul completed his ophthalmology training at Pittsburgh Eye and Ear Hospital. In the first years of their partnership, the office was a small facility with just two full time employees. There was no computer system, nurses or technicians to assist in the care of the patients.

Over the past two decades Dr. Paul has introduced many new techniques to the central coast, but perhaps his greatest contribution has been that of the modern technique of cataract surgery. In the early 1980's, cataract surgery took two hours, ten stitches, and required a three night hospital stay. Intraocular lens implants were not widely used at that time, which meant that patients had to suffer with thick "Coke bottle" eyeglasses after their surgery in order to see well. Dr. Paul was the first on the Monterey Peninsula to perform phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, a cataract extraction technique which greatly improved patient care and which is now accepted as the standard method of cataract surgery. Today, cataract surgery no longer requires hospitalization, takes only 10 minutes to perform, and requires no sutures. Vision improves in a matter of days and thick glasses are no longer required for excellent vision. Dr. Paul's pioneering work in this area has truly benefited thousands of patients over the past two decades.

Asit "Tony" Pruthi, MD joined Vantage Eye Center in 1994, bringing with him new and innovative microsurgical techniques from the nation's most prestigious training institutions. He received his training in ophthalmology at the prestigious Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Since joining Vantage Eye Center, Dr. Pruthi has been instrumental in raising the standard for ophthalmic microsurgery on the Monterey Peninsula. Generous with his knowledge and skills, he has taught several local surgeons his techniques as well as surgeons-in-training through his affiliation with Stanford University School of Medicine.

In January 2011, Dr. Alexander Holmes joined Dr. Paul and Pruthi on the anterior segment and cataract service of Vantage Eye Center. In 2012, Dr. Charles Whisler and Dr. Geoffrey White also joined the anterior segment and cataract service. They also consolidated offices with Dr. Holmes, into 966 Cass Street to offer convenient eye care to our patients in Monterey and Carmel. Finally at the end of 2012, Dr. Stuart Paul retired after 32 years of service to the Central Coast.

History of Retina Surgery at Vantage Eye
Since 1990, Vantage Eye Center has enjoyed a close relationship with Stanford University. Dr. Mark Blumenkranz, MD, chairman of Stanford University Department of Ophthalmology joined Vantage Eye Center in 1994. Dr. Steve Sanislo, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford, later joined Vantage Eye Center. Dr. Blumenkranz and Dr. Sanislo specialize in the medical and surgical care of the retina, including diabetic retinopathy, age related macular degeneration, and retinal detachment. Dr. Ming Lu joined the retinal team in July of 2005, providing additional expertise in medical and surgical retinal treatments.

In July 2010, Dr. Reza Iranmanesh joined the retina team at Vantage Eye Center. Prior to joining, Dr. Iranmanesh was Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University. With our doctors vast experience and academic backgrounds, Vantage Eye Center’s retinal program is able to provide the most advanced treatment of retinal disease, as well as investigational treatments and surgery not available at other centers.

History of Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Vantage Eye
Matthew Jones, MD joined Vantage Eye Center in 1998 in order to provide expert cornea and refractive surgery services. Dr. Jones completed his residency training in ophthalmology at UCSF . He followed this with a fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at the prestigious Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. In September of 1998, Dr. Jones performed the first corneal transplantation in the history of Monterey County. In June 2003, he performed the first custom LASIK procedure in Monterey County. Since then, Dr. Jon Page joined the cornea and refractive service of Vantage Eye in 2007. Dr. Page is the first surgeon in Monterey to perform Endothelial Keratoplasty, an advanced corneal transplantation technique.

History of Contact Lens and Optical Services at Vantage Eye
Jane Medcalf, OD joined Vantage Eye Center in 1996 after 14 years in solo practice. Dr. Medcalf specializes in contact lenses, and has particular expertise in the fitting of rigid contact lenses, which provide the best vision in certain eye conditions such as keratoconus or after corneal transplantation. Since then Dr. Michael Neunzig and Dr. Mehrak Farahmand have joined the contact lens service; all our optometrists fit specialty lenses for astigmatism correction, cosmetic eye color change, and bifocal contact lenses. Our optometrists work closely with Dr. Jones and Dr. Page in the visual rehabilitation of patients who have undergone corneal surgery.

History of Glaucoma Surgery at Vantage Eye
In 2003, Dr. Richard Kim joined Vantage Eye Center to bring Glaucoma expertise to the Central Coast. Dr. Kim completed a fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Glaucoma, making him the only fellowship trained specialist is Glaucoma on the Monterey Peninsula. Prior to Dr. Kim’s arrival, patients with advanced Glaucoma would have to go to the Bay area for treatment.

History of Oculoplastics and Aesthetic Surgery at Vantage Eye
Dr. Chris DeBacker joined Vantage Eye Center to bring oculoplastics expertise to the Central Coast. This includes cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the eyelids and face. In September of 2010, Dr. Carlo Rob Bernardino joined the oculoplastics service at Vantage Eye after serving as Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of Oculoplastics at Yale University. Dr. Bernardino brings additional expertise in aesthetic and minimally invasive reconstructive surgery around the eye.

History of Locations at Vantage Eye
With the growth of Vantage Eye Center over the 1980's and 1990's, space issues became an increasing concern. From a small office with just two doctors and three employees, our practice has grown to eleven doctors and over 30 full-time employees. Over these years, our practice has acquired more and more modern equipment to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. Although the addition of a second office in 1996 temporarily relieved space concerns, parking in the area around Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital became increasing difficult because of the continued growth in the area. A change was needed in order to meet the needs of our patients and the community.

In the mid 1990's, Dr. Paul and Pruthi predicted that the rapidly expanding equipment needs necessary for modern eye care and the growth of the Monterey County population would limit the ability of local residents to receive modern eye care by the year 2001. They envisioned the development of a large scale facility, solely devoted to the medical and surgical care of the eyes. Vantage Eye Center was developed to provide patients of the central coast with medical and surgical eye care as good or better than that available at most universities. With partner Dr. Jones, they considered several locations and designs for their new center.

The site for the new facility was secured at 622 Abbott Street in September of 1999 when the Ford dealership moved from that location to the Auto Mall in North Salinas. The large two acre Abbott Street lot was ideal in many ways. The acreage provided sorely needed parking space for our patients and staff. Highway 101 and Highway 68 are easily accessible, making visits easier for our out-of-town patients. Finally, the lot was large enough to hold the 20,000 square foot eye center, which includes an outpatient surgery center, clinic building, laser vision correction suite, conference center, and optical shop. The center opened in March of 2002, ushering in a new era in eye care for Central California.

Since then Vantage Eye has added two additional sites, one in the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula medical building of Ryan Ranch (2 Upper Ragsdale Drive) and recently Monterey (966 Cass Street). These two additional sites allow Vantage Eye to deliver convenient, university-level eye care to our patients in the Monterey Peninsula.
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