CINCINNATI--With refractive surgery procedure volumes and revenues down sharply in 2008’s second quarter, LCA-Vision responded by reducing its workforce, cutting on advertising expenditures by up to 46 percent and decreasing the number of new surgery centers it plans to open and/or relocate during the rest of this year.

In addition, chief marketing officer Jim Brenner--who joined LCA-Vision in May 2007 to oversee its marketing, managed care and call center departments--resigned in July.

According to interim chief financial officer Michael Celebrezze, who took over in June after previous CFO Alan Buckey resigned, LCA-Vision reduced its work force by another 25 percent in the last few months, following a 16 percent staff reduction earlier this year.

In addition to staff reductions, LCA-Vision initiated a salary freeze and eliminated a number of open positions, replaced by part-time personnel. Expenditures are also being reduced by halting 2008 new center openings after the third quarter, reducing the number of center relocations planned for this year from five to three, and limiting new laser purchases by moving under-utilized excimer lasers to centers opening in Q3.

These moves were made in response to a drop in second-quarter revenues of nearly 23 percent, to $54.2 million. LCA-Vision’s laser-procedure volume plunged by close to 38 percent in the quarter, to 30,086; same-store revenues fell 28 percent.

LCA-Vision saw a net loss of $573, 000 in Q2, compared to net income of $7.4 million in the comparable period in ‘07.

Said Steven Straus, the company’s chief executive officer, “We are facing substantial business challenges as eroding consumer confidence continues to impact discretionary spending.”

LCA-Vision currently operates 77 LasikPlus vision centers in 60 markets in 34 states. Executives have said plans call for more than 120 LasikPlus vision centers in the top 100 U.S. markets.

The company recently celebrated the one-millionth laser vision correction procedure performed at its LasikPlus vision centers, done by Eugene Smith, MD, at the Galleria LasikPlus vision center in suburban Atlanta. ■