By Marge Axelrad
Editorial Director

 

At their home office in Raleigh, Robert Brodney, left, president, and Stephen F. Bolick, OD, founder and CEO. The company’s home office ‘campus’ includes management, laboratory and administration functions.

RALEIGH, N.C.--Stephen F. Bolick, OD and the professional team at Eye Care Associates have come a long way from the group’s start in a “garden level” office here 30 years ago to become a major presence in this state’s growing Triangle region and one of the largest, modern optometric practices in the country.

A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Bolick founded Eye Care Associates in 1978 with a single office that was actually “kind of in the basement” of one of the only office buildings at the time on Six Forks Road. Ten years later, he relocated close by, which has since evolved into a headquarters’ “campus,” actually two buildings that include executive offices, a central lab and administrative space.

Today, Eye Care Associates spans 15 offices in the Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill area, plus one on the Coast in Wilmington where the company will look for additional opportunities. Growth via acquisition and new openings are on a fast track that is projecting sales to approach $30 million this year.



In an interview here, Bolick and Eye Care Associates’ president, Robert Brodney, recalled the history, and Bolick tells of expanding via “trial and error” over time to bring additional optometrists into the mix, while cultivating a focused contact lens specialization and a growing premium dispensing business. “I loved seeing patients and we were attracting many young and motivated ODs, but I realized I had to start to think about the business side,” Bolick related.

Brodney had been president of Hour Eyes with Robert Samit OD; that business was sold in 1997. Brodney moved into laser vision correction and ophthalmology arena and had known Bolick for years and started consulting with him. He joined Eye Care Associates as president in November 2001 and the two started to evaluate operations, expansion possibilities, systems investments and the development of a corporate culture “with a small group feel” that would support it all.

Today, Bolick shares eyecare duties with several optometry partners and associate ODs, a total of 24, all of whom share in the profits of their practices as a part of their compensation.

That accounts, Bolick and Brodney agree, for the spirited atmosphere of the group. The philosophy of the practice, identified as “visionary” in the group’s image materials and locations, embraces comprehensive eyecare with a focus on modern dispensaries and high-tech, systems-supported exam lanes that make use of the latest in automation software, and diagnostic tools.

Said Brodney, “In all of the offices, about two years ago, we scanned all of our existing charts and went with an electronic medical records system called ExamWriter which is part of the OfficeMate portfolio. We are just thrilled with it. All of our offices are also networked via voice-over IP protocol which enables our patients to call in and automatically be pivoted to the right place for service. We’ve been using advanced technology for lens processing for years and our internal lab is completely updated. We believe in technology and what it can achieve; plus technology can make both the eyecare and our dispensaries a better experience for the patient.”

   

Eye Care Associates operates 16 locations. Here, right, the Arboretum location and left, its atrium-like interior in Cary.

He added, “Steve and I discuss this a lot--we run a business from the point of view of systems, reports and controls. But our ‘face’ to the community and our patients is of a group of excellent eyecare doctors providing clinical care.”

Eye Care Associates’ expansion has been fueled by the rapid economic growth of the Triangle, which includes a thriving computer and R&D company base, the local universities, like UNC-Chapel Hill, and other businesses. Just this month, Eye Care Associates was recognized for the second year in a row by the Triangle Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the area (for companies with up to 150 employees--and the company is just at that threshold now).

The practice is also highly visible regionally, serving as the official eyecare providers to the Carolina Hurricanes, and official partner of Tar Heel sports. “We sponsor swim teams, are involved in a breast cancer awareness fundraiser, the Lion’s Club, Triangle reading service, the Red Cross,” said Brodney, “we’re a big part of the community here. Eye Care Associates’ annual “Vision Expo” fashion show and product exhibit, organized by senior buyer Cindy Keil, helps associates learn what’s new; this year, the public was also invited in for the show.

Said Bolick, “The development of the business part of our practice has really created so much energy among our team here; it’s what’s driven us, our doctors, our manager and staff, to grow.”