LASIK eye surgery making waves in RP
March 24, 2010 12:39 pm
MANILA, March 24 -– LASIK eye surgery, a high-technology form of medical medical treatment for those with problems in the eyesight, is making waves in Philippine shores.
Dr. Jack Arroyo, chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Eye Center (AEC), said LASIK surgery is an acronym for Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomilieusis.
Dr. Arroyo said it’s a blade-less surgical procedure that corrects hyperopia (farsightedness), myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism.
It does this by reshaping the cornea using laser. Bloodless and painless, the procedure is finished in just a few minutes. More importantly, recovery is almost instantaneous, according to Dr. Arroyo.
Patients can usually go back to their normal routine the very next day, Dr. Arroyo said.
This done on their eyes so they can stop wearing glasses or contact lenses and lead normal, more active lives.
“You no longer have to go abroad to undergo this revolutionary refractive procedure. There is now a modern, well-equipped eye care center in the country that does LASIK surgery as well as the best US eye hospitals at just about half the cost,” exclaimed Dr. Arroyo.
AEC, which opened its second branch in Makati’s Greenbelt 5 last month, has, in fact, been doing LASIK surgeries – and other modern eye care procedures – for almost 15 years now.
Dr. Arroyo performed the first LASIK surgery in the Philippines in 1995. Having done over 20,000 LASIK surgeries since then, he is undeniably the most experienced refractive expert in the country.
“There is no need for anyone in the country to go to the United States for refractive surgery,” Dr. Arroyo says. “Our ophthalmologists at AEC can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the world.”
Helping Dr. Arroyo run AEC are three other senior partners: Dr. Benjamin Cabrera, the Center’s COO; Dr. Cesar Espiritu, AEC’s chief medical officer and president of the Cornea Club of the Philippines; and Dr. Victor Caparas, AEC’s chief finance officer and chairman of Medical City’s ophthalmology department.
They lead a team of 14 other specialists who provide medical and surgical services at the Center. Aside from their AEC practice, these doctors also teach at the University of the Philippines, Ateneo and other residency programs.
Established in 1995 at the old Medical City in Pasig, the AEC moved to Shangri-la Plaza in Mandaluyong in 2000 where it grew from a LASIK-refractive facility to a fully operational stand-alone diagnostic, therapeutic and ambulatory surgical center capable of performing cataract, glaucoma, retina, muscle, corneal transplant and oculoplastic surgeries.
The Center also has a long-time partner in SPEX, a modern optical shop that is owned and managed by the father-and-son tandem of Dr. Gil Divinagracia and Dr. Timothy John Divinagracia.
SPEX offers a wide range of lenses and spectacles, including top-of-the-line signature brands.
With SPEX as its partner, the AEC is truly a one-stop shop for world-class eye care services. (PNA Features) LOR/JCA
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