Dr Brian Kent-Smith and Eye Institute CEO John Fischer

Eye Institute (EI) is partnering with Eye Specialists in Whangarei, delivering on its long-term commitment to serve the New Zealand public in the regions as well as in the centres.

“We have long respected Eye Specialists’ Drs Brian Kent-Smith and Stefano Guglielmetti’s work and practice and we felt it would be the ideal fit for Eye Institute, with the quality of care, a great team and culture aligned with our values,” said EI CEO John Fischer. “The name will change to Eye Institute Whangarei, but it is still the same great team, care and location, just a different logo.”

Dr Kent-Smith said when EI approached them last year with an offer to merge, the time felt right. “We’re a medium-sized practice and the more the practice has grown, the more of our time has been focused on the business itself, rather than on our patients. Being part of a larger organisation brings many benefits, including collegial support and managerial expertise. Eye Institute has a depth of resources that we did not. The union will allow us to expand the range of services we can offer to Northland,” he said.

For example, EI’s Dr Will Cunningham is already running regular surgical retinal clinics in Whangarei to minimise patient travel for surgical retinal care. Over the next year, the team will be looking at what additional services it can offer in Whangarei and further north, Fischer said.

Fischer isn’t ruling out further growth for EI. “We’d like to expand further, we think there are still areas that could benefit from being served by Eye Institute if the opportunity arose.” Eye Institute now has clinics in Whangarei, Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Blenheim and Dunedin and a network of 21 ophthalmologists offering a wide range of subspecialities.