Our History
The Early Years: Building a Strong Foundation
When Dr. Jocelyn J. (J.J.) Emmons, Medical Eye Center’s founding physician, left his active Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a new life out west, he could never have foreseen the legacy he was creating. Dr. Emmons established his new Rogue Valley office in 1911 and became renown for his skill as a surgeon and diagnostician. Joining with other area physicians in 1921, he helped found the Jackson County Medical Society, where he served on the three-member bylaws committee. In addition to his active professional life, Dr. Emmons participated in many civic affairs; he served as a member of the city council from 1916 to 1919 and was active in the Chamber of Commerce, leading the membership drive that brought the local organization to a metropolitan standing. Dr. Emmons passed away in 1934.
Dr. Emmons’ two sons, Thomas and Robert, also achieved local fame. Dr. Thomas H. Emmons followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the practice as an Ophthalmologist. Devoted to his Oregon home until his final days, Tom suffered a heart attack in Eugene after cheering on the University of Oregon football team against Stanford. Robert (Bob) Emmons joined the Army and served in the 17th Bomber Group. Four months after Pearl Harbor, as a member of the “Doolittle Raid,” he dropped four bombs on a power plant in Japan. The crew intended to land in Allied airfields in China, but they ran low on fuel and were forced to land in Russia, where Bob and his crew were held prisoner for 13 months until they could escape. Bob eventually followed his family into medicine and was on the surgery faculty at the University of Rochester in New York.
Dr. Weisel and Dr. Retzlaff: Taking Cataract Care to a New Level
As the years passed and the practice of medicine became more specialized, the doctors began to focus primarily on eye care. Dr. John T. Weisel joined the practice in the late 1950’s. He worked with Dr. Emmons for a short time before he passed away. Dr. John Retzlaff was a local internist who decided to change fields, did an ophthalmology residency, and returned to join Dr. Weisel.
By 1968, Medical Eye Center was helmed by these two highly respected eye surgeons whose experience was soon respected throughout the world. They were early pioneers in cataract removal and lens implantation whose work contributed to the approval of the intraocular lens by the FDA. In 1974, they also performed the first cataract extraction by phacoemulsification in the state of Oregon. This process was the latest advancement in cataract removal at the time, and involved the use of an ultrasonic probe that vibrates 40,000 times per second and causes the cataract to disintegrate into small particles, which are then removed through a suction instrument. Until that time, patients were required to stay in the hospital for a few days, but phacoemulsification allowed for smaller incisions and a shorter, safer, post-operative course. This was a huge advance toward modern cataract surgery.
Dr. Weisel traveled the world lecturing to other doctors and teaching them to perform the delicate surgery of removing cataract-damaged lenses and replacing them with plastic ones. Those doctors have in turn taught the technique to many others, helping to refine surgical skills among their peers.
Dr. Retzlaff was an esteemed lecturer and researcher. In the mid-1980s, he helped develop a technique to determine the proper lens power to be used in cataract implants after the old lens is removed. Eye surgeons around the world still employ the SRK formula, of which the “R” stands for Retzlaff. He was also one of five doctors to participate in FDA research of a drug called bendazac for use in halting cataract development.
Medical Eye Center thrived under Weisel’s and Retzlaff’s leadership. They eventually recruited Dr. Philip Paden and Dr. Paul Jorizzo, and a new building was constructed in 1989 to accommodate additional technology and an increasing number of patients. This building, on the Rogue Valley Medical Center campus, featured education and patient counseling areas, in-office surgical suites, and the RVMC Eye Lab, providing the latest lasers and fluorescein angiographic equipment.
The Specialists: Advanced Training Means Advanced Patient Care
While Medical Eye Center continued on the leading edge of modern cataract surgery, the next wave of growth extended beyond cataracts and into the pursuit of other sub-specialty areas of ophthalmology.
With the addition of Dr. Paul Jorizzo in 1988, Medical Eye Center began its trend of exclusively hiring fellowship-trained ophthalmologists. With fellowship training at OHSU in glaucoma, plus an additional year of training in medical retina, Dr. Jorizzo expanded the scope and expertise of eye care in Southern Oregon with his specialty training in advanced surgical and laser therapies, along with his expertise in the medical management of glaucoma. Learn more...
In 1991, Dr. Paul Imperia joined Medical Eye Center after completing his fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at the prestigious UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. Dr. Imperia started the first refractive surgery program in Southern Oregon, where he performed the region’s first LASIK procedures. Dr. Imperia has since performed over 24,000 laser vision correction procedures. Learn more...
By 1993 Dr. Jorizzo and Dr. Imperia needed help. They were fortunate to find Drs. Michael and Kimberly Hoyt, the only optometric physicians in southern Oregon with hospital residency training—an intense extra year of training completed after their OD degrees. The Hoyts have been a tremendous addition to the practice, expanding capacities in general eye care and contact lenses. Learn more...
Medical Eye Center’s oculoplastics program has expanded to include Abby Coats, PA, who specializes in laser, filler and Botox treatments. Learn more...
The Spa at Medical Eye Center is a results-oriented day spa providing facials, massage therapy, and an extensive array of treatments and therapeutic products. Learn more...
Dr. Matt Oliva joined Medical Eye Center in 2008. Dr. Oliva is a fellowship-trained surgeon specializing in leading-edge corneal transplant procedures known as DSEK, DSAEK, and INTACS. Dr. Oliva is deeply passionate about international service. He is a board member of CureBlindness.org and he serves as associate medical director of SightLife, the country’s largest eye bank based in Seattle. Learn more...
In 2011, Dr. Craig Lemley joined the practice to offer advanced fellowship-training in vitreoretinal diseases. He has extensive experience in the treatment of ocular conditions including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular disorders, macular hole, epiretinal membrane, retinal tear and detachment. Learn more...
Medical Eye Center has become a center of excellence with fellowship-trained specialists in refractive surgery, cornea transplantation, glaucoma, retina, and oculoplastics. While it’s rare to find one physician with advanced training beyond the requirements for their specialty outside of large urban areas, Medical Eye Center has seven. Additional education is generally considered optional—but not to these doctors, whose priority is providing the best care possible to their patients. Learn More...
Only The Best: State-of-the-Art Facilities
In 1996 Medical Eye Center opened a 5000 square foot Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) with two operating rooms—the first ASC in Oregon to be AAAHC accredited. This same year, Dr. Imperia brought the first Excimer laser to Southern Oregon, allowing him to perform refractive surgery on almost anyone seeking vision correction, whether nearsighted or farsighted, with or without astigmatism. This opened the door to treatment for many who had been previously told they were not candidates for vision correction.
Just a few years ago, re-shaping the cornea with a precisely patterned laser beam using data as unique as a fingerprint would have been considered science fiction. Now this type of LASIK surgery happens routinely at Medical Eye Center, along with a host of other modern treatments that bring renewed hope for nearly everyone who can benefit from vision correction. Drs. Paul Imperia and Matt Oliva use the new all-laser IntraLase method to perform custom procedures based on a 3-D map of the eyes. And with “Wavefront Controlled” technology, the data is downloaded directly into the laser for even more precise treatment. Learn more...
Medical Eye Center continued its tradition of being the regional leader in cataract surgery by utilizing the first Crystalens and ReStor intra-ocular lens implants. Years earlier, Medical Eye Center was also the first in the area to offer limbal relaxing incisions (LRI’s) to reduce astigmatism for cataract patients. Through Custom Cataract Surgery, surgeons Jorizzo, Imperia, and Oliva can now improve both distance and reading vision without glasses for a wide range of patients. Learn more...
Even diagnostic screenings have been improved, thanks a variety of new tools that allow our doctors to provide each patient with the best visual outcome:
Optos Imaging System: Medical Eye Center made the first U.S. non-military purchase of an Optos Optomap, which uses two separate scanning lasers to take painless pictures of the back of the eye that are stored and compared from visit to visit, allowing changes to be monitored.
HRT Unit: This sophisticated imaging system assists with assessing the health of the optic nerve, an important regular screening for patients with glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration.
Epic Refracting Systems: Four new Epic 5100 units, in place since August 2008, combine several routine tests and computerize the refraction portion of the exam. Easier for staff to use, these machines reduce handwriting errors by interfacing directly with our electronic medical records and perform multiple tests at one time.
Other important technology includes an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) of the macula and optic nerve, Flouroscein Angiography, Specular Microscopy, and Corneal Topography. Learn more...
In October 2009, Medical Eye Center’s new 37,000-square-foot building was erected at the corner of Barnett Road and Highland Avenue, just a half mile West of the previous location. The new custom-designed facility further improves and expands the services that Medical Eye Center offers. Thanks to thoughtful planning, the new building allowed for expansion of surgical capacity and created more room for new state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, a larger optical department featuring the latest styles in fashion eyewear, special LASIK and oculoplastics surgical suites, a results-oriented medical spa and more.
Giving Back: Community Involvement and Volunteering Abroad
Medical Eye Center has a long-standing tradition of giving back and the our team is committed to improving vision in our community, our region, and our world. Through community partnerships, Medical Eye Center provides eye care for patients in need in our valley, as well as surgical expeditions and training for international surgeons to help end preventable blindness all over the world.
The team from Medical Eye Center volunteers to provides eye exams, and optical services and surgery for low income and uninsured patients served locally by La Clinica. Monthly eye care clinics are now being offered at La Clinica offices in Central Point and around the valley. In the first year of this program, 200 patients were seen, 25 vision-restoring surgeries performed, several on patients who were blind and could not otherwise afford treatment. Learn more...
Every year Medical Eye Center surgeons travel abroad to countries such as Honduras, Peru, Nepal, Kenya, Ethiopia and Christmas Island to perform operations for individuals who would otherwise have lost their sight due to a lack of resources. For the doctors, this humanitarian work reminds them of why they became ophthalmologists. In addition to training surgeons in the developing countries they visit, MEC doctors also host both U.S. and international surgeons in their Medford office, offering advanced training to other regional eye care providers. Learn more...
From humble beginnings as a one-physician office, to the largest eye care practice in Southern Oregon, Medical Eye Center provides a level of care and experience that won’t be found anywhere else. We sincerely hope Dr. J.J. Emmons would be proud of everything the he helped create!