Bangor-based Vision Care of Maine is planning to open an ASC in Auburn in 2022, according to a Dec. 15 Sun Journal report.
The eye practice is in the early stages of renovating an 8,719-square-foot former physical therapy office to be converted into the surgery center, the report said.
COO Cristy Hewitt, RN, said staff from the practice had been traveling from Bangor to Auburn, a distance of more than 100 miles, as part of an agreement with local optometrist Mark Varnum, OD, to see his patients.
"He was having difficulty getting his patients into specialists when he identified a problem, so he asked us to come down here," she said. "Obviously, patients living that far don't always want to travel to Bangor for surgical procedures, and not all of the facilities in that area are offering eye services for surgery."
Ms. Hewitt said the ASC will be staffed with ophthalmologists who currently work at the practice's Bangor office.