A tradition of the best eye care on the Central Coast

Vantage Eye Center continues a long tradition of offering the best in eye care on the central California Coast. With locations in Monterey, Ryan Ranch, and Salinas, Vantage Eye Center stands alone as the premier center for comprehensive eye care and services in central California.

Vantage Eye Center has its roots in Salinas Valley Eye Associates, which was created in 1980 when Dr. Stuart Paul, MD joined the practice of Dr. Glenn Smith, MD. Dr. Paul completed his ophthalmology training at Pittsburgh Eye and Ear Hospital. In the first years of their partnership, the office was a small facility with just two full-time employees. There was no computer system, nurses or technicians to assist in the care of patients.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Paul has introduced many new techniques, but perhaps his greatest contribution has been that of the modern technique of cataract surgery. In the early 1980s, cataract surgery took two hours, ten stitches, and required a three-night hospital stay. Intraocular lens implants were not widely used at that time, which meant that patients had to suffer with thick “Coke bottle” eyeglasses after their surgery in order to see well.

Dr. Paul was the first on the Monterey Peninsula to perform phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, a cataract extraction technique that greatly improved patient care and which is now accepted as the standard method of cataract surgery. Today, cataract surgery no longer requires hospitalization, takes only 10 minutes to perform, and requires no sutures. Vision improves in a matter of days and thick glasses are no longer required for excellent vision. Dr. Paul’s pioneering work in this area has benefited thousands of patients over the past three decades.

Asit “Tony” Pruthi, MD joined Vantage Eye Center in 1994, bringing with him new and innovative microsurgical techniques from the nation’s most prestigious training institutions. He received his training in ophthalmology at the prestigious Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Since joining Vantage Eye Center, Dr. Pruthi has been instrumental in raising the standard for ophthalmic microsurgery on the Monterey Peninsula. Generous with his knowledge and skills, he has taught several local surgeons his techniques as well as surgeons-in-training through his affiliation with Stanford University School of Medicine. Over the years, Matthew Jones, MD, Richard Kim, MD, and Jon Page, MD joined Vantage Eye as additional surgeons who perform cataract surgery.

In 2000, Mathew Jones, MD started the Advanced Technology Lens Program. With advances in laser and lens technology, Dr. Jones designed individualized treatment to minimize dependence on glasses or contact lenses after cataract surgery. In the program, Dr. Jones used a combination of techniques including multifocal lenses, toric lenses for astigmatism, monofocal lenses, accommodating lenses, LASIK, and Advanced Surface Ablation. Since then Dr. Pruthi, Dr. Page, and Dr. Kim offer services in the Advanced Technology Lens Program to maximize vision.

In January 2011, Alexander Holmes, MD joined Dr. Paul and Pruthi on the anterior segment and cataract service of Vantage Eye Center. In 2012, Charles Whisler, MD, and Geoffrey White, MD also joined the anterior segment and cataract service. They also consolidated offices with Dr. Holmes, at 966 Cass Street to offer convenient eye care to our patients in Monterey and Carmel. At the end of 2012, Dr. Stuart Paul retired after 32 years of service. At the end of 2018, Dr. Geoffrey White retired after 43 years of service.

Since 1990, Vantage

Eye Center has enjoyed a close relationship with Stanford University. Dr. Mark Blumenkranz, MD, chairman of Stanford University Department of Ophthalmology joined Vantage Eye Center in 1994. Dr. Steve Sanislo, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford, later joined Vantage Eye Center. Dr. Blumenkranz and Dr. Sanislo specialize in the medical and surgical care of the retina, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and retinal detachment. Dr. Ming Lu joined the retinal team in July of 2005, providing additional expertise in medical and surgical retinal treatments.

With the growth of Vantage Eye Center over the 1980s and 1990s, space issues became an increasing concern. From

a small office with just two doctors and three employees, the practice has grown to eleven doctors and more than 30 fulltime employees. Over these years, the practice has acquired more and more modern equipment to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. Although the addition of a second office in 1996 temporarily relieved space concerns, parking in the area around Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital became increasingly difficult because of the continued growth in the area. A change was needed in order to meet the needs of our patients and the community.

In the mid-1990s, Dr.

Paul and Pruthi predicted that the rapidly expanding equipment needs necessary for modern

eye care and the growth of the Monterey County population would limit the ability of local residents to receive modern eye care by the year 2001. They envisioned the development of a large-scale facility, solely devoted to the medical and surgical care of the eyes. Vantage Eye Center was developed to provide patients of the

central coast with medical and surgical eye care as good or better than that available at most universities. With partner Dr.

Jones, they considered several locations and designs for their new center.

The site for the new facility was secured at 622 Abbott Street in September of 1999 when the Ford dealership moved from that location to the Auto Mall in North Salinas.

The large two-acre Abbott Street lot was ideal in many ways. The acreage provided ample parking space for patients and staff. Highway 101 and Highway 68 are easily accessible, making visits easier for out-of-town patients. Finally, the lot was large enough to hold the 20,000 square foot eye center, which includes an outpatient surgery center, clinic building, laser vision correction suite, conference center, and optical shop. The center opened in March of 2002, ushering in a new era in eye care for Central California.

Since then Vantage Eye has added two additional sites, one in the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula medical building of Ryan Ranch (2 Upper Ragsdale Drive) and the Monterey location (966 Cass Street). These two additional sites allow Vantage Eye to deliver convenient, university-level eye care to our patients in the Monterey Peninsula.

As Vantage Eye Center continues its growth

and adds new locations, they also continue to add qualified associates like

Martha Ryan and Zachary Richardson who joined Vantage Eye Center in 2019.