In 1987, a group of eye doctors from the University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital Department of Ophthalmology established a professional partnership with the primary intention of providing the best available ophthalmic care for the Filipino community.  Cognizant that this could only be achieved by a concerted team effort, each trained in a different subspecialty so that patients could benefit from in-house referrals and be accorded the optimum management befitting their eye problem.  The Associated Eye Specialists was the first SEC registered professional partnership in ophthalmology in the country.

Within eight short years, they partnered with an American team of investors, managers and ophthalmologists to bring in Excimer Laser technology (LASIK). Thus, in 1995, American Eye Center was established at The Medical City as the first purely refractive eye center in the Philippines. 

Since refractive surgery was in its infancy in the country, American Eye Center was duty-bound to introduce LASIK, educate the patients and come up with surgical results so consistently good that word of mouth increased the patient base.  It quickly became the leading refractive center in Southeast Asia, averaging several hundreds of eyes done per month.

By 1997, Filipino investors bought out the American partners but since brand recall had been established, the name American Eye Center was retained.  The decision to expand to a full-service ambulatory surgical center dictated the eventual move from the traditional hospital setting for eye care to the more accessible Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City.  Thus, the turn of the millennium also marked the year that American Eye Center became the country’s first mall-based fully independent diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical one-stop shop for world-class eye care.

Our mission:
                To improve the quality of life of individuals by providing unparalleled eye care services.

Our vision:
                The premier ophthalmic center providing comprehensive world-class eye care in the Asia-Pacific region.

Aside from pioneering LASIK refractive surgery, American Eye Center also spearheaded major developments in cataract surgery.  Consistent with the center’s Mission and Vision, only the best US-FDA approved implants, surgical needs and surgical equipment are used at the center.  Surgical technology such as the Alcon InfinitOzil were first purchased and used by American Eye Center. This technology allows for the safer and faster removal of cataracts by utilizing less ultrasonic power.  It also allows for a minute 2.2 mm incision, which spontaneously seals itself and makes patient recovery almost instantaneous.  Coupled with this, American Eye Center took the lead in implanting Premium Intraocular Lenses (premium IOLs) that correct for nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and reading vision as well. To date, American Eye Center has paved the way in this technology.  With the advent of premium IOLs, cataract surgery has become a refractive procedure, allowing our cataract patients to be functionally independent of their spectacles.

The year 2010 marked the establishment of a second stand-alone clinic of the American Eye Center in Greenbelt 5, Makati.  As ophthalmology continues to be technology-dependent and technology-driven, the latest refractive phenomenon is Femtosecond Lasers.  The WaveLight Refractive Suite is a paired system wherein the Femtosecond laser creates corneal LASIK flaps in 6-8 seconds and the Excimer laser thenmodifies the corneal curvature to remove the Error of Refraction at a speed of about 1.4 seconds per grade of 1.00 diopter.  It is the fastest, safest most efficient All Laser LASIK system that does away with any need for a mechanical blade.  This WaveLight Refractive Suite is already up and running and is the Philippines’ first and only installation to date.

American Eye Center has truly enjoyed unparalleled success, becoming the template for other eye centers to follow.  Many eye centers have sprouted and many “group practices” have been formed.  The distinction that only American Eye Center can hold, however, remains intact: that we are trailblazers in Philippine ophthalmology.  Our strengths lie in our roots, our mores.   American Eye Center is manned by a dream team of eye doctors: all diplomates with subspecialty training abroad, currently professors, teachers, mentors, officers, leaders in the various fields of ophthalmology – recognized and respected both locally and internationally.  These doctors are carefully selected for their character, competence and compassion.  Thus patients can depend on the center’s expertise, equipment and ethics.

And so with the strength of triads, we come to the spheres of American Eye Center.  Spheres are thought to be the strongest natural three-dimensional structures. Three spheres, tangential to one another, linked yet independent, orbiting around or within each other.  Each eye doctor at American Eye Center could succeed independently of the others, yet each has chosen to work in a team for the best possible treatment of every patient.  The center is committed to using only the best US-FDA approved implants, surgical needs and surgical equipment.  Lastly, the doctors remain in full control of center management and as such medical ethics prevail over all medical decisions – assuring the best options at responsible prices.