Wausau Pilot & Review
The Eye Clinic of Wisconsin celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The original practice started in 1963 when Gordon Backer, MD, joined Otis Wilson, MD, as an associate in Dr. Wilson’s ophthalmology practice, located in the old First American Bank building in downtown Wausau.
From this humble beginning, the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin has expanded to eight office locations and an ambulatory surgery center. The EC Laser and Surgery Institute of WI, LLC, which is situated within the Wausau location, includes two operating rooms, two laser rooms, and one minor procedure room. The surgery center is fully equipped to treat a wide array of ophthalmic conditions.
“Our surgical center is the only ophthalmologic ASC in Central Wisconsin,” Dr. Christopher Kucharski said. “We perform over 15,000 surgeries annually throughout surgical facilities in Central Wisconsin. Our surgical suite is equipped with the latest technology and our surgeons are highly skilled. We offer a range of services such as blade-free ecLASIK, premium cataract lenses, glaucoma surgery, treatment for emergency eye conditions, corneal transplants, and even cosmetic eye surgery. Our state-of-the-art facility allows us to provide advanced eye care and surgical services to the community.”
Things have changed considerably since the first eye clinic opened its doors in 1963.
The initial practice scheduled patient appointments in the mornings and afternoons on a first-come, first-served basis. All patients would arrive at 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. and then waited to be seen by one of the two doctors. Today the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin serves approximately 330 patients per day with scheduled appointments.
To help fill the need for eye care in the Wausau area, Dr. William Backer joined Dr. Gordon Backer and Dr. Otis Wilson in May of 1965. Later that month, Dr. Wilson died unexpectedly.
Even with the loss of one of the organization’s founding ophthalmologists, the eye care practice continued to grow. Knowing they needed to increase the size of their clinic, Drs. Gordon and William Backer purchased several lots on First Street, in Wausau, which ultimately became the home of Backer Eye Clinic in 1967.
A year later, the practice expanded to include Dr. Lawrence Rossman. This expansion also brought about a name change from the Backer Eye Clinic to the Eye Clinic of Wausau.
During the next 25 years, the practice continued to grow, and included Charles MacCarthy, MD; John Hattenhauer, MD; Stephen Herman, MD; George Witteman, MD; and Kevin Flaherty, MD; to name a few.
The Eye Clinic also continued to expand its service area. In 1972, the Eye Clinic of Wausau opened its first satellite clinic in Rhinelander; offices in Tomahawk and Antigo followed in 1988; a Merrill office was established in 1990; and an office in Medford started seeing patients in 1992.
Since the name of the clinic no longer related to the service area, it was changed from the Eye Clinic of Wausau to the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin in 1993.
The Eye Clinic of Wisconsin opened its sixth office location in Stevens Point in 1997.
While the regional footprint was expanding, so was the patient base at the Wausau location. During this time, the Wausau clinic grew to encompass three buildings located at 614, 630, and 714 First Street and a fourth in Rib Mountain. This was not efficient for the staff or the patients. With an eye to the future, the leadership of the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin decided to build one facility that would not only accommodate the entire staff but also allow for future expansion of a surgical suite that housed the latest technology to provide the highest level of advanced eye care possible to the community. In December 2007, the newly constructed Backer Building became home to the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin; the addition of the surgery center was completed in 2013.
Today, the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin clinic has grown to over 200 employees providing a full range of ophthalmology services in Antigo, Marshfield, Medford, Merrill, Rhinelander, Stevens Point, Wausau, and Wisconsin Rapids.
