LASIK MD: Celebrating 20 Years of Transforming Lives Through Clear Vision

It’s been two decades since LASIK MD first opened its doors to patients. Since then, we’ve transformed countless lives through the power of clear vision. We offer a variety of vision correction procedures, including LASIK eye surgery, to help correct common vision problems, such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (blurry vision at all distances), and cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens).

In celebration of our 20^th anniversary, we’re taking a look at LASIK MD’s history and accomplishments. A lot of dedication and hard work has gone into making our business what it is today, and we have our staff and patients to thank for this success.

Over the years, LASIK MD has grown to include more than 30 clinics across North America, and we’ve become one of the leading providers of laser vision correction. We have a team of over 50 experienced surgeons, who have collectively performed more than 1 million procedures.

But our beginnings were humble. LASIK MD was founded in 2001 by Dr. Mark Cohen and Dr. Avi Wallerstein, who both previously studied at McGill University. When they started the company, they only had two clinic locations, one in Montreal and another in Toronto.

Dr. Cohen and Dr. Wallerstein had a clear goal in mind when founding LASIK MD. While glasses and contact lenses are common solutions to vision problems, they come with a variety of inconveniences. LASIK MD’s founders wanted to make laser vision correction as accessible as possible, so people can enjoy the benefits of clear vision without having to rely on glasses or contact lenses. This included challenging misconceptions that LASIK eye surgery is overly complicated or cannot be made affordable for the average person.

Keeping their original goals in mind, the co-founders expanded their company to include dozens of clinics across North America. At LASIK MD, we’re proud to offer a variety of vision correction procedures at the lowest prices possible. We’re also committed to providing the best visual outcomes, which means you don’t have to sacrifice quality for price when choosing LASIK MD.

Within five years of its founding, LASIK MD had clinics in all of the major Canadian markets, including Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver, plus various other Canadian locations. Since then, we’ve also expanded into several American cities, such as Nashville, Miami, and most recently, San Diego.

By 2018, LASIK MD had grown to include dozens of laser vision correction clinics across North America that it evolved into Vision Group Canada (VGC). VGC is responsible for overseeing and managing a network of Canada’s leading vision correction providers. Many brands fall under the VGC umbrella, including LASIK MD, London Eye Centre, and TLC Laser Eye Centres.

The creation of VGC was a huge milestone for LASIK MD. By sharing best practices and leveraging resources and ideas, LASIK MD has a greater bandwidth to provide even more patients with high-quality, accessible vision care than ever before.

LASIK MD has over 700 employees across Canada and America, and we wouldn’t have come this far without their dedication and hard work. One thing our patients may be surprised to know is that LASIK MD is a company that keeps family in mind.

In fact, Dr. Cohen and Dr. Wallerstein’s families have been very involved with LASIK MD since it was founded. Dr. Cohen’s mother and father, Les and Mayda Cohen, have been regular faces at LASIK MD’s downtown Montreal clinic throughout the years.

In 2016, LASIK MD created the Les Cohen Award in honor of Dr. Cohen’s father and his dedication to the company. Many of our staff still remember how he would hand-deliver bagels to our office and Montreal clinic every Saturday morning for years. That’s why the Les Cohen Award was designed to honor exceptional LASIK MD employees who make a positive impact on their work environment.

Dr. Cohen’s mother Mayda is a familiar face in our office, too. She’s also a former LASIK MD patient, having undergone Lens PresbyVision™. “I was so excited to get the procedure done and I’m so glad that I did,” she previously said of her procedure. “Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe how much I love the results.”

Similarly, Dr. Wallerstein’s father Carol Wallerstein has also been active at our head office in the past, and his positive attitude and enthusiasm has left a lasting impression on staff.

LASIK MD was built upon the goal of making laser vision correction affordable and accessible. And we believe we’ve accomplished exactly that in our twenty years of business.

We’re currently one of the leading vision correction providers in North America. We offer a variety of procedures, including custom wavefront and all-laser LASIK eye surgery, standard and custom wavefront PRK surgery, and Lens and Laser PresbyVision™. We also specialize in treatments for keratoconus, such as corneal cross-linking (CXL), as well as lens implants, including refractive lens exchange (RLE).

We’ve found that the majority of people are excellent candidates for LASIK eye surgery. In fact, 90% of people between the ages of 18 to 65 are eligible for LASIK. But even if you’re not a good candidate for LASIK, we’re likely able to recommend another procedure to better suit your needs and desired visual outcome.

One of the ways we make our procedures accessible is through our free, no-obligation consultations. Your initial consultation is free and is there to help you make an educated decision about your eye health. During your appointment, we’ll run a series of diagnostic tests to confirm your candidacy. That way, we can tell you what procedure is best for you and answer all of your questions, including what the recovery will look like and the cost of the procedure.

Additionally, LASIK MD is proud to offer a variety of financing plans to make vision correction as accessible as possible. Our flexible payment plans allow you to get your procedure today and pay for it over time, so you can enjoy the benefits of clear vision as soon as possible.

Our experience speaks for itself, and that’s why we’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of well-known patients. Some of our former patients include figure skater Joannie Rochette, snowboarder Max Parrot, and Olympian Andre De Grasse.

At LASIK MD, one of our biggest accomplishments is our high rate of patient satisfaction. In fact, 99% of former LASIK MD patients report being satisfied with the results of their procedure.

Our dedication to excellent patient experience and high-quality results has been recognized through various awards. We’ve been a long-standing member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2007, which recognizes excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship in Canadian businesses. In 2013, LASIK MD was awarded Platinum Club status after earning the Best Managed Companies title for 7 years.

In addition, we’ve won the Consumer Choice Award Canada in the vision correction category every year since 2008, which further underscores our commitment to patient satisfaction and experience.

Our doctors are very accomplished, too. Many of our surgeons have had their work published in academic journals and have received various awards for their research. LASIK MD’s co-founders Dr. Cohen and Dr. Wallerstein received the Ernst & Young 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the professional/financial services category for Quebec.

LASIK MD is committed to continuing its goal of making high-quality, vision correction accessible to as many patients as possible. We look forward to transforming even more lives through the power of clear vision for another 20 years and more. We hope to see our company develop and grow beyond what it already has in the last two decades, but rest assured we’ll remain dedicated to the experience of our patients first and foremost.

We’re a fast-growing company, which means we’re constantly looking for talented individuals to join our team. If you’re interested in exploring a job with LASIK MD, check out our career page.

Finally, if you're interested in learning more about how LASIK eye surgery or another vision procedure can transform your life, book a free, no-obligation consultation today. And, if you want to learn more about all things vision and keep up with LASIK MD’s accomplishments, be sure to visit our blog and our newsroom.