New eyecare collaboration secures $150M to fuel growth

FORT COLLINS — A new eyecare organization headquartered in Fort Collins has received a major outside investment as it grows its operations in Northern Colorado and the Denver metro area.

Panorama Eyecare is a partnership organization involving eight eyecare groups across the Front Range, including Eye Center of Northern Colorado and Denver Eye Surgeons, which were founding practices in Panorama Eyecare. The organization, formed in February, is a physician-led eyecare management services organization that provides administrative support to the member organizations, including systems and equipment, back-office solutions, regulatory compliance and patient acquisition and retention.

Panorama has received an $150 million capital investment to undergird its growth in the region, including Colorado and Wyoming. The capital investment was led by Archimedes Health Investors. With the new capital, Panorama plans to expand its presence in the Rocky Mountain region by adding additional eyecare centers.

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Dan Karpel, chief operating officer, said the investment will enable the group to improve clinical operations and replace and update capital equipment as needed.

Eight clinics make up the Panorama Eyecare partnership, including Eye Center of Northern Colorado, with facilities in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley; Denver Eye Surgeons in Lakewood/West Denver;  Cheyenne Eye Clinic & Surgery Center; Boulder Eye Surgeons; Northwest Eye Center in Wheat Ridge; Eye and Laser Center of Fort Collins; Windsor Eye Care & Vision Center; and Arvada Vision & Eye Clinic. Panorama has a total of 12 locations and more than 500 team members. 

“We are excited about our continued growth and grateful to be partnering with such an outstanding group of doctors and team members to deliver a market leading and differentiated experience for our patients in the markets we serve,” Marcello Celentano, Panorama Eyecare CEO, said in a written statement. “The investment by Archimedes Health Investors, combined with our current group of clinic partners, well positions PEC to be an industry leader and important partner for doctors and managed care organizations, as well as suppliers and vendors focused on eye care and addressing patient needs.” 

“In the ever-changing world of medicine, Panorama Eyecare provides the resources necessary for outstanding patient care in an innovative, collaborative, and secure setting,” said Dr. Patrick Arnold, a pediatric ophthalmologist and chief medical officer at Eye Center of Northern Colorado. 

Celentano was recently named CEO of the new organization. Also named to leadership positions were Karpel as COO and Travis Wolther as chief financial officer.

Karpel told BizWest that it is seeking additional partners — eyecare providers who share the organization’s standard of quality patient care. 

All of the staff members at partner clinics are employees of Panorama, he said, but “we’re not intended to be a patient-facing organization.” That means that the patient relationship remains with the partner clinics. “Everybody performs their role within each clinic.”

“Our goal is to be the employer of choice [in eyecare]. It is working to increase wages and benefits to be at or above market levels, he said.

He said the organization operates much like other medical service partnerships in “almost every medical specialty.” He said Panorama is among the largest in the region in the eyecare sector of health care based on numbers of providers and locations.

The group’s new investor, Archimedes Health Investors, is a New York-based private equity firm focused on supporting high-growth health care companies that improve the quality of care and reduce health costs. Archimedes invests on behalf of family offices, pension funds and health care investors.