Why Dr Versace
Vision is a precious sense and Dr Patrick Versace derives great satisfaction from restoring and transforming sight in his patients.
Dr Versace has been a specialist Ophthalmic surgeon for 30 years and over this time has looked after patients in different clinical models.
Dr Versace holds appointments as a senior lecturer in Optometry and medicine at The University of New South Wales and Staff Specialist ophthalmologist at The Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick and Sydney Eye Hospital providing clinical service and registrar surgical training. After gaining Anaesthetic qualifications in London Dr Versace completed his specialist ophthalmology training with Sydney Eye Hospital to become a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.
Dr Versace was recently appointed as a Board Certified Fellow of the WCRSVS, a global organisation that provides certification and accreditation for Refractive Surgery.
Operating at the forefront of ophthalmic technology and research, Dr Versace recently worked with a premium lens manufacturing and design company in Germany.
Dr Versace operates in distinct ophthalmic specialties, including laser vision correction, refractive surgery, presbyopia correction and cataract surgery, which allows him and his team to offer dedicated care, while keeping educated and informed on the latest ophthalmic surgical techniques, equipment and materials.
Dr Versace offers premium lens implants and operates using the most modern techniques and state-of-the-art equipment. He is passionate about patient care and comfort and is determined that his patients receive the best possible outcomes for their vision and eye health.
Experienced Ophthalmic Surgeon
The most strikingly different was the cataract surgical program run in a Buddhist Hospital run by the monks in Myanmar – richly rewarding but not so relevant to our patients in a modern city like Sydney. Public Hospital medicine feels like an important thing to be part of. The Prince of Wales Hospital provides eye care to those that need it.
Our universal health care in Australia is possibly the best in the world and anyone who needs eye surgery can access this regardless of their ability to pay. Dr Versace has been a member of the specialist ophthalmology staff at the Prince of Wales Hospital for almost 25 years and continues this service as it brings mentorship and surgical teaching to the next generation of Eye doctors and contributes to the provision of premium eye care to these patients.
Private practice offers the opportunity to offer the highest quality care with facility, equipment and staff that ensure an optimal [patient experience with excellent outcomes. Laser Vision Correction surgery (LASIK, SMILE, PRK) demands excellence at every level and mandates use of the best possible equipment. This comes at a price and a corporatized model of clinical practice allows for continuing investment in equipment, staff and training. Dr Versace began offering LASIK in Australia when this was a brand new procedure and was an early part of the development of ‘Laser Sight Centres’ – at the time the leader in Laser Vision Correction in Australia. Laser Sight Centres brought together expertise, doctors and excellence but remained limited in its model as a small private company.
In 2005 Dr Versace joined with a group of leading Australian ophthalmologists to form ‘Vision Group’ (later to adopt the name ‘Vision Eye Institute’ from one of the practices they acquired). Vision Eye Institute grew quickly to become a strong public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with an ethic of enhancing the doctors’ practice environment to facilitate the delivery of premium care. This model was timely as the costs of running a contemporary ophthalmic practice had grown significantly with a range of new, technically advanced diagnostic and therapeutic instruments such as Femtosecond lasers for LASIK surgery. Expensive equipment is best shared across groups of doctors and this was a strength of Vision Eye Institute. Dr Versace was a partner and surgeon with Vision Eye Institute Bondi Junction for almost 15 years.
Vision Eye Institute followed the path of companies that grow from private to public and saw subtle shifts in direction to become more active in the business of day surgery facilities. Vision Eye Institute more recently was sold to a foreign investor who delisted the company to own it outright and holds it as part of a small Chinese group of Eye Hospitals. Dr Versace terminated his connection with Vision Eye Institute in 2019.
30 years as a specialist eye surgeon gives you a good idea of what works best in caring for patients and offering premium service with premium results.
Dr Versace has joined forces with a like-minded group of leading Eye Specialists to form a new clinic in Sydney. The desire is to offer a more personal service that works for the patient. Each of the surgeons brings leading expertise in their fields with existing successful clinics and involvement in research, teaching and academia. Dr Versace brings to this his expertise in Laser Vision Correction and cataract/premium lens implant surgery. This group will grow to have clinics across Australia and will fill the need for quality patient-directed care.
