Rocky Mountain Eye Center is filing for bankruptcy and will close all of its clinics July 31, ending a 32-year run providing eye care and operating southeastern Colorado’s only LASIK surgery center.
The closure will affect all four centers in Pueblo as well as one in Cañon City and one in Trinidad. The closures impact the business's 77 employees and the 25,450 patients the clinics served during the past year in the Pueblo area, said Kim Nava, chief business officer for Rocky Mountain Eye Center.
"We are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy," Nava told the Chieftain.
Also known as liquidation bankruptcy, Chapter 7 is a method that allows businesses to quickly clear debts.
"It is with a heavy heart that we share that Rocky Mountain Eye Center will be closing its doors on July 31," the eye center's board of directors said in a statement. "Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to financially recover after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."
In a 2022 article about an increase in cases of blindness experienced by patients who put off care during the pandemic, Dr. Paul Rastrell, an ophthalmologist and medical director for Rocky Mountain Laser & Surgery Center, told the Chieftain that at that time, "the Rocky Mountain Eye Center patient count is only about 85% of the pre-COVID census."
"This decision has been incredibly difficult, as we have cherished serving our patients and our communities. While we do not know where our providers will land, they are committed to continue working to serve our local communities," the board's statement said.
Rastrelli told the Chieftain that most the affected providers "will continue to reside and practice in Colorado," following the closure. The board promised to communicate additional details when more is known about where the providers will continue to practice.
"We are working diligently to ensure a smooth transition for our patients. Thank you all for being a part of the Rocky Mountain Eye Center family — we will miss you dearly," the board statement read.
Patients began receiving text messages and emails on Friday, July 5, that announced the closure.
"Ultimately it had everything to do with COVID and despite our efforts we haven't been able to recover. It (the pandemic) did a world of damage," Nava told the Chieftain.
How the business started
According to the Rocky Mountain Eye Center website, in 1992, "seven progressive ophthalmologists had a greater vision for the type of medical eye care treatment Pueblo deserved. They put aside competitive notions, merged their practices and formed Rocky Mountain Eye Center."
The centers expanded throughout the years and opened a fourth location in Pueblo in 2019 and two eye care centers in Walsenburg and Trinidad in 2020. At the time of a June 11, 2020, article in the Chieftain announcing the opening of a second Trinidad location, the center had "12 locations serving the eye care needs of Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico."
The center's other locations at that time included La Junta, Rocky Ford, Pueblo West, Cañon City, Alamosa, Salida, Raton, N.M., and three locations in Pueblo, according to the article.
The vision of the seven founding eye doctors, "led to the employment of over 200 local eye care professionals," according to the center's website. The board's statement about the closure also thanked its staff "for many great years together."
Other medical providers react
Pueblo Community Health Center began providing primary health care services to Pueblo’s underserved population in 1983, but does not offer vision services.
"From a Pueblo Community Health Center perspective, Rocky Mountain Eye Center is a quality care provider for Pueblo and the region. We value RMEC’s role in the local delivery system very much," said Donald Moore, chief executive officer for Pueblo Community Health Center and president of the Pueblo County Board of Health.
Moore said Pueblo Community Health Center serves 30,000 Puebloans for their regular primary care, "and we believe access to eye care is important to overall health.
"I am not sure at this juncture what the path forward will be, but I am grateful for the conversations we are having with Rocky Mountain Eye Center to see what we can do to keep access viable for our patients," Moore said.
Randy Evetts, public health director for the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, said the Pueblo County Board of Health "has not had any discussions regarding this closure."
Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via X, formerly Twitter, at twitter.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
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