BUSINESS: Private Equity Total Vision Partners With Family Eyecare Center and i-Care Optometry in California By Staff Thursday, August 19, 2021 12:21 AM MISSION VIEJO, Calif.—Total Vision, a leading and expanding California-based network of vision care providers, has announced the addition of two new optometry practices located in the San Jose region of California to its network. They are: Family Eyecare Center in Campbell, Calif., and its sister practice i-Care Optometry in San Jose. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Established in 1970, Family Eyecare Center is operated by a team of doctors that includes Dr. Peter Ross, who has been practicing optometry in the Campbell-San Jose area for 30 years. His partners and co-owners in Family Eyecare Center and i-Care Optometry are: Dr. Albert Chang, Dr. Gilbert Ruiz and Dr. Peter Taylor.Total Vision, which is backed by New York City-based Bregal Partners, operates approximately 45 office locations in California. According to its announcement, Total Vision is the largest network of vision providers in California and employs more than 450 team members, including 95 doctors. Dr. Ross has a special interest in preventative eyecare and contact lenses, especially the more complicated designs for orthokeratology, astigmatism and bifocal types. He has served as a consultant for a number of contact lens companies and has helped design and improve many of the contact lenses in use today. Dr. Ross also has been active in the area of children’s vision and developmental vision as it relates to learning and perception. Dr. Chang was born and raised locally in the Bay Area. He attended UC Santa Cruz and Southern California College of Optometry for undergraduate and graduate studies. Spending eight years away from home allowed him to appreciate how much he loves the South Bay. Dr. Ruiz also is a Bay Area native. He received his doctorate degree from Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Dr. Ruiz has a past history with Family EyeCare Center, where he was an optician and contact lens technician in 1997 while still a pre-med student in college. He returned in 2004 as an intern. Dr. Taylor is a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, too. He has both his BS and OD degrees, with honors, from California Berkeley. His primary interests in vision care include unusual contact lens designs and laser vision correction care, according to the announcement. The i-Care Optometry practice, a division of Family Eyecare Center, has operated since 2011, and its goal is to provide “great comprehensive eyecare and products to everyone.” It offers full-service optometry with innovative eyecare services, name brand designer eyewear, contact lenses and ortho-K services. Total Vision chief executive Neil Collier, chief financial officer Doug Cannon and chief medical officer Dr. Steve Klein welcomed Drs. Chang, Ross, Ruiz, Taylor, and the entire staff at both Family Eyecare Center and i-Care Optometry to the Total Vision team. “We welcome these teams and are excited for them to be part of our continued expansion in the Northern California area,” Collier said.