SALINA — A few years ago, Dr. Thomas Bersani spotted a trend beginning that would sweep up his practice. And he’s not blinking on a prediction that the trend will continue in the future. “For the last four or five years, I’ve gotten extremely busy,” says Bersani, who is a member of the American Society […]
SALINA — A few years ago, Dr. Thomas Bersani spotted a trend beginning that would sweep up his practice. And he’s not blinking on a prediction that the trend will continue in the future.
“For the last four or five years, I’ve gotten extremely busy,” says Bersani, who is a member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. “As the population ages, we just get busier. I see the future of this area of the country as needing more people in our field.”
Bersani’s field, oculoplastic surgery, is surgery on the eyelids, tear ducts, orbits, and upper facial area. It focuses on problems caused by genetics or cosmetic issues.
It works to fix problems including droopy eyelids that block vision, sagging lower eyelids affecting the eye’s ability to close, and turned-in lids that rub the eye. Other issues addressed include skin cancers near the eye, facial nerve palsies, problems with artificial eyes, blocked tear ducts, orbital trauma fractures, lacerations, tumors, and bulging or wide-open eyes.
“A lot of the problems we deal with are too close to the eye and involve the function of the eye to involve a plastic or ENT surgeon,” Bersani says. “But they’re too far away from the eye for an ophthalmologist, who is working right on the eye.”
Working in that facial Goldilocks zone is attracting more and more patients. So Bersani moved his practice, Eye Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons of CNY, P.C., into a building that he thinks is just right for growth.
That move took place in February 2012. Eye Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons relocated into 5,500 square feet of clinical space at 3400 Vickery Road in Salina.
It’s a building that Bersani purchased for $950,000 in April 2011, according to records from Onondaga County’s Office of Real Property Tax Services. Pyramid Brokerage Co. was the broker in the sale.
The building had been an automobile-repair shop — a Sears Service Center — that Bersani had transformed into a facility capable of holding medical offices. R.F. Esposito, Inc. of DeWitt performed renovations.
But Bersani didn’t stop there. He converted another 5,500 square feet of space in the building into a surgery center. That center opened about six months ago.
In all, renovating the building cost about $2 million, Bersani estimates. Alliance Bank provided financing for the work and for purchasing the facility. Another 9,000 square feet of the building stands vacant and ready to be leased by another tenant.
Opening the surgery center took a while because Eye Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons applied to have it become Medicaid approved. That means it meets safety requirements including having backup electrical systems and a backup life-support system to function in case of a power failure, Bersani says.
Bersani hired nine employees to work in the surgery center. The practice also has six workers in its clinical office. It’s a far cry from its original office, a 2,500-square-foot space at 1810 Erie Boulevard in Syracuse that had three employees, besides Bersani.
Patients appreciate the new office’s location, Bersani adds. It can be accessed from Interstate 81 and the New York State Thruway, which he says is important because 60 percent of the practice’s patients come from outside of Onondaga County. The practice draws patients from as far north as Canada down to northern Pennsylvania and from Waterloo to Herkimer County.
“They love the location, they love the space,” Bersani says.
When the surgery center opened six months ago, Bersani added a partner, Dr. Robert Hill, to his practice. And another partner is on the way — Dr. Bryant Carruth will be joining within six months.
The practice hosts about 4,000 patient visits a year. And it performs roughly 2,000 operations a year. Those numbers are set to grow when its new partner joins, Bersani says. He estimates patient volume could grow by 25 percent. The practice will also have to add more staff members, but Bersani doesn’t know how many yet.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com