In 2003, Eye Consultants of Texas founder Phillips Kirk Labor, MD opened his Ophthalmology practice with a goal to serve Southlake/Grapevine and surrounding areas. True to any new business, it was humble beginnings. But there was something bigger going on.

Initially, Dr. Labor envisioned a practice that never stopped offering the most advanced eye care in the world so local residents didn’t have to drive to Dallas, Fort Worth or anywhere else. This pioneering spirit was something he always had, and he was further motivated by like-minded surgeons he trained under more than 20 years ago.

“I worked under some very brilliant, highly innovative surgeons in the early days, and I was very, very fortunate in that respect,” he says. “The welfare of my patients always comes first, but with new technology, so many surgeons are doing faster procedures, yet sacrificing personal care. My mentors helped me understand how advancements and old fashioned care can coexist.”

When he opened Eye Consultants of Texas, Dr. Labor was already putting advanced eye care technologies and techniques into practice unlike few local ophthalmologists.

Over the years, he made good on this commitment in several ways. He has been the first in Texas or the Metroplex to perform other advanced procedures related to premium lenses for cataract patients. He was also the first to implant a Verisyse™ implantable (or permanent) contact lens. More recently, he was the first Dallas/Fort Worth surgeon to use ORange® (later updated to ORA System™), the only technology that can measure cataract surgery results in real time. Major companies like Bausch & Lomb have selected Dr. Labor as one of only a few U.S. eye surgeons to evaluate new technologies and address national conferences. Internationally, he is known for his pioneering work in refractive surgery (LASIK), and he has spoken to symposiums in Europe as an expert on advanced, blade-free LASIK.

Of all his achievements, however, the Eye Consultants of Texas founder is most proud of his medical mission to Iraq. In 2009, and again in 2011, he traveled to Duhok, Kurdistan where he was the first U.S. Ophthalmologist local Kurds had ever seen.

To further his devotion to innovative eye care, Dr. Labor made a historic decision to build a new state-of-the-art facility unlike any other. August 2010, after years of planning and development, the practice moved into a 15,000 sq ft Grapevine home with an adjacent Ambulatory Surgery Center. LoneStar Ambulatory Surgery Center is uniquely convenient in that cataract surgery and other important eye surgeries can be performed just across the hall. In this way, a patient doesn’t have to go anywhere else for exams, testing, LASIK or  various other procedures.

Throughout all this, Eye Consultants of Texas still remains connected and fully dedicated locally. For years, residents of Southlake, Grapevine, Keller, Colleyville, and surrounding areas have made the short drive to Grapevine for the highest level of total eye care. Dr. Labor can now see patients in Fort Worth, and the practice is drawing more patients from the Dallas area, and northward towards Denton.

Regardless of where a patient comes from, the expertise, resources and dedication Eye Consultants of Texas offers today equals or surpasses any metro area practice.