CHICAGO and FLINT, Mich.—Midwest Vision Partners, which is backed by Alpine Investors, has announced a partnership with Michigan Eye Institute (MEI), which represents MVP’s first partnership in the state of Michigan. Michigan Eye Institute is led by Dr. Gary Keoleian, Dr. Jeffrey Diskin and Dr. David Diskin and has a network of 12 providers. The practice employs approximately 110 support staff across six clinical locations, according to an announcement earlier this week. The terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Over the last three decades, Michigan Eye has built a reputation as a high-quality provider of eyecare services in the Central/Mid-Michigan market, the announcement noted.

This latest partnership arrangement in Michigan expands MVP’s network to 25 locations across Michigan and Ohio, with 45 physicians providing medical and surgical eyecare services.

“We are excited to partner with Midwest Vision Partners and to join a growing network of quality providers,” Dr. Keoleian said. “We were impressed by the strength of MVP’s leadership team and refreshed by their emphasis on honesty and transparency. We aligned quickly after learning about their commitment to patients and the infrastructure they are building to empower physicians to focus on clinical care.”

Dr. Keoleian will join MVP’s board of directors, where he will work alongside Dr. Lawrence Lohman of Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons and Dr. William Wiley of Cleveland Eye Clinic.

MVP calls itself a “people-focused eyecare management services organization” that seeks to partner with leading ophthalmologists and optometrists as it works to build a preeminent platform in the Midwest region.

In late December, MVP established a partnership with Cleveland Eye Clinic, which operates across 13 clinical locations in Ohio, as VMAIL reported. That partnership represented MVP’s second partnership in Ohio.

“Our goal at MVP is to work with the best practices and to support their continued growth and success,” chief executive officer Joseph Giles said. “We welcome the physicians and staff of Michigan Eye Institute to the MVP family. This partnership means a great deal to me personally given MEI’s ties to Flint, Mich., my hometown. We look forward to building a presence in the Michigan market in partnership with the MEI team.”