Jim McGrann.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Advancing Eyecare, a leading North America provider of ophthalmic instruments, announced the appointments of Jim McGrann as chief executive officer and David Spear as president and chief strategy officer, both effective immediately, as the company positions itself for its next phase of growth. Advancing Eyecare is an alliance of industry leaders offering comprehensive ophthalmic solutions, including Lombart Healthcare, Marco Healthcare, Enhanced Medical Services, Veatch Ophthalmic Instruments, Santinelli International/Sios, Innova Medical and S40Optik. McGrann has 25 years of experience in vision care, including roles as president and CEO of VSP Vision, and chairman and CEO of the Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA), which VSP acquired in October 2022.

Most recently, he served as president and COO of Percept Corp., where he will remain on the advisory board. McGrann succeeds Brad Staley, who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. Pete Lothes, most recently chief operating officer, has accepted a position with another global eyecare company. Spear is formerly the medical director of Innova Medical.

Tim Mayhew, lead director at Advancing Eyecare and CEO at Keplr Vision, commented, “We are excited to welcome Jim to the Advancing Eyecare family and to expand David’s role within the company. In today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, Jim possesses the ideal mix of vision and leadership experience to drive the company through this next phase of growth. David brings decades of experience building the largest industry player in Canada and wonderful relationships with our OEM partners.

 
 David Spear.
He will help expand the company into new markets and geographies. We are confident that with their extensive industry involvement and track record of driving profitable growth, Jim and David are well-positioned to accelerate Advancing Eyecare’s leading position in the marketplace through innovation, bringing new solutions to eyecare practitioners around the world and elevating the standard of care for their patients,” Mayhew said.

“I’m thrilled to join Advancing Eyecare and partner with our team to provide customers a true one-stop solution for ophthalmic equipment and services,” McGrann said. “As top-tier technology becomes increasingly critical in serving patients, Advancing Eyecare has a strong reputation and offers the highest level of customer-centric solutions for vision improvement. The company is poised to provide the best eyecare instrumentation on a global scale, and I’m eager to get started.”

“We’re at an inflection point for our industry when providing the best products and service solutions is more important than ever,” Spear said. “I look forward to continuing my long history with the company and working with Advancing Eyecare’s talented leadership and employees to expand our broad product portfolio and reliable service offerings in both new and existing markets. Advancing Eyecare has a bright future of continuing to make a meaningful impact on the lives of countless vision care providers and patients.”

Mayhew added, “We thank Brad and Pete for their contributions to Advancing Eyecare that positioned the company for future growth. Under their leadership, they efficiently integrated multiple parts of the business, expanding Advancing Eyecare’s footprint and strengthening our offerings to vision care providers.

Today, Advancing Eyecare has the largest and most experienced technical sales force and equipment service team in the industry. We look forward to continuing to build on our strong base in this next chapter and wish Brad and Pete well in their future endeavors,” Mayhew said.




Earlier in his career, McGrann held multiple leadership roles at VSP Vision including president and CEO, and his first executive position was with Marchon Eyewear. McGrann began his career in business and consulting at Andersen Consulting, PwC, IBM Global Services and Ernst & Young. He currently serves on multiple boards pertaining to vision care, including Keplr Vision, Ocuco and he is the current chairman of the Prevent Blindness board. McGrann has a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Columbia University.

Spear has more than 30 years of experience in the vision industry, most recently serving as CEO and board director at Innova Medical. Spear has a Bachelor of Science in biology from Western University and a Bachelor of Commerce in business from the University of Windsor.

Advancing Eyecare is the leading provider in the eyecare instrumentation marketplace "with the broadest product portfolio, the most knowledgeable people, and the most reliable service in the industry," the company said. Advancing Eyecare is a portfolio company of Cornell Capital LLC, a U.S.-based private investment firm with $6 billion of assets under management and offices in New York and Hong Kong.