Eye Associates was founded in 1996 as Rashid and Rice Eye Associates when Drs. Edward “Ed” Rashid and Robert “Bob” Rice decided to pool resources and share overhead for their individual ophthalmology practices. The union was logical with their common background, both graduates of the US Air Force Academy and both having served as Air Force ophthalmologists with assignments including teaching in the Air Force’s ophthalmology residency training program at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base. The Air Force core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do served as the foundation of the new practice. They invited optometrist Mark Carolan, a retired Air Force colonel, to join them. Over the following decades, the background and values of the group would attract several more Air Force as well as civilian ophthalmologists and optometrists.
Spurs
Dr. Rashid, a longtime sports enthusiast and NCAA Division 1 basketball player while at the Air Force Academy, was recruited to be the team ophthalmologist for the San Antonio Spurs in 1992. This responsibility was subsequently shared by the Eye Associates practice as they ensured an ophthalmologist was courtside at every home game to manage any eye injuries of the Spurs or visiting team, in addition to routine annual eye exams and the occasional team member's laser vision correction. This close relationship continued for more than 30 years until the Spurs partnered with UT Health for all team medical care in 2024.
Refractive Surgery
Having already completed a year-long fellowship in corneal surgery at Emory University six years prior, in 1987 Dr. Rashid became the first member of the US Air Force selected to complete fellowship training in the burgeoning field of refractive surgery. He spent one year traveling the country to train under four world-renowned refractive surgeons. He became an expert in the field and was involved with a number of new technologies and surgical techniques, including the very early days of PRK and LASIK.
Dr. Rashid returned to Wilford Hall to lead the Air Force’s ophthalmology training program, where he was appointed Chief of Cornea and Refractive Surgery. As the Air Force expert, he helped pave the way for the development of the Warfighter Refractive Surgery Program.
Following military retirement, Dr. Rashid continued to serve as a civilian consultant to the Surgeon General of the Air Force for Refractive Surgery. In 1999, he opened the Alamo Laser Vision Center, an open-access center used by numerous local surgeons, which is now the oldest continuously functioning laser center in San Antonio with over 100 combined years of staff experience in refractive surgery.
Over the years, Eye Associates has continued to attract surgeons with a similar passion for the functional benefits of refractive surgery, several of whom spent years on active duty continuing Dr. Rashid’s work with the Air Force Warfighter Refractive Surgery Program before joining Eye Associates.
Humanitarian
Even before the formal creation of Eye Associates, its surgeons felt the urge to care for those most in need. Dr. Rice gained his first humanitarian experience with Medical Missions International, participating in a number of missions across Mexico and South America. Seeing the profound need, he began to ask, “What about those in need right here at home?” This concern led him in 1991 to create “I Care San Antonio”, a nonprofit with a mission to restore sight and hope to those who could not otherwise afford it. The organization has facilitated vision-saving missions along the US-Mexico border and has become a lead agency for Haven For Hope locally. It now includes a state-of-the-art Vision Center run by a permanent staff as well as 40 rotating volunteer eye care providers which has served over 58,000 patients, performed 5,700 surgeries, and dispensed more than 45,000 pairs of glasses or optical vouchers.
Eye Associates surgeons continue to feel a responsibility to the underserved, low-income, and those with otherwise limited access to care. Members volunteer through I Care San Antonio and other programs like AGS CARES (Dr. Flynn was recognized in 2023 and 2024 for delivering the top 10 highest number of surgeries in the country) as well as organizing and participating in international humanitarian surgical missions.
Members also volunteer in other ways such as instructing residents and medical students as associate professors of ophthalmology with UT Health and as board members at the nonprofit San Antonio Eye Bank which provides vital corneal transplant tissue to San Antonio and the surrounding area.
Eye Associates Today
Over the past 30 years, Eye Associates has evolved as team members have changed, new locations have opened, technology has advanced, and options for care have expanded. As a practice, we are guided by the same core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do. We are passionate about eyes. We continue to focus on comprehensive eye care with a subspecialty focus on the anterior segment (cataracts, vision correction surgeries, cornea, glaucoma, and more). At a time when many medical practices are being acquired by corporate entities, Eye Associates remains physician-owned. We have declined the financial incentives of selling to private equity in favor of maintaining control of the care we deliver. We believe medical decisions are best made between patient and physician without corporate influence. We have made a conscientious decision to remain a small group which we feel allows us to focus on quality and to deliver the personalized care that we would want for our own families. We value the long-term relationships we form with our patients and strive to treat them like family. We look forward to continuing for many years to come.