Our Philosophy
Our mission is to provide our patients with the most advanced and personalized eye care at an affordable price.
Since establishing CCRS in 2000, Dr. Paul C. Lee has dedicated himself to these causes and stayed at the forefront of eye care and vision correction surgery. He is a pioneer and a leader who has consistently implemented the very best technologies in diagnostics and treatments to offer the safest and most effective eye care. These include:
- VisuMax All-Laser Wavefront Lasik
- Contoura or Topo-guided Custom Ablation Treatment (TCAT)
- Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE)
- Implantable Collamer Lens (EVO ICL)
- Wavefront-guided Advanced Cataract Surgery
- Refractive Lens Exchange Surgery
Our practice is outcome-driven, which we define as obtaining the best achievable vision, determining and meeting individual expectations, and providing sincere and caring service. The result is reflected in our patients’ experience, as evidenced by the highest rating on social media and extensive referrals.
Dr. Lee starts performing LASIK surgery
Dr. Lee undergoes LASIK surgery himself
Dr. Paul C. Lee establishes CCRS with the emphasis on Refractive Surgery dedicated to offering vision correction surgery beyond LASIK.
Collaborates with medical device company, Surgin, to develop thin flap LASIK technology, pioneering 90 to 110 um LASIK flaps when the contemporary sentiment at the time called for thicker 130 to 160 um flaps. Thin flap LASIK, by sparing corneal tissue, allows treatment of higher diopter and reduces the risk for developing post-LASIK corneal weakening condition called, keratectasia. Thin-flap or micro-flap LASIK is now the accepted standard in LASIK surgery.
CCRS becomes one of the few centers to offer the technology of INTACS, a removable corneal ring segment to treat low diopter nearsightedness. INTACS receives Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) from FDA in 2004 to treat Keratoconus.
CCRS becomes one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer newly FDA-approved Wavefront LASIK.
CCRS becomes one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer ICL surgery correcting high nearsightedness patients who are not a candidate for LASIK surgery.
CCRS becomes the first practice to acquire commercially available VisuMax femtosecond laser and performs the first state-of-the-art VisuMax All-Laser-LASIK. VisuMax later is approved for SMILE surgery in 2016.
Dr. Paul C. Lee becomes the first U.S. non-FDA study surgeon to perform SMILE.
Dr. Paul C. Lee is recognized as the Top ICL Surgeon in the Nation.
Dr. Paul C. Lee becomes the first U.S. non-FDA study surgeon to be certified in SMILE surgery.
FDA approves SMILE surgery in U.S.
CCRS becomes one of the first U.S. centers to offer office-based Refractive Lens Exchange Surgery using the advanced technology intraocular lens (ATIOL) to correct near vision in aging eyes.
October
Dr. Paul C. Lee performs the first non-FDA study SMILE surgery with astigmatism correction in the U.S.
November
Dr. Paul C. Lee becomes the second surgeon on the West Coast to perform ICL to treat astigmatism.
Dr. Paul C. Lee performs SMILE surgery on Draymond Green, the world champion NBA player.
March
Dr. Paul C. Lee becomes one of the few surgeons in the nation to have performed more than 1000 ICL procedures.
April
Dr. Paul C. Lee becomes the second U.S. surgeon to perform the newly approved EVO ICL on his associate, Dr. Mania Asadourian who becomes the first optometrist in the U.S. to receive EVO ICL.
December
Dr. Paul C. Lee performs EVO ICL on comedian/actor Jimmy O. Yang.
Newsweek voted Dr. Lee as one of the top 200 eye doctors in the nation.
Dr. Lee builds the state-of-the-art Vision Correction Surgery Center with full implementation of both laser and lens-based options in Pasadena, California. (Expected opening May 2025)