The center is no longer doing LASIK surgery but will provide follow-up care through July 31.

Citing the economy, the national chain known for performing LASIK eye surgery has pulled out of the Roanoke Valley market.

TLC Vision Corp., with 75 centers in the United States and Canada, opened a Roanoke County center in February 2006.

The final laser eye surgery performed at the TLC LASIK Center, located at 3800 Electric Road, happened on April 29, and follow-up, post-operative care will be provided by an affiliate doctor at the center through July 31, TLC spokesman James Hyland said in an e-mail. There are a dozen eye care professionals in the Roanoke and New River valleys who are listed on TLC’s Web site as part of the TLC network.

“Due to current economic conditions, TLC made the decision to consolidate our Virginia operations,” Hyland wrote.

After July patients can either visit a local eye doctor for annual exams or visit another TLC center. There are centers in Greensboro, N.C., Charlottesville, and Johnson City, Tenn. Besides Charlottesville, TLC operates in five other Virginia locations.

The surgeon who was performing procedures in Roanoke is actually based out of McLean, where he is the medical director for the Tysons Corner location and is still available to Roanoke patients, Hyland said.

The publicly traded company based in St. Louis, Mo., is not just facing harsh economic conditions in Roanoke. TLC reported a $95.4 million fourth-quarter loss.

In its year-end financial report, the company warned of not being profitable and of the possibility of having to close underperforming centers.

The company posted $275.7 million in revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, down 8 percent from $298.4 million for the prior year period. Revenues at refractive centers, such as the one in Roanoke, declined 14 percent.

“Laser vision correction demand is a function of consumer discretionary spending,” said Jim Wachtman, then-president and CEO of TLC Vision, in a March 31 statement discussing the year-end results. “As a result of the economic crisis and the sharp decline in consumer discretionary spending during 2008, the Company’s financial performance deteriorated during the fourth quarter.”

Wachtman resigned in April as TLC worked out a limited waiver for defaults with its lenders. When TLC reported earnings in March, it doubted it could comply with loan agreements for the balance of 2009 unless they were amended. Because of the loan issues, Ernst & Young, TLC’s outside auditor, said it would raise concerns about the company’s viability in its opinion on the 2008 financial results.

Hyland said the deterioration of discretionary spending and the Consumer Confidence Index contributed to the closing of the Roanoke facility.

Hyland would not disclose Roanoke-specific information related to the number of procedures performed or financial well-being of the center.

LASIK is an outpatient surgical procedure used to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism by using a laser to reshape the cornea in the front of the eye.

Market Scope, which provided industry analysis about the ophthalmic marketplace, said refractive procedures such as LASIK were expected to decline in 2008 and 2009 because weak economic conditions have led many potential patients to postpone elective patient-paid surgery.

Citing data from Market Scope in its annual report, TLC noted 1.3 million laser-vision correction procedures were performed in the United States in 2004, 1.4 million were performed in each of 2005, 2006 and 2007, and 1 million were performed in 2008. Additionally Market Scope estimated in February that 700,000 laser-vision correction procedures will be performed this year.

Vistar Eye Center in Roanoke is the only other facility with the laser equipment to perform the LASIK surgery. Vistar does, however, rent out its equipment to other doctors who want to perform LASIK, said Dr. Chad Albright, an ophthalmologist at Vistar.

That said, Albright said Vistar has seen the demand for LASIK dwindle during the recession.

“We’ve also seen LASIK down probably 35 percent, but LASIK makes up a small portion of what we do because we provide comprehensive eye care,”

he said.

Unlike TLC, which relies on LASIK procedures to make a profit, Vistar has other procedures to keep the doctors busy when demand for the elective surgery is down.