From the start, Kim Cooper, OD, felt pulled toward medicine, but the direction wasn’t clear until the end of her undergrad. “I always knew I wanted to be some sort of doctor, and it wasn’t until the end of undergrad that I got thinking,” she says. The answer turned out to be close to home: for three years, she had accompanied her mother through the aftermath of an unsuccessful eye surgery and learned the patient’s perspective firsthand. “I saw how depressed a person can be when they lose vision or go blind,” Dr. Cooper says. When her mother regained her vision, the experience became decisive.
She earned her doctorate from the Michigan College of Optometry, then completed a residency at Dorn VA Medical Center in South Carolina and stayed on as a staff optometrist for several years. Returning to her home state of Michigan with her husband, Dr. Cooper then joined several large ophthalmology groups and an optometry group, honing her clinical skills in medical optometry while watching how other practices operated. “After around a decade spent in these groups, I started to realize that I could do this—and do it better,” she says. “It sounds bigheaded, but I just wanted more control. But I was afraid and didn’t know what to do or where to start.”
FAMILY AT THE HELM
In practicality and spirit, the project became a family endeavor. Dr. Cooper’s husband, Philip, is a licensed architect and works as a construction manager for a hospital system in Michigan—experienced that proved essential. “I could not have done this without him,” Dr. Cooper says. Starting this journey with an 18-month-old and a 9-month-old at home, a strong team was essential.
“When I told Philip I needed something different, he encouraged me to go the ownership route,” she says. “It was still a long process—at least a few years of consideration before we committed to the space.” The duo took their time scouting the right space. Driving around neighborhoods together, they came across a former karate studio. Philip cold-called the property owners, closed the agreement and gutted the place.
BUILT TO SCALE
“Philip developed architectural plans, and we walked through patient flow over 100 times,” Dr. Cooper says. Initially designed for a single doctor, they adopted a phased construction approach that matched the growth expected for the practice to become a multidoctor practice.
Life Vision Eyecare opened during the pandemic with a deliberate, stageable build strategy in a roughly 2,500-square-foot shell. The team finished about two-thirds of the space, leaving the back third unfinished, “knowing we’d grow into it,” Dr. Cooper says. In year one the practice operated on a single exam lane with Dr. Cooper, an optician and a receptionist. Year two added a second exam room and a technician. Year three completed the back third of the practice. It added space for four additional lanes, a staff break room, a staff bathroom and storage. “Of the four new lanes, we outfitted two because we didn’t want to overbuy or prematurely buy the wrong equipment,” she says.
By year four, she had four lanes in use and expanded the team, hiring an associate doctor, another technician, another optician and another receptionist. Shortly after, she purchased an IPL and RF for a fifth exam room. Today, the clinic runs four active lanes—two for Dr. Cooper, two for her associate—plus a dry eye suite equipped with IPL and RF. The sixth exam room is reserved for what the future brings.
QUALITY DESIGN SIGNALS QUALITY CARE
Design at Life Vision Eyecare is a clinical signal, not decoration. Drawing on midcentury modern inspiration, Dr. Cooper used a dark teal and bronze palette for its calming psychology. The patient flow is deliberate. Visitors are greeted by the front desk and curated optical area with custom shelving and a standout chandelier, one of Dr. Cooper’s favorite parts. A small waiting area to the side leads to a pretesting bay with equipment including an ultra-widefield imager, OCT, topographer, meibographer and autorefractor/keratometers Bluetooth-connected to digital phoropters in each exam lane.
Material choices were made for longevity, aesthetics and sound control. “If we do the small details right, it gives our patients the confidence that we care about the small details in their eye care,” she says. “Our patients love the solid wooden doors—a small detail that’s gone a long way. They’re big, beautiful, dark teal doors with subtle linear edging.”
That same attention informs the optical. Most frames and décor are custom-made from people in Michigan, and Dr. Cooper says that “even if patients don’t know where it’s from, they can tell its high-quality, and if you combine that with high-quality care, you’re golden.” Her rule is simple: “If the design doesn’t match the product or care, the whole thing doesn’t work.”
DESIGN IS CARE
It’s clear that Dr. Cooper ties design to service. With focused programs in myopia management and advanced dry eye treatments, Life Vision Eyecare is set up for ongoing growth and could occupy its sixth exam lane sooner than expected.
As a former practice ownership skeptic, Dr. Cooper now celebrates the practice she’s built. “The amount of pride I feel greatly outweighs the work I have to do,” she says. “I really wish I started sooner, but I was scared.” She also urges new graduates to look beyond fear. “I wish new and soon-to-be grads weren’t so afraid to do this, and I wish there was more of an emphasis on practice ownership in school so new and soon-to-be grads weren’t afraid. If you’re at all interested, you should speak to your professors and others in your network.”
By pushing past fear and aligning her clinical ambition with phased growth and intentional design, Dr. Cooper built a practice that both looks and feels like the care it delivers.
See other design stories here.
Would you like to share your remodel/relocation/new practice or office refresh story with WO readers? Email us here.
