A new private ophthalmic hospital has opened its doors in Crows Nest, on Sydney’s lower north shore, under the ownership of cataract surgeon Dr Jay Yohendran.
Establishing the facility has been a significant undertaking, with Dr Yohendran publicly thanking family, friends, colleagues, staff, and industry partners at the hospital opening in mid-June.
Dr Yohendran said his vision was to create a specialist ophthalmic hospital focused exclusively on delivering high-quality, patient-centred eye surgery in an independent setting. He said the idea for the hospital first emerged during discussions over coffee with hospital consultant Peter Salakis and architect Anthony Vavayis from AVA. Those early conversations evolved into the vision for what is now Northern Sydney Eye Hospital.
The facility is a purpose-built, specialist ophthalmic day hospital dedicated exclusively to eye surgery.
Designed to support complex and advanced ophthalmic procedures, it brings together leading surgeons, specialised theatre teams and state-of-the-art technology within what Dr Yohendran describes as a refined, boutique environment.
Joining Dr Yohendran immediately is cataract and glaucoma surgeon Dr Colin Clement as well as anaesthetist Dr Oscar Kwon, who chairs the hospital’s medical advisory committee and played a pivotal role in establishing its clinical foundations.
Cataract and corneal surgeon Dr Matthew Ball, refractive, cataract and corneal surgeon Dr Erica Darian-Smith, and cataract surgeon Dr Cheryl Au will also be operating from the new hospital.
The facility is a purpose-built, specialist ophthalmic day hospital dedicated exclusively to eye surgery
Expanding Team
Dr Yohendran, who established his Northern Sydney Cataract clinic 11 years ago, said establishing the hospital had involved countless meetings, emails, and phone calls, along with a few challenges, all met “with a positive can-do attitude”.
He paid tribute to Mr Salakis, who has set up many day surgeries, noting that of all of them, this had been the most difficult due to the red tape and accreditation requirements becoming more complex. He also acknowledged the builders, who worked over Christmas and finished the project early, transforming the design into what he described as a “beautiful, amazing, world-class facility”.
Additionally, he thanked his family and his support team, particularly optometrist Michael Angelos “who has set the culture and tone of the new hospital”, Director of Nursing Miriam Hajmanouchehri “nobody has worked harder or has been more instrumental in setting up this hospital” and practice manager Dorota Opiela “my strongest ally [without whom] none of this would have been possible”.
Location Primed For Growth
Local member for Willoughby, the Hon Tim James MP, officially opened the hospital, congratulating Dr Yohendran and his team on “an amazing achievement”. Mr James, who established a Parliamentary Friends of Eye Health and Vision Care group after entering parliament in 2022, said there was “nothing more important than human health”, describing vision as “perhaps the sense that matters most”.
He noted that Crows Nest had long had an affinity with health, pointing out that the original Royal North Shore Hospital opened on nearby Holtermann Street in the 1890s. The suburb had boomed since the arrival of the Metro, he said, and connectivity would only improve as the line extends to Bankstown, bringing many more people within easy reach of the area’s growing healthcare hub.
“Every organisation is driven by people, by vision, and by leadership,” Mr James said, before joining Dr Yohendran to cut the ribbon, joking that they were “literally cutting the red tape”.
