Dr. Alan Leahey

Alan Leahey, MD, retired from clinical practice in 2019 to launch ABL Consulting.

During the five years before he founded his healthcare consultancy, Dr. Leahey was Chief of Ophthalmology at Prisma Health (previously Greenville Health Systems). While there, he architected the strategy that allowed the department to sustain Level One trauma accredidation, served as a Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville, and was actively involved with the admissions committee for the medical school.

Before joining Prisma, Dr. Leahey spent 22 years in private practice. He began his career at a small private practice in Allentown, Pennsylvania, eventually merging that practice with another to form a large multispecialty ophthalmology group, Lehigh Valley Eye Center, with ten providers. Dr. Leahey served as a managing partner for over a decade at the largest ophthalmology multi-specialty group in the area. He also founded, helped design and was president of the Lehigh Valley’s first eye-only ambulatory surgical center, Valley Eye Surgical Center. In addition to his work at his practice and the surgical center, Dr. Leahey was a Clinical Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Scheie Eye Institute, where he taught both residents and medical students.

Dr. Leahey received an undergraduate degree in Economics from Georgetown University in 1982. He then attended the Georgetown University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Leahey completed a fellowship in Cornea and External disease at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins in 1992.

For the bulk of his career, Dr. Leahey has been involved with numerous boards and service organizations. He has served as co-medical director at Sightlife/Corneagen and at the Northeast PA Lions Eye Bank. He also served on the boards of the Eye Bank Association of America (accreditation), Servants for Sight, Lehigh Valley’s Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, and AFC First, and was President of the Lehigh Valley Ophthalmology Society. Dr. Leahey has also remained active with his alma mater, serving on Georgetown University’s Board of Regents and its executive committee, acting as Chairman of its Medical Affairs Committee. He also sat on Georgetown University’s Advisory Board for the Alumni Admissions Program, along with its Scholarship Program. And, as an avid lover of golf, Dr. Leahey was a member of the J.Wood Platt Board of Trustees of the Golf Association of Philadelphia.

Based in the Lehigh Valley, Dr. Leahey enjoys spending time with his wife, his three daughters and their husbands, and his grandson.

Professional Testimonials

Integration

Building a Service

“As chairman, Alan was instrumental in creating a comprehensive cooperative call system integrating hospital-based physicians and community ophthalmologists in private practice. This call system has enabled efficient outpatient, inpatient and emergency department care for our population around the clock.

Alan was instrumental in developing an ocular oncology service. His leadership was instrumental in aligning the ocular oncologist, the oncology department, the physicist and hospital system to provide this important service. This cooperative arrangement between Greenville Health System (now Prisma) and our private practice has become the primary referral center of its kind in the state of South Carolina and adjacent areas.”

Michael V. Antworth, MD, MBA

Managing Partner

Retina Consultants of Carolina, PA

Building a Service

“When Dr. Leahey first arrived [at Greenville Health Systems], the entire department of Ophthalmology was in shambles. There was no cohesiveness between the University Department of Ophthalmology and the private sector of ophthalmology. The equipment was outdated and inadequate. The communication among all the Ophthalmologists was non-existent. The care for major trauma service was in disarray.

Dr. Leahey has been the best, most extraordinary chairman we have had in thirty years. He brought a fractured department and community together. He has bought the best equipment to serve our patients and made the finest group of eye care professionals we have ever had. His leadership skills are extraordinary. He is a brilliant business man. He has handled every situation with honesty and integrity. Dr. Leahey did what seemed like an impossible job and accomplished much.”

Bradley B. Williams, MD
President of Southern Eye Associates
Medical Director of Upstate Surgical Center

Professionalism

Building a Service

Professionalism

“Dr. Leahey's evaluation of candidates for admission was always thorough, exceedingly fair and consistently insightful. As a result of his dedication and commitment to matriculating exceptionally qualified students, he was asked to serve on the admissions subcommittee, charged with the difficult task of identifying those candidates chosen to receive an offer of admission.

During subcommittee deliberations, Dr. Leahey was engaged, discerning and impartial during what were often spirited discussions concerning a particular candidate. An advocate for the School and its mission of recruiting academically gifted students from diverse backgrounds and life experiences, Dr. Leahey’s interactions with other committee members and our administrative staff were characterized by professionalism, respect for others and superb communication and interpersonal skills.”

Paul Catalana, MD MPH

Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Management

Professionalism

“As Division Chief, Alan's responsibility was to create and manage a new ophthalmology department within a 1000 bed teaching hospital with a level 1 trauma center. From the beginning, he created a very successful division that currently includes 11 employed doctors, including optometrists and ophthalmologists… and more that 40 ophthalmologists on the medical staff.

It is my firm belief that Alan has exceptional skills as a leader. He can perform complex duties including impossible decision-making, management of processes that are under federal guidelines, management of numerous personnel, and perhaps what may be the most difficult thing, he has managed other physicians within our practice and outside of our practice with exceptional skill.”

John Siddens, DO

Chief of Ophthalmology

Prisma Health

Organizer

Management

Leadership

“As far as patient care is concerned, Dr. Leahey came to the Greenville Health System where he helped develop the ophthalmologic call network, which in essence saved the trauma center since active ophthalmology call coverage is needed. He organized a group of both employed and private practice ophthalmologists and increased the level of ophthalmologic care throughout the health system.

Through Dr. Leahey’s leadership, the emergency care and intraoperative care for patients with ophthalmological disease at the Greenville Memorial Hospital (now Prisma Health) was taken to the highest level. Dr. Leahey’s leadership has allowed ophthalmological care within the hospitals of GHS (now Prisma Health) to be advanced exponentially."

Eugene M. Lanagn III, MD FACS

Former Chairman, Department of Surgery

Greenville Health System ( Now Prisma Health)

Clinical Professor of Surgery, USC School of Medicine- Greenville

Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Clemson Univesity Bioengineering

Leadership

Management

Leadership

“Alan was always an ambitious, highly motivated, and very talented individual who kept pushing forward. He never rested on his laurels but built on each success to lead to more achievements. He built practically from scratch an incredibly successful private practice enterprise and provided the big city expertise to the smaller town which he practiced in. He led this multispecialty private ophthalmology practice into one of the best in the region and was always on the cutting edge of all the new technologies and procedures. He was one of the first to utilize the femtosecond laser technology in cataract surgery. He was the foremost cornea consultant covering a large geographic area of Pennsylvania and getting many referrals from a large catchment region.

Alan’s broad reaching leadership abilities were also showcased with his medical directorship position with the Northeast Lions Eye Bank based in Allentown, Pa for several decades. It remains as one of the more successful Eye Banks in this area and nationally and I still get a large proportion of my corneal transplant tissue from this Eye Bank. Alan raised private money with fundraising endeavors that he chaired to support the Eye Bank including charity golf tournaments for many years and other successful fundraising events. Alan continues as a leader in Eye Banking and has a national reputation as an expert in corneal diseases and surgery, cataract surgery, and corneal Eye Banking."

Michael E. Sulewski, M.D.

Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology

University of Pennsylvania