Oklahoma City-based OU Health has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Dean McGee Eye Institute, also in Oklahoma City.
The transaction, which is expected to be finalized by Jan. 1, will create the OU Health Dean McGee Eye Institute and further integrate the institute into OU Health’s academic mission, according to a Dec. 23 news release shared with Becker’s.
DMEI has served as the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology for decades, and will be renamed the Dean McGee Department of Ophthalmology, pending approval from the University of Oklahoma board of regents.
Under the agreement, OU Health will acquire DMEI’s clinical operations, including its flagship OU Health campus location, three metro-area satellite clinics in Oklahoma City and a Lawton, Okla., location. DMEI’s buildings and real estate will also be transferred to the Dean McGee Eye Institute Foundation, which will continue to support ophthalmology education and research.
“By acquiring Dean McGee, we are ensuring that its 50-year legacy of distinguished eye care not only endures but thrives under the strength and stability of OU Health,” Richard Lofgren, MD, president and CEO of OU Health, said in the release. “Joining the health system secures the institute’s future and reinforces its leadership in innovation that will benefit generations to come.”
