PBN 2021 Leaders & Achievers Awards
Dr. Philip R. Rizzuto | Owner, Rizzuto Eyelid and Facial Plastic Surgery
Dr. Philip R. Rizzuto is a self-employed ophthalmologist, but he doesn’t work alone – not exactly.
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The owner and sole practicing medical doctor at Rizzuto Eyelid & Facial Plastic Surgery in Providence, Rizzuto is a part of a group of about 200 self-employed ophthalmologists nationally who call themselves “solo eye docs.” He describes them as “a wonderful group of men and women who share ideas and talk about why physicians should not be afraid to go and start their own businesses.”
Rizzuto is an oculoplastic surgeon specializing in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery of the eyelids, the cavity around the eye, the eyebrows, cheeks and other parts of the eyes and surrounding parts of the face.
In addition to owning and operating his practice for 22 years and managing a staff of five, Rizzuto is also a clinical faculty member at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School and runs the oculoplastics program at the Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center.
For Rizzuto, the decision to open a solo practice has had its challenges and rewards.
“As with anything, you’re trying to build a patient-customer-client base, that takes time,” Rizzuto said. But, he added, “There’s nothing, no greater feeling than doing that yourself.”
Rizzuto is also involved with national and local medical associations, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology board of trustees, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Care Community Exchange Council, the Down Syndrome Society of Rhode Island Inc. and the Rhode Island Free Clinic Inc. board of trustees.
Nonemergency medical practices such as Rizzuto’s were forced to shut down in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But his offices have reopened. “I’ve never had more fun … than what I’m doing now,” he said. “I’ve worked for 20 years to build this business and my practice so that I could be here now taking care of people.”
