eHealth Technologies creating 160 jobs in Scott County

eHealth Technologies Inc., a provider of medical record and image retrieval and clinical intelligence services, is investing $375,000 to establish a customer support center in Scott County that will create 160 jobs, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

Based in Rochester, New York, eHealth Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax County-based private equity firm Aldrich Capital Partners, which acquired the company in 2019. eHealth Technologies serves more than half of the nation’s top 100 hospitals. Its health system clients in Virginia include UVA Health, VCU Health and Inova Health System. The company’s eHealth Connect platform directly provides a patient’s external records, images, and pathology slides to health care providers, which, according to eHealth Technologies, can reduce a patient’s wait time for critical care from weeks down to days.

The average annual pay at the customer support center will be $36,500, and eHealth Technologies is working closely with the Scott County Economic Development Authority to locate a site for the facility, according to Will Payne, director of InvestSWVA, a public-private economic development marketing organization for Southwest Virginia that has been working since November 2019 with eHealth Technologies to land the project.

“The growth of telehealth during the pandemic has created an increased demand for companies like eHealth Technologies that provide innovative solutions to streamline health information and enhance patient care,” Northam said in a statement. “Southwest Virginia is proactively working with its higher education partners to equip the workforce with 21st century skills, and this announcement is a reflection of that progress. We thank eHealth Technologies for creating 160 new jobs in Scott County, and stand ready to support their success as they work to deliver much-needed services to hospital systems and health care organizations across the nation.”

“This expansion in Southwest Virginia is the right next step in our strategic growth plan,” eHealth Technologies CEO Jeff Markin said. “We appreciate the support received from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission-backed InvestSWVA team, and we are excited to grow our partnerships around the commonwealth of Virginia. This Scott County expansion will enable eHealth Technologies to strengthen our focus on helping the clinicians we serve get seamless access to the health care information they need — when they need it — for the benefit of patients receiving critical care.”

Mirza Baig, founding partner of Aldrich Capital Partners, said in a statement, “During strategic planning sessions with the executive team at eHealth Technologies, we identified the need to open a new office location to support our ambitious growth goals. We evaluated numerous options and are proud to announce Southwest Virginia will be home to our fourth … site in the state. After investments in Richmond-based Paymerang and Hampton Roads-based Decisions.com, we are looking forward to building multiple, world-class teams in Virginia.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Scott County, InvestSWVA, Mountain Empire Community College and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission to secure the project for Virginia. Northam approved a $626,500 incentive grant for the project from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission approved $94,000 for the project and eHealth Technologies also is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, which is administered by the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

“Project Navigator proves that taking a disruptive approach to economic development results in strategic wins,” Payne said. “Our InvestSWVA team is proud to partner with eHealth Technologies and Aldrich Capital Partners, because they see great value in Southwest Virginia’s workforce and our region’s ability to help them grow.”

InvestSWVA brought Mountain Empire Community College into discussions with eHealth Technologies to ensure that the company would have a pipeline of health information management graduates for the customer support center.

“eHealth Technologies will be a game changer for talent development in Southwest Virginia,” said Kris Westover, president of Mountain Empire Community College. “MECC has a successful track record of preparing the region’s workforce for careers in health information management, and we are proud to partner with eHealth Technologies on developing a well-trained workforce that will ensure the highest level of customer service and, ultimately, patient care.”