Serving Scott County for
More Than 104 Years!

Tech Jobs Headed to Duffield

From staff reports


Rick Siger, Deputy Secretary of Commerce
and Trade, presents a replica check for
$150,000 from the Governor's Opportunity
Fund to Dr. David Redwine, chairman of the
Scott County Board of Supervisors.

Nearly 50 new high-tech jobs expected to earn an average salary of $68,000 are coming to Duffield as a Kingsport, Tenn.-based medical group crosses the state line to build a state-of-the-art medical records data center. The announcement by state, county and local officials was spurred by the availability of high-speed broadband in the Duffield Industrial Park area.

During a 10 a.m. joint news conference held last Wednesday at the offices of the Lenowisco District Planning Commission, Holston Medical Group announced Duffield as the location of a $5.5 million, two-phase plan that will greatly improve medical care, services and technology to a medically-underserved region. The announcement by HMG Founder and President Jerry L. Miller, MD also included details of the plan that will bring a significant influx of technology-focused jobs to Duffield.

“The very reason I returned to this area 30 years ago, after medical school, was the fact that Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee were grossly underserved,” began Dr. Miller, a native of Swords Creek, Va., who began his practice in Nickelsville.  “And, I wanted to do something about. I’ve committed my entire life to ensure that this region have not merely adequate medical services – but the best—the best doctors, the best nurses, the best specialists, the best technology and the best by way of electronic health information.”

According to HMG officials Phase I of the plan will include the renovation and expansion of the Wellmont/Penn-Virginia building to a 26,500-square-foot facility that will accommodate:  an increase of four doctors, bringing the total to six; the addition of a state-of-the-art outpatient diagnostic center with CT, mammography, ultrasound, and bone densitometry; three consultative offices where specialists such as ob/gyn, orthopedics, gastroenterology, or rheumatology will be able to provide local care to patients; and a physical therapy/rehab center.

HMG has a long history of serving the Duffield community, dating back to 1981 when family physician J. Bryston Winegar, MD, of Yuma began providing care to the residents of Scott County. 

“For more than 26 years, HMG family physician Dr. Winegar has served the very deserving patients of Duffield. With a desire of honoring his faithful service, we are pleased to announce the new facility will be renamed the J. Bryston Winegar Medical Center,” announced Dr. Miller.

Phase II of the plan includes the renovation of separate building on the new J. Bryston Winegar Medical Center campus that will create a 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility where data services can be consolidated, stored and serviced by a team of information technology professionals—creating an influx of 40-plus technology-focused jobs at an average wage rate of $68,000.

The new facility will be named the OnePartner ATAC.  OnePartnersm is the name of a new management services organization HMG is launching that will provide the regional healthcare industry with affordable access to modern electronic health information technology. HMG has become known throughout the nation as a pioneer in the comprehensive utilization of electronic health records.

The acronym ATAC, stands for Advanced Technology and Application Center.

According to Dr. Miller, the facility will accommodate the data needs of not only HMG’s 212,000 patients but countless other organizations in the Tri-Cities and surrounding regions. ATAC will provide services that fill the needs of large healthcare organizations by providing off-campus disaster recovery and business continuance for their existing systems and it will give independent providers a state-of-the-art facility to house their EMR systems and patient data.

“This will be a data center of excellence—a secure, high-availability repository for electronic medical records and data storage,” said Dr. Miller.  “The potential scope of this data center is absolutely tremendous.”

OnePartner is currently negotiating with several groups for the OnePartner ATAC to become their “center of excellence” for data management.  According to Dr. Miller, a current opportunity exists with COSEHC—The Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control—representing more than 16 million patients.

Renovation for phase I of the plan will begin within the next 30 days with the J. Bryston Winegar Medical Center slated to be complete in approximately 12 months.  Simultaneous work will also begin on the OnePartner ATAC.

“Holston Medical Group brings high-paying, high-tech jobs to Southwest Virginia, and will help continue our efforts to diversify the region’s economy,” said Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. “Scott County’s strong labor force and the region's growing telecommunications network helped us secure this new investment and new jobs.”

Miller complimented the efforts at the state and local level in sealing the deal.

“I commend the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Scott County Economic Development Authority for their innovative thinking and cooperative approach to economic development,” said Miller. “They have been great partners from the very beginning, eagerly helping us understand the opportunities here in Virginia.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Scott County, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, the Lenowisco Planning District Commission and the Duffield Development Authority to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Kaine approved $150,000 from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Scott County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $150,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will support the project with training assistance through its Workforce Services Jobs Investment Program.

VCEDA is expected to approve a similar grant of $150,000 at its next meeting.

Rick Siger, Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade, made the presentation on behalf of the governor. He explained that a total of 5,200 new jobs have been created in the Commonwealth along with an investment of $703 million during 80 different economic development announcements since Kaine took office Jan. 13, 2006.

Wednesday’s announcement was great for Southwest Virginia, the region and the Commonwealth of Virginia, Siger said, in keeping with Kaine’s focus of economic development and a “Return to Roots” in Southwest Virginia.

Acting Executive Director Jonathan Belcher of VCEDA explained the announcement was reinforcing the idea of a changing economy in Southwest Virginia.

“Today’s announcement is a validation that our economy is moving away from manufacturing to knowledge-based,” Belcher stated. “This is evidence that our economy is moving in the right direction.”

Other announcements of more high-technology jobs have been in the news recently. On Friday morning Northrop Grumman broke ground on a backup state data center in Lebanon that will employ approximately 400 information technology specialists.

“This announcement today represents a transition to technology jobs, and we expect to grow more of these types of businesses in the e-Corridor Regional Park/Southwest,” said Dr. David Redwine, Chairman of the Scott County Board of Supervisors. “This business will be located at the entrance to the e-Corridor Park and will be a great asset as we diversify the economic base of Scott County.”

State Sen. William Wampler stated the advent of broadband has allowed the county to compete and recruit as never before.

“As soon as I realized we had a chance to bring this wonderful HMG facility to Scott County, we focused our collective efforts and energies into making this happen for Southwest Virginia,” said Wampler. “This builds on one of our most important economic clusters—health care—plus it brings world-class health assets to Scott County.”

Del. Terry Kilgore thanked HMG for their efforts in making the investment in the county.

“Today’s announcement confirms, once again, the wisdom of the Tobacco Commission in its investment in high-speed fiber infrastructure for Southwest Virginia,” said Kilgore, Vice Chairman of the Virginia Tobacco Commission. “Also, these types of higher skill level jobs bring wages that will raise the bar for the entire region.”

Business Directory

Vacation Guide