It’s 3 p.m. as Jed Fulk steps out of the elevator at the offices of Bostwick Laboratories in the Innsbrook Corporate Center. Fulk is smartly dressed in a blue pinstripe suit.
“I have interviews for sales reps at 5, 6, 7 and 8 p.m.,” Fulk says energetically. “I’ll probably go home around 9:30 tonight, but that’s the time I go home every day.” Fulk, executive vice president of sales and marketing, has been especially busy hiring new employees after the company announced in mid-2007 that it would add 600 people—doubling its work force—and pump $4.6 million into its Henrico County operation over the next three years.
“The decision to expand our facilities in Henrico County was based on the area’s available labor pool, favorable cost of living, quality of life and centralized East Coast location,” said Dr. David Bostwick, president and CEO.
Bostwick Laboratories has established itself as one of the country’s top medical specialty laboratories, focusing on providing the most accurate test results with the fastest turnaround time.
The lab receives thousands of tissue samples worldwide with the goal of providing a diagnosis for each patient within 24 hours. Many of the samples are prostate biopsies sent by Bostwick client physicians.
Bostwick’s Henrico expansion continues its growth pattern of doubling in size each year since the company’s founding in 1999. It employs 640 people at labs and offices in Richmond, Arizona, New York, Florida and London.
They work in five divisions—Urologic Pathology, Gastrocor, Gynecor, Nephrocor and Bostwick Scientific, which focuses on clinical trials.Did Fulk foresee such rapid growth? “I would like to say ‘yes,’” he replies. “It started with Dr. Bostwick and myself in the marketing area. He also has an MBA, so he’s very knowledgeable in marketing. We brought in new tests, we hired great sales reps, trained them well, and we opened other divisions as we grew."
Each division is led by a well-known pathologist who serves as a medical director, with a sales team and a marketing team. “The medical director can provide direct knowledge to our sales and marketing reps, which in turn enhances their ability to communicate with our clients.”
Dr. Bostwick came up with the idea of a laboratory with a 24-hour turnaround time in 1985 when he was a physician at the University of Chicago Hospitals. He had observed how long patients waited for results and theorized that the process could be reorganized so pathologists could review biopsy slides faster.
Dr. Bostwick recalls that his colleagues thought it was a “cute” idea, but many weren’t interested in pursuing it. At the time, the system was in place to fit a pathologist’s schedule and convenience and not the patient’s.
The idea was hard to let go. Dr. Bostwick moved on to the University of Maryland, earned his MBA at Loyola College in Baltimore during his spare time and then joined the Mayo Clinic as a professor.
In 1999, he pursued his dream with funds from personal savings and from family and friends.
Now people all over the world—Thailand, Russia, Japan—wait on a diagnosis from Bostwick Laboratories. And Dr. Bostwick and his employees practice the vision every day and make it a priority that patients receive biopsy results within 24 hours.
“In most situations a patient is having a biopsy because of elevated blood tests or an abnormal urine test,” Fulk says. “They know something is wrong. They have time to think and worry about it. They want the result as quickly as possible.”
Even when patients have benign, noncancerous conditions, “It’s very important to know that as soon as possible to put the patient at ease. And if it is cancer, diagnosis is what starts the treatment. It’s equally important to get that result back as soon as possible.”
Bostwick Laboratories has earned a reputation not only for speed, but also for accuracy and reliability. Those qualities are invaluable to physicians who can confidently tell patients that expert pathologists are analyzing their cases and that the results are right.
Another factor behind the company’s success is its location in Henrico County. Fulk, a West Point graduate and former Army officer, moved to the county from Chicago when he joined Bostwick Laboratories in 2003.
“There certainly are quality people and a strong work ethic in this area,” Fulk says.
“The weather is much better than Chicago. It’s convenient to get to D.C. or New York City or any location in the East Coast. It’s a beautiful area for families and offers a tremendous amount to employers and employees.”
Visit www.bostwicklaboratories.com for more information.
