MedicAlert proud to show off its Turlock facility

By John Holland
The Modesto Bee
March 27, 2004

TURLOCK -- Nearly 300 people Friday toured a place where nurses and jewelers work toward the same goal.

They work for MedicAlert Foundation, which provides members around the world with bracelets and pendants engraved with information about their chronic medical conditions.

An emergency worker aiding a member can call a MedicAlert nurse any time to get further information -- a service that can, for example, prevent the use of a drug that causes the member to have an allergic reaction.

"We are able to speak for people who can't speak for themselves, and that's why we keep all the information in our database," said Laura Fitzgerald, manager of MedicAlert's member call center.

MedicAlert was founded in Turlock in 1956 by Dr. Marion Collins and his wife, Chrissie. They got the idea after their daughter Linda had a severe reaction to a tetanus shot.

Today, MedicAlert has 2.4 million members in the United States and 1.6 million elsewhere. Friday's tours were part of a 48th anniversary celebration.

For much of the past year, MedicAlert has been in the news less because of its services and more because of accusations that two of its former executives made personal use of the organization's credit cards.

A preliminary hearing is set to begin Monday for former chief executive Tanya Glazebrook, accused of stealing at least $150,000, and former chief financial officer Effie DeBow, who with her husband, Richard Rebsamen, is accused of stealing close to $1 million. The three, arrested last June, have pleaded not guilty.

Medical mission prevails

Despite that trouble, Medic-Alert carries on, said Harbinder Maan, corporate affairs associate for the foundation.

"We expected to get a lot of calls from members (about the theft case), but we didn't," she said. "Those who did call, we were able to tell them the service didn't stop."

MedicAlert has 108 employees at its Colorado Avenue headquarters. Some of them work in the call center, signing up new members and updating information about current members. Some are nurses, who deal directly with emergency workers around the world. Some make the pendants and bracelets, which are engraved on site with lasers. Some work in marketing, looking for new twists on what MedicAlert does.

Last year, for example, the organization started working with researchers conducting clinical trials of new drugs and medical devices. Trial participants are enrolled in MedicAlert, and if they have a bad reaction or other problem, an emergency worker can get vital information from the organization in Turlock . In turn, the researchers can promptly learn about these reactions and use that information to refine the testing.

The specific clinical trials involved are confidential, said Ramesh Srinivasan, vice president of marketing for Medic-Alert, but the effort is going well so far.

He said another possibility is putting members' medical information on wallet cards that can be read by wireless electronic devices.

MedicAlert membership costs $35 the first year, $20 a year thereafter. That gets the member a stainless steel bracelet or pendant. Other types cost more, topping out at $709.95 for the fanciest gold pieces.

"Why not make it nicer?" said Tammy Johnson, who oversees the manufacturing. "You've got to wear it."