Sen. Capito visits innovative companies to promote entrepreneurial spirit during Congressional Startup Day

Aug. 19—MORGANTOWN — It's not enough to have an inventor's mind or an entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, the most promising medical solutions materialize when three things are brought together: brilliant, curious minds, the space to work and test ideas, and the resources to keep trying when an idea isn't quite there yet.

Like Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, Intermed Labs was designed to give the brightest minds the space they need to develop new products, as well as the resources they need to test their ideas.

Intermed is one of several places Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., visited on Wednesday during Congressional Startup Day, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of entrepreneurial pursuits and their contribution to job growth around the country. Capito co-chairs the initiative with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as the two work to generate support for startup communities.

A division of Mon Health System, Intermed is a high tech lab that values creativity, tenacity and brains. In a relatively plain workspace, the researchers have clearly placed their focus on innovation. The lab was awarded the 2021 Health Device Achievement Award by the Emergency Care Research Institute.

During her visit, Capito learned about several new Intermed inventions that are in various stages of testing and development. Dr. Tom McClellan, Mon Health reconstructive surgeon and Intermed CEO, demonstrated several of these products.

"These are all products we're working on," McClellan said, as he motioned to a table with medical devices.

One device looks like a simple eye patch, but it was designed to be easier to use than traditional eye patches.

"For the same cost as a regular shield you can just snap this on," McClellan said. "It's very comfortable to wear."

He said that patients recovering from retina surgery will find this product, called Snaps, convenient to use during the crucial healing process.

Another product, Figure 8, is a needle designed to help doctors perform shoulder surgery.

"It's five times stronger than needles currently being used in this type of surgery," McClellan said.

The hair-thin needle helps surgeons locate and penetrate target areas without disturbing other tissue. When the product was demonstrated to specialists, "it blew them out of the water," McClellan said.

"What's exciting to me is the brain power that's going into all this technology," Capito said. "Being on the ground floor like this — it's exciting."

Like the scientists at Menlo Park labs, the researchers at Intermed work to develop products that will make life better. In Intermed's case, however, scientists work specifically on medical solutions. One new undertaking is an app that helps patients suffering from depression or bipolar disorder gauge their mental health in real time.

"We need this in Washington," Capito said, causing a burst of laughter from guests at the event.

"We have everything right here, plus we have a lot of other things that some of the larger cities don't have — like wonderful outdoor recreation," Capito said.

"You can have dreams," Capito continued, "and you can build on them, and actually bring them out to the market. It's not only the creative and visionary discovery of building something, but then to have it actually manufactured here — it's a major plus."

"It makes me so proud of West Virginia ingenuity," she said.

To reach Lori Riley, email lriley@timeswv.com.