The head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s health-focused venture capital arm met with several Central Ohio startup founders in a 24-hour visit to Columbus – and was impressed.
Even if the health IT startups aren't the right fit for the banking giant to invest or become a customer, Morgan Health CEO Dan Mendelson said he wanted to help.
"We want companies we work with to really benefit from our presence," Mendelson told Columbus Inno at an event at Chase's McCoy Center office complex in the Polaris region. "We'll screen 400 companies to make three investments."
Morgan Health's mission to find innovations that improve employer-sponsored health plans. Chase (NYSE: JPM) launched the $250 million fund in June 2021.
Although there's nothing for the fund to announce locally, Mendelson had praise for the strength of the region's health IT startups – in particular the success of CoverMyMeds and the new companies that its alumni have founded since its $1.44 billion acquisition by McKesson Corp.
"That culture was very, very healthy," he said. "What you see about healthy cultures is they spawn other entrepreneurs."
Mendelson said he's "very interested" in AndHealth, the chronic disease reversal startup launched last year by CoverMyMeds co-founder Matt Scantland. This year it has been making inroads with brokers and insurers.
AndHealth is telehealth provided as an employee benefit to identify and treat root causes of painful chronic conditions such as migraine and certain autoimmune disorders.
"We’re huge fans of the work Morgan Health is doing to support new models to make healthcare better for all people, and the conversation they are pushing for employers to advance employee health," Scantland said in a statement to Columbus Inno. "We’re excited about Columbus as a test bed for Morgan Health."
Mendelson also met with executives from ScriptDrop Inc., which makes software to power prescription deliveries, and Redi.Health Inc., a startup making a free tool for patients to manage chronic illnesses.
Both have co-founders and CEOs who are CoverMyMeds alumni.
Redi is aimed at individuals and not large employer sponsored plans, so not a fit for Morgan, but Mendelson said he looked up potential referrals for the startup when he got back to his hotel.
"In sitting down with Dan it quickly became clear to me that he is a true positive force for the healthcare space," Redi co-founder and CEO Luke Buchanan said via email.
"His focus and approach to changing our landscape for the better is inspiring and further validates our mission at Redi," he said. "Morgan Health’s increased presence in Columbus is good for all healthcare and health-tech companies in the area."
Morgan Health's most recent investment was $25 million in May to New York-based Kindbody, which provides fertility services as an employee benefit, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Mendelson's main purpose for this week's Columbus visit was to check in on another investment: A pilot project operating primary care clinics in or near Chase's Columbus-area offices for the bank's employees and dependents.
The clinics are operated by Seattle healthcare startup Vera Whole Health and Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians Inc., based in Westerville. Morgan Health invested in Vera in 2021.
The five clinics opened 10 months ago. So far, 25% of nearly 19,000 Central Ohio employees have used the clinics and give it high marks for satisfaction, he said.
"The employees feel they're well cared for," Mendelson said. "We're thinking about how to grow it."
When top Chase execs visit Columbus, they say they want on-site clinics at their home offices, he said. Central Ohio was the perfect test market.
"We have every part of the bank represented here; we have fantastic (local) leadership," Mendelson said. "The beauty of Columbus: We have a strong presence in the market. When we do something, it's visible and known."
The initiative is still too new to have gathered enough data on whether it's improving costs and overall health, Mendelson said. But there are positive early indicators.
"I can't tell you cancers went down – I can tell you screenings went up," he said.
