Overview of ‘think tank’ presented at projects new home
BULLSKIN TWP. – A wireless monitoring device and non-clogging infant brain shunt are just two of 24 potential inventions being devised by a group of medical professionals and researchers from Pittsburgh hospitals who have made the former Durbin School their permanent think tank. The group is comprised of 20 doctors ranging from neurologists to internists and associated with hospitals such as the Mercy and West Penn Allegheny Health systems. The group also includes researchers who will gather to discuss their ideas of simple and practical medical devices not yet invented and an artist to draw composites of the potential products.
An overview of the think tank was presented Wednesday at the school located at 275 Pleasant Valley Road. Those attending included officials from Walnut Hill Medical Trust; Michael Berry, owner of Sun Star, an injection molding company based in Latrobe; Vincent Vicites, chairman of the Fayette County Commissioners; Tammy Shell, director of the county’s office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development; and Scot Sage and Buddy Eicher, zoning officers.
“We’ve never all been in the same room at one time because each of us had separate projects,” said Patrick McArdle, the trust’s principal investigator.
McArdle, a former cardio thoracic perfusionist at Presbyterian Hospital, said he has already developed 16 product ideas.
Dr. Joanne Marie Andiorio, president of Andiorio Associates of Pittsburgh, recently purchased the 7,000 square-foot mansion for $600,000 from Dr. Robert and Linda Farmer who were also acquaintances. The structure, renamed by the trust as the Mansion at Walnut Hill, sits on about 40 acres and has 16 rooms.
A native of Oakland, Andiorio previously served as president of the Mercy Health System up until 1998 when she left the position to start her own company teaching and consulting in management and health care fields.
Andiorio, who also works for a realty company, said her decision to purchase the Mansion at Walnut Hill was threefold: to house a medical trust company, to utilize the unoccupied and outdoor space for weddings, conferences and small dinners and to further develop the acreage for apartments that would serve as a summer retreat because of its central location to several mountain resorts.
“This had multiple use opportunities and that’s what really attracted me to this area,” said Andiorio, describing it as a warm community.
Shell said she heard in November that the trust was planning to locate somewhere in the county, but had no idea it would be at the mansion.
Andiorio added that with the upgrading she plans to do the investment will probably exceed $1 million. “We’re just really getting started,” said Andiorio.
On the other hand, McArdle said the trust is already booking weddings and can accommodate as many as 100 people inside and about 300 outside.
As far as the location, McArdle said the group initially searched for property in Pittsburgh, but the taxes on similar properties were at least 10 times the amount in Allegheny County opposed to Fayette.
“This was one of the incentives,” said McArdle adding that the group’s prior meeting grounds consisted of a 24-hour diner in Oakland and hospital cafeterias.
McArdle said the “peace and quiet” of the mansion is also a factor. “We need a place where we can just sit down, grab a computer and think,” added McArdle.
Likewise, Vicites said all incentives are in place at this point as far as the county’s involvement in working with public and private partnerships. Vicites added that the county plans to meet with officials from Fay Penn Economic Development Council today. “This is an example of everyone working together,” said Vicites.
Fay-Penn, along with the commissioners, each approve tax incentives for the county while Fay-Penn also administers tax incentive programs and low-interest loan opportunities.
“We have equity now in our tax base that we haven’t had in the last 44 years,” said Vicites.
In addition to the commissioners, Vicites said Shell has been working closely with the trust from a community development aspect.
According to Shell, the think tank is the first of its kind in the county. She added that it could even qualify as an enterprise zone since it is located off the Route 119 corridor.
With the intent to manufacture the potential medical products in the county, McArdle has been in touch with Michael Berry, owner of Sun Star, an injection molding company that develops various plastic and metal devices for the intensive care units at Allegheny General and Children’s Hospital and items for the federal government.
McArdle said he learned of Sun Star from an engineer for the company internationally known for his design of plastics.
Locally, Berry said the company also produces medical and electrical items for Sony Corp. in New Stanton.
Although Berry said Sun Star doesn’t own any of its manufactured products, the company in some cases, fully assembles the products and would be interested in starting a factory in the county in conjunction with the trust.
“At this point, it’s a lot of ideas,” said Berry.