There’s a guy to watch on the business scene in Colorado. His name is Tyler
Tysdal, age 35. One of the companies he’s involved with, SmartCare, is
hitting the radar now because it has begun rolling out the first of what it
hopes are 1,050 minor-care health clinics in grocery stores and other retail
establishments across the U.S. during the next five years.
Greenwood Village-based SmartCare is a sort of an advanced version of
“doc-in-the-box” you might see at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club; you know, where
the optometrist is in for a few hours, only SmartCare’s nurse practioners
schedules will mirror pharmacy hours. SmartCare’s licensed nurse
practitioners will be able to handle a lot of the cases that end up in
emergency rooms, but at just a fifth of the cost, the company claims. It’s a
large potential market. The company’s research showed that of the 114
million patients who went to emergency rooms in hospitals in 2003, 15
million were treated for minor ailments.
Tysdal is president and chief financial officer of SmartCare, which has
attracted venture capital from a variety of investors (one source had the
figure around $4 million. Company officials said it was more than that, but
would not divulge the amount). His partner, Larry Hay, who worked at
Einstein’s Bagels and other large restaurant chains, is CEO. They’ve
recruited what they and their investors believe is a blue-ribbon set of
executives, including chairman of the board and medical entrepreneur Lonnie
Busby, to grow SmartCare into a $1-billion-plus health-care juggernaut.
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