By This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | Corridor Inc. Staff Writer

Originally published February 2007

Postcards from around the world at the Passport Health headquarters in Baltimore. Photo by Christopher Myers

 

     And in 2001, the company was tapped by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help provide anthrax vaccinations after a scare rocked the postal service, said Fran Lessans, president and CEO of the company.

     “With two days notice, we became the de facto bioterrorism defense team,” she said.

     Since then, Passport has continued to expand its services, from travel and workplace wellness to bioterrorism response and new drug research trials.

     Headquartered in a refurbished foundry not far from historical Fort McHenry, Passport has 125 U.S. locations, including six in the Corridor. The company expected to gross close to $23 million in 2006, according to Lessans.

     The company franchises locations, though it operates the outlets in the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets, including sites in the city and in Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore and Harford Counties.

     International growth is also on the horizon as the company looks at expanding into Ireland and Cambodia.

of two people Vince McKee Jr., a travel health specialist at Passport, (left) and Fran Lessans, president and CEO of the company, demonstrate the service patients receive at the clinics. Photo by Christopher Myers

     “While working in college health [at the University of Baltimore], I noticed travel was changing,” said Lessans. “There was no more Europe. Students wanted information on Africa and India.”

     Travel remains the company’s top priority and it doles out about 10,000 shots a month, she said.

     But not everyone is traveling for fun. Lessans estimates half of the business is pure pleasure. The other half is corporate travel.

     “There’s leisure travel — those people going bird watching in Belize; or business travelers working for Phillips Seafood or Under Armour; and then there are those on personal business — adopting a baby from China or going on a medical mission,” said Lessans.

     For $45, clients receive a consultation that outlines the necessary steps and medicines needed, but the cost of vaccines is additional.

     “Vaccines are priced depending on what we pay,” said Lessans, who buys directly from the drug manufacturers. “The mark-up is low; we want to keep it affordable for everyone.”

     Unlike a family doctor, Passport does not accept health insurance. The advantage of visiting Passport instead of the doctor is the specialization, Lessans explained.

     “Doctors have a lot going on, it’s not their core business and they can’t keep abreast of [travel updates],” she said. “We’re the first leg of your travel odyssey — it’s not filled with sick people like the doctor’s office.”

     But the Infectious Diseases Society of America still recommends visiting a medical doctor, said Steve Baragona, an organization spokesman.

  “There is not a lot of infectious disease oversight [at Passport],” he said. “This is not the way to do travel medicine.”

     Lessans disagreed, explaining that Passport does have an infectious disease medical director who reviews all company protocols and guidelines.

     Mark Noble, a Passport Health franchisee since 2000, who co-owns five outlets including locations in Silver Spring, Bethesda and Largo, said the company is beneficial to patients because they are able to find care in a location with its own niche.

     Because of that niche and with access to drug companies, Passport was called to administer the anthrax vaccine for the federal government, Lessans said. Since then, the company has kept the government as a client and has helped conduct training on smallpox, she said.

     Passport has also been recruiting and testing subjects for a flu study by Protein Sciences Corp., a Connecticut biopharmaceutical company and will participate in a new oral cholera vaccine trial this year for a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company, she noted.

     “It’s more than just shooting people with a few vaccines,” Lessans said. “It’s about keeping people healthy.” <