In 2013, Joselyn Raymundo founded Rochester Home Infusion (RHI), a small home infusion pharmacy providing intravenous medications in the patient’s home. Starting with only a handful of dedicated team members, she worked tirelessly with Mayo Clinic physicians, at-home nursing agencies, and pharmaceutical companies and distributors to bring the critical care services of a hospital to the patient — in the comfort of their very own homes.
Over the past decade, RHI has contributed to transforming Rochester’s business ecosystem. Coming to the city in 2013 with two decades of home infusion pharmacy experience, Raymundo identified an unmet need for more comprehensive support after patients left their hospital support system and sought to close that gap. She chose to run RHI out of the Minnesota BioBusiness Center, where she could take advantage of the collaborative and innovative relationships forming between tenacious entrepreneurs like herself. She quickly integrated into the community, provided job opportunities to community members, and gathered a remarkably diverse workplace.
As Rochester’s first and only locally-based home infusion and alternate infusion center provider, RHI was uniquely positioned to help local and visiting patients throughout the Midwest navigate the challenging transitions out of hospital care. Since its founding, Rochester Home Infusion has supported thousands of people in their health journey through compassionate medical and educational services, helping patients heal in the company of those they love most. RHI stood out because of the team’s ability to provide exceptional patient experience, even in the face of the high care standards set by the Mayo Clinic.
While RHI owes much of its success to its founder and dedicated team, the DMC initiative laid the groundwork for entrepreneurs like Raymundo to thrive. When interviewed, Raymundo remarked that the “DMC fosters innovation by offering resources and connections for new entrepreneurs. There is strong collaboration between DMC, Mayo Clinic, the city, and other business owners. It makes all the difference, especially for first-time business owners like myself.”
“Life science businesses or medical providers who choose to build and grow their business in Rochester will have an extraordinary opportunity,” Raymundo says. “It is truly a destination medical center, but understand that, to be at this level, your business model and offerings must also be at that level to complement what has already been established here. RHI, for example, has always focused on helping the community and providing exceptional patient care. That is what works in Rochester.”
RHI’s engagement with local charities and reputation for transforming patients’ lives helped the company expand its coverage to nine states throughout the Midwest. But a broader geographic range brought new challenges, and Raymundo discovered that large-scale success would require more physical infrastructure and industry support. By 2022, she had a choice: forge the path forward alone or partner with a national infusion company.
Raymundo chose the latter. On August 5th, 2022, Option Care Health became the corporate owner of RHI. As a well-established national home infusion company, Option Care Health could help RHI form direct relationships with pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and provide in-network access to over 98% of insurance providers in the US.
“By combining the strengths of Option Care Health and Rochester Home Infusion, we can serve patients from all 50 states while still focusing on providing the most excellent service to our patients,” says Raymundo.
Having left her mark on Rochester’s history, many are wondering what comes next for Raymundo. While spending time with her family and friends, she will continue to serve on multiple for-profit and non-profit boards, including DMC, and provide invaluable expertise as the initiative draws talent and innovation to Rochester. Speaking optimistically, she had the following to say about entrepreneurship in Rochester.
“It is exciting to see these opportunities for life science businesses in Rochester. DMC has done an incredible job attracting and supporting these entrepreneurs. I am certain there will be more to come, and I can’t wait to see where our community goes.”
Written by Sheryl Barlow, Bryan Lund, and Olivia McCauley in collaboration with Destination Medical Center.