Waterford firm RelateCare to create 255 new US jobs 

Established in 2014, RelateCare began as a joint venture between Waterford company, Rigneydolphin, which was founded in 1990 and US healthcare institution, Cleveland Clinic.

Irish healthcare organisation RelateCare have announced a significant international expansion which will see 255 new jobs created in the US.

The Waterford firm said the jobs will help support office functions for hospitals and healthcare facilities in the US, with the new hires being employed in the company's Sherwood facility in the state of Arkansas. 

Established in 2014, RelateCare began as a joint venture between Waterford company, Rigneydolphin, which was founded in 1990 and US healthcare institution, Cleveland Clinic. With 100 staff already working in Arkansas, the new hires will see over 350 RelateCare employees working in the state.

“RelateCare has seen rapid growth over the past two years, said Conor O’Byrne, CEO of RelateCare Group. “We’re delighted to widen our U.S. operations during a very exciting time of customer expansion for our company."

Headquartered in Waterford city, Relatecare also has an office in Tralee, with US hubs in Cleaveland, Ohio and Little Rock, Arkansas. Some of the company's main clients include the HSE as well as US partners such as Cleveland Clinic, Stanford Children’s Health, Beth Israel Lahey Health and Duke Health among others.

Part of the Waterford-based Akusus Group which specialises in consulting and outsourcing services, the company currently employs over 1,400 people across the US and Ireland, 500 of which were added in the past year.

Last June, the company created 280 new jobs in Kerry as part of a major expansion in its Tralee facility. 

Speaking on the firm's expansion, Arkansas Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders thanked RelateCare for choosing Sherwood as their location, saying she "looked forward to working with them to pursue policies that make Arkansas an even more favorable candidate for business expansion.”

The new Sherwood hub will support RelateCare’s clientele through remote clinical support services, post-discharge management services, and telehealth and patient appointment scheduling services. 

The jobs created by the company will include new management executives, support staff members and access-to-care employees. Currently, more than 20 million appointments are scheduled through RelateCare each year.

Sherwood Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell said the expansion marked a "major milestone" for the city, saying, "not only will it create new opportunities for our residents, it will also drive economic growth and development." 

"The infusion of new jobs will bring in more money to our local economy, stimulate business growth and create a positive ripple effect for years to come. I am thrilled to see our city thriving, and I know this is only the beginning of even greater things to come.”