One Medical opens in Rosslyn, November 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)
One Medical’s front lobby in Rosslyn (staff photo by James Jarvis)
One Medical’s front lobby in Rosslyn (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Amazon’s One Medical recently opened a new healthcare clinic in Rosslyn, offering more than just the usual medical services.
Like a regular primary care doctor’s office, patients can seek treatment for a range of medical issues, from common illnesses to routine health check-ups.
The membership-based service offers other benefits such as 24/7 virtual care, same-day appointments and minimal wait times, for an annual fee of $199. Last week Amazon announced that Prime members could get One Medical membership for $9/mo or $99/year.
Located at 1771 N. Pierce Street, at the base of the Cortland Apartments and a stone’s throw from the upscale market and café Foxtrot, this clinic marks One Medical’s first foray into Arlington.
It joins similar full-service clinics in the area, including in Tysons and the Mosaic District.
Amazon, which completed the first phase of its second headquarters in Pentagon City this summer, acquired One Medical in February.
This was a significant shift for the company, which unsuccessfully tried to start its own telemedicine and primary care provider.
The rankings found that Arlingtonians not only tend to make health-conscious decisions — eating vegetables, not smoking and biking to work — but also have access to an abundance of parks, trails and wide sidewalks to stay active.
“I am very impressed with Arlington for getting this spot for the sixth year in a row, however, I won’t say I am surprised. The county has done well with creating the assets needed to have a healthy community,” chair of the American Fitness Index Advisory Board Dr. Stella Volpe told ARLnow yesterday. “Arlington has resources for making the healthy choice the easy choice for its residents.”
Arlington County and 99 other cities and municipalities were evaluated based on 34 evidence-based health indicators, such as recreational facilities and how often residents work out. It ranked in the top 10 cities for 16 of these criteria.
The county topped both the “personal health” category, which measures individual fitness choices and health outcomes, and the “community-environment” category, which measures indicators such as access to recreational facilities, a press release said.
“Getting a title like this is a great honor for Arlington,” Volpe said. “The city is on a great roll and is certainly doing things right. It is something to be happy about.”
Arlington scored the highest in the nation for the percentage of residents who had exercised in the last month, landing at 89.9%, and had the lowest score in the nation for the percentage of residents with diabetes, at 5.8%.
The report noted that Arlington had not had any pedestrian deaths in the most recent federal data available, from 2020, but there have been some fatalities since then.
D.C. and Seattle fell just behind Arlington, ranking in second and third place overall.
“Residents are almost forced to be active in Arlington which is part of the reason why the city keeps winning,” Volpe said.
2023 Fitness Ranking infographic (courtesy American College of Sports Medicine)
The press release about the rankings release is below.
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.
There is nothing Clarendon resident David Kolton loves more than hyping up the ancient Roman superfood legume, the lupini.
High in fiber and protein, the lupini fills you up quickly and keeps you satiated for longer. It is one of two plant-derived complete proteins and has more protein per serving than chicken or beef. It is low in sugar, so it is diet-friendly for pre-diabetic and diabetic people.
Beyond health benefits, it is environmentally friendly, Kolton says. Farmers can grow the bean using only rainwater — no irrigation required — and it restores phosphorus and nitrogen to the soil where other crops absorb it.
“It is the next superfood,” Kolton says. “It’s the superfood you’ve never heard of.”
While the legume is popular in Canada and Australia, Kolton is looking to take this humble bean to new heights in the U.S. with his health foods brand Aviate. The name is a nod to his day job as a commercial pilot and his 19 years of service as a military pilot. In fact, he first tried the bean after a visit to Rome and was surprised it hadn’t yet attained more popularity in America.
“I was so obsessed,” he said. “I was like, ‘I need to start this company’… during Covid, some people had babies or got a Peloton. I started this company.”
Kolton, who is still in the Air National Guard, founded the brand and kicked off sales in spring of 2021 with lupini flour and flakes, which can be added to stir fries, taco meat, hummus and chili for a fiber and protein boost. Last week, he celebrated two new products at Clarendon’s East West Cafe, as a gesture of appreciation for all the hours he has spent there working on the company.
Aviate now sells pancake and brownie dry mixes, which he advertises as Ket0-compliant. All the lupini products are made of legumes sourced from French farms.
“We have Keto on there because 80% of our clients are probably low-carb or Keto, but it’s all search engine,” he said. “We only sell on Amazon, and we can research what people search. They don’t search ‘protein pasta’ or ‘high fiber pasta,’ they search ‘Keto pasta.'”
It took a professional food developer, who specializes in low-carb foods, 16 tries to perfect the pancakes and eight tries to hone the brownie mix. He tapped his unofficial nieces and nephews — the children of his friends — for frank reviews.
“I’d test them on friends and family, and they’d say ‘Yeah, it’s good, Dave’ because they don’t want to hurt my feelings,” he said. “Once the kids wouldn’t spit them out, or they wanted more, I said, ‘Sweet, we’re good.’ Kids are going to give you honest feedback.”
Aviate founder David Kolton (staff photo)
Now, he says, he regularly gets grateful emails from low-carb customers who are able to make a healthier baked good the entire family enjoys. Typically, they come from moms who changed their diet to stave off diseases like Type 2 diabetes and have struggled to make diet-compliant foods their husbands and kids will eat.
Kolton understands that split-family dynamic. Growing up in an Italian-American kitchen where “food was everything,” the love language — combined with the sugary, high-fat American diet — was a recipe for a chubby childhood. (more…)
OxiWear, an Arlington-based company developing a wearable oxygen monitoring device, has raised a pre-seed funding round of $1.25 million, exceeding its goal of $750,000.
This funding will allow the medical- and sports-technology startup to finish developing its product and start beta testing it before releasing the device by mid-year 2022.
OxiWear was started by Shavini Fernando, who lives with severe pulmonary hypertension: a condition in which the heart has trouble pumping blood through the lungs. It leaves her vulnerable to sudden and undetected drops in oxygen, known as silent hypoxia.
Rather than let the disease rule her life, she decided to develop an ear-wearable pulse oximeter that offers 24-hour, continuous oxygen monitoring and low-oxygen alerting. She invented the device in Georgetown University’s maker’s hub while a graduate student.
“OxiWear is a product that I developed to help patients like me — those living with pulmonary hypertension,” Fernando said. “Through our research, we learned that there is a larger market for oxygen monitoring including elite athletes, high-altitude travelers and patients with diseases such as [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], sleep apnea and COVID-19.”
OxiWear founder Shavini Fernando (courtesy of Shavini Fernando)
The ear is one of the most accurate body parts for measuring oxygen saturation levels and detecting when they begin to drop, according to the company.
But the device is not just suitable for those prone to silent hypoxia. Performance athletes and high-altitude travelers can use it to receive non-intrusive and accurate oxygen monitoring 24 hours a day, according to the company.
In anticipation of launching the product next year, OxiWear is meeting with the Food and Drug Administration to earn its medical device designation and is participating in the leAD Sports & Health Tech accelerator program.
Leading the pre-seed round was GAP Funds, an investment program of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation — formerly CIT — that previously invested in the company this summer.
“OxiWear is a game changer for those affected by the complications of pulmonary hypertension, and could be the difference between safety and danger,” said Tom Weithman, VIPC’s Managing Director of GAP Funds.
The startup received re-investments from previous supporters Ted Leonsis and The Paul & Rose Carter Foundation.
“I’ve been a proud, early supporter of Shavini and her life-saving work and I congratulate her on not only meeting her pre-seed funding round target — but decisively beating it,” Leonsis said. “It’s a testament to how in-demand her product is and how smartly she has built her company around it. I expect she will only continue to grow, and I happily stand by her to offer advice whenever she needs it.”
Paul Caicedo, Future Communities Capital, Gaingels, Halcyon Fund, Hourglass Venture Partners, TiE’s D.C. and Boston chapters and Tysons Angel Group funded this round.
Halcyon Fund is tied to a flagship residency fellowship for entrepreneurs at Georgetown, the Washington Business Journal reports. The fund has been building up an investment strategy, including an angel investment network and a microloan fund, with the goal of improving access to capital for women and people of color starting their own companies.
Ballston Development Has a Bike Benefit — From Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt, about a just-proposed residential development in Ballston: “The lynchpin of that alternative access is easy access to Wakefield Street from Fairfax Drive for bikes, which could be achieved through this redevelopment.” [Twitter]
Arlington Ranks No. 17 for Life Expectancy — “While the national trend is alarming, there are parts of the country where life expectancy is far higher than the national average. In Arlington County, Virginia, for example, life expectancy at birth is an estimated 85.9 years — about seven years longer than the comparable national average of 79.2 years.” [InsideNova]
TV Station Comes to Local School — “Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff visited Ashlawn ES in Arlington, VA for our Lunchbox Weather program. He had a lot of fun with the students, showing them the our StormTrak7 vehicle decked out with weather instruments. We hoped they enjoyed seeing themselves in our roof cam and learned a little bit about the weather on a COLD day!” [WJLA]
It’s Black Friday — The most-hyped shopping day of the year is going to be breezy. There is slight chance of showers before 10 a.m., otherwise it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 46 and a northwest wind 17 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Saturday will be sunny, with a high near 44 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Sunday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 51. [Weather.gov]
The revamped 2000 15th Street N. office building includes a sprawling outdoor working plaza (courtesy photo)
The revamped 2000 15th Street N. office building includes a sprawling outdoor working plaza (courtesy photo)
The revamped 2000 15th Street N. office building includes a sprawling outdoor working plaza (courtesy photo)
The revamped 2000 15th Street N. office building includes an outdoor plaza and other communal work spaces (courtesy photo)
The revamped 2000 15th Street N. office building includes an outdoor plaza and other communal work spaces (courtesy photo)
The pandemic has moved office work to the home. As at least some of that work moves back to office buildings, the next frontier might be outdoors.
In Arlington, a recently-renovated 1980s office building in Courthouse offers a glimpse of a greener office future, with a year-round outdoor working space.
The new 16,000-square foot landscaped outdoor plaza at 2000 15th Street N. — the centerpiece of a $11 million renovation project — is the largest outdoor plaza of any office building in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, according to American Real Estate Partners (AREP).
“The renovated plaza, wired for connectivity, extends the office to the outdoors, offering all-season, year-round use as a work and meeting space, and provides a spectacular backdrop to the indoor conference and amenity spaces, creating an urban oasis,” said Paul Schulman, AREP’s Principal and Chief Operating Officer.
The group says the renovation will help tenants coax employees back to the office with new experiences and stronger health features, such as air filters and purifiers. Experts say such projects are the latest examples of how incorporating natural elements into built environments can improve employees’ health while promoting environmental stewardship.
COVID-19 has altered many people’s work and personal habits, and these changes are likely to stick around, according to a Post-Schar poll released this summer. Three-quarters of respondents said they’ll spend more time outside, two-thirds said they’d wear comfortable clothing more often, and nearly 70% said they’d wear a mask when sick.
People and offices are adapting to these behavioral changes, in part, by working outdoors — or by bringing elements of the outdoors inside — and focusing on wellness measures.
During the pandemic, experimental outdoor work spaces popped up in Crystal City and in Rosslyn’s Gateway Park.
Meanwhile, new office projects here boast natural elements — such as Amazon HQ2’s water- and mountain-inspired “Helix” building — and wellness, such as Skanska’s new office project near Quincy Park, which has been recognized for its focus on health and well-being.
The seeds for natural, “biophilic” design elements were planted decades ago, says Dr. Gregory Unruh, an expert on sustainable business strategy in George Mason University’s School of Integrative Studies. It took a pandemic and the right technology to get people to rethink their work environments and to see nature integrated into offices.
“There’s something about us having a connection with the world,” he said. “Before the conversation around ‘biophilia’ existed, there was scientific research that suggested if you give people windows with a view of nature, they tend to be more productive, happier and less sick.”
Other research demonstrated that, without outdoor air circulating in and with the synthetic materials in carpets, paints and cleaning supplies, indoor office spaces had poorer air quality than the outdoors, despite the gas-burning cars and other pollution sources outside.
COVID-19 connected these issues, Unruh says. Building owners outfitted indoor spaces with machines that regularly bring outdoor air inside while people spent more time outdoors.
Although employees and employers realized that remote work could be as productive as in-person work, they still recognized the need for interpersonal collaboration — a need he says the rise of outdoor working spaces will meet.
“These collaborative outdoor spaces are going to play a role,” Unruh said. “These initial experiments we see in Arlington are very encouraging, and I think they enhance the working life and community life of people.”
Integrating nature into workplaces could encourage environmental stewardship among more people, says Elenor Hodges, the Executive Director of EcoAction Arlington.
The biophilic elements at 2000 15th Street N. and other under-construction projects support the environment in addition to workers, she says. Additional trees improve stormwater management and green roofs keep the county cooler.
Particularly in urban areas, she said, strengthening one’s connection to nature is important for encouraging sustainable habits.
“People need to see nature in order to understand the importance of stewarding it,” she said.
She notes that the county-level conversations about biophilic design, still in their infancy, are pandemic-driven.
“We’ve seen at County Board meeting people raising these questions [about biophilia],” she said. “I don’t think that would have happened before the pandemic.”
Ballston-based Evolent Health is set to expand with a $130 million purchase of telehealth company Vital Decisions. The company expects the deal to close later this year.
One of Arlington’s largest growth companies, Evolent Health was founded in 2011 — just in time to help medical providers adjust to the changes prescribed by the Affordable Care Act. Ten years later, it is still developing solutions to address the rising costs of healthcare in the U.S.
And now, it is bringing on Vital Decisions to target the high healthcare costs borne by people with serious illnesses and their insurance providers. The New Jersey-based company uses digital services to help such individuals find advanced care throughout their health journey, especially as they approach the end of their lives.
“We believe Vital Decisions is a strong strategic fit for Evolent,” said Evolent Health Chief Executive Officer Seth Blackley in a release. “We believe this transaction… unlocks patient engagement and telehealth as levers for ensuring patients with complex illness receive high-quality, coordinated care.”
Evolent logo at its Ballston office (file photo)
Evolent first expanded into specialized care in September 2018 when it spent $217 million to acquire New Century Health Management, which helps both healthcare providers and insurance companies provide better treatment for cancer or heart conditions while saving money. Vital Decisions will report to New Century after the acquisition.
“This acquisition will help ensure that the care plans created by our Vital specialists find their way into the hands of the providers responsible for ensuring these individuals receive the care they want as their illness progresses. New Century Health has developed a robust provider engagement platform and it’s a privilege to combine capabilities,” Vital Decisions CEO Leah Puccio said.
New Century Health CEO Dan McCarthy said the addition will help ensure that individuals with advanced illnesses have care plans that align with their personal preferences for the kinds of treatment and end-of-life care.
Since its launch, Evolent Health — headquartered at 800 N. Glebe Road — has grown from a startup into a publicly-traded company. After just four years in business, it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, where it raised $195 million on the first day of trading. Shortly after, its market valuation hit $1 billion.
The company’s stock price has more than quadrupled since the start of the pandemic. After hitting an all-time low of $4.81 in March 2020, it rebounded to around $24 today.
Cryotherapy at Restore Hyper Wellness (courtesy of Restore Hyper Wellness)
Infrared Sauna Therapy at Restore Hyper Wellness (courtesy of Restore Hyper Wellness)
Cryoskin Therapy at Restore Hyper Wellness (courtesy of Restore Hyper Wellness)
Compression Therapy at Restore Hyper Wellness (courtesy of Restore Hyper Wellness)
A new business offering high-end therapeutic and wellness treatments — including cryotherapy — is opening in Pentagon City.
Texas-based Restore Hyper Wellness started offering treatments to help people facing pain, inflammation and chronic dehydration in 2015. There are now Restore franchise locations throughout the U.S., with one set to open at Westpost, the shopping center formerly Pentagon Row.
It will replace the T-Mobile that was at 1101 S. Joyce Street, according to a permit filed with Arlington County last week.
The 2,202 square-foot facility will offer cryotherapy, a treatment often utilized by athletes, post-operative patients, and those suffering chronic pain.
“We believe everyone can benefit from cryotherapy,” according to the Restore website. “Cryotherapy has shown to reduce inflammation and releases endorphins that help alleviate pain, boost energy and metabolism, and increase the body’s natural healing abilities.”
Restore also offers cryoskin therapy to localize the effects of the cold temperatures on the skin.
The website says the service is “the most advanced non-invasive treatment solution for slimming and toning. If you’re looking to lose fat on your stomach, thighs, arms or back this is the solution for you.”
Though prices have not yet been set for the new location, at other Virginia locations prices start at $39 for an individual cryotherapy session and $59 for a monthly membership. So far there’s no word on when the business plans to open.
Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, community leaders and the Arlington County Public Health Division are continuing to find ways to target particular demographics for which more outreach is needed.
So far, 70% of the adult population in Arlington and 61.8% of the county’s entire population has at last one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, excluding federal doses, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health dashboard. Nearly 64% of the adult population and 56% of the overall population is fully vaccinated. But these percentages start to vary more when broken down by age group, race and ethnicity.
For example, vaccination rates differ by nearly 20 percentage points between Asian or Pacific Islander and Latino Arlington residents, whose rates surpass 70%, and Black and white residents, whose rates hover around 56-58%. Meanwhile, the age group with the lowest vaccination rate is 25- to 34-year-olds, 59% of whom are vaccinated, while the highest rate is among 16-17 year olds, of whom 96% are vaccinated, according to VDH data.
Some disparities, particularly in sub-groups with larger population counts, can be tied demographic factors. But some data points, especially for smaller population sub-sets, may be tied to estimation errors, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.
According to VDH spokeswoman Cindy Clayton, certain demographics with smaller population counts can lead to these high percentages.
“This is likely due to estimation error in the population data, especially when the denominator is a small group, like 16-17 year-olds or Native Americans,” she said. (More than 106% of local Native Americans appear to be vaccinated, according to the state dashboard).
The state health department uses census data compiled and modeled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to calculate vaccine percentages at the local level.
“Although efforts were made to use the best available data and methods to produce the bridged estimates, the modeling process introduces error into the estimates,” according to the CDC’s explanation of the demographic data it stores.
Vaccination rates by race and ethnicity (via Virginia Dept. of Health)Vaccination rates by age (via Virginia Dept. of Health)
Although some numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, at this point, both community leaders and the county are now tailoring their vaccine outreach efforts toward “myth-busting” and focusing on particular subgroups.
“Arlington continues to encourage everyone 12 and older in Arlington to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities,” said Ryan Hudson, a spokesman for the Arlington County Public Health Division. “Vaccines are free for everyone, and offer the best form of protection against COVID-19.”
The county operates two vaccine clinics, open seven days a week, to accommodate everyone in the community, he said. The division also conducts “field missions” with targeted vaccine clinics at strategic community locations, including libraries.
More recently, the division’s communications have focused on “myth-busting,” which he says is “in an effort to dispel much of the misinformation that exists. Some examples he said include the impact of the vaccine on puberty, fertility, pregnancy and breast-feeding, as well as concern about corner-cutting due to how quickly the vaccine was developed.”
In 2017, while a graduate student at Georgetown University, Shavini Fernando’s heart suddenly stopped beating.
“I was working, and my friend started to scream that my entire face was blue,” said Fernando, who now lives in Arlington. “It didn’t even take one minute. I couldn’t breathe and my heart stopped.”
Fernando managed to revive herself by self-administering CPR before the oxygen supply to her brain cut out, but the incident frightened everyone around her. Fernando’s doctor at The Johns Hopkins Hospital suggested that it was no longer safe to live on her own.
But Fernando, who was unwilling to let the condition control her life, refused. Instead, she decided to develop a wearable device that continuously monitors her flow of oxygen with the help of her graduate school program director and fellow students. Whenever Fernando’s blood oxygen levels fell below a normal threshold, the ear-worn device sends an emergency alert to her doctor.
“I’m sort of a rebel. When people tell me ‘you can’t do this,’ I want to show them that I can,” Fernando said.
OxiWear founder Shavini Fernando (courtesy of Shavini Fernando)
She channeled that fighting spirit two years prior, when a cardiologist told Fernando — who was 33 at the time — that she had just two years left to live. She flew from her home country of Sri Lanka to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for a second opinion and treatment. There, she received medicine and equipment to help manage severe pulmonary hypertension, a condition in which the heart has trouble pumping blood through the lungs. The condition leaves people vulnerable to sudden and undetected drops in oxygen, known as silent hypoxia.
This condition makes it dangerous to live in high altitudes, so rather than return home to Sri Lanka, she settled in the D.C. area to keep receiving medical treatment and start her master’s degree at Georgetown. That decision ultimately set her up to establish OxiWear so that she could share the product that she wears to survive with others.
“Most of the deaths happen in the pulmonary hypertension and cardiovascular patient community because they don’t get the help in time,” Fernando said. “If they have an alert and a way of calling for help, these deaths can be prevented.”
By the end of this year, Fernando and OxiWear plan to launch a product to be used by the public for fitness. A medical device for those with heart conditions will come later, once it gets approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Both devices connect to a smartphone to show users their oxygen levels and enable them to contact emergency services during sudden drops.
A prototype of a forthcoming device from OxiWear (courtesy of Shavini Fernando)
OxiWear is now closing in on $1 million in funding since its launch in the spring of 2019. Most recently, after securing patents in the U.S, China and Japan, the company received investments from CIT Gap Funds and Tie DC. Before that, Fernando obtained funding through her connections at Georgetown and a crowdfunding campaign.
“Currently, there is no other device available to continuously monitor oxygen levels. OxiWear is a game changer for those affected by the complications of pulmonary hypertension, and could be the difference between safety and danger,” Tom Weithman, Managing Director of CIT GAP Funds, said in a press release.
Fernando says that investors and potential consumers initially expressed doubt about the importance of the product. As COVID-19 raised awareness of the dangers of silent hypoxia, however, OxiWear gained traction.
“Because of COVID-19, fundraising became really slow. At the same time, a lot of people started contacting us, asking, ‘Is there a way we can purchase this device?’ I’m like ‘I wish I could get it out fast, but we don’t have enough money,'” Fernando said.
In the early stages of the company, as funding dried up, Fernando and her employees went months without pay. Still, the OxiWear founder carried on.
“Even if it kills me, I will get this done. That’s why, even without funds, we’ve managed to get so far in such little time,” said Fernando. “For me, this is not about making money. It’s about helping those like me. Once you get silent hypoxia, even if you are recovered, you will end up with life-long after effects.”
Fernando and her OxiWear employees work remotely. The company’s address is publicly listed as a condo in Rosslyn.
Preservation Battle Brewing — “The historic-preservation advocate who launched a community-driven, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, effort to save the Rouse estate on Wilson Boulevard, is on a new quest. Tom Dickinson has filed paperwork with county officials seeking historic-district status for an East Falls Church home, despite the likelihood that the current property owner aims to raze the home and redevelop the 0.29-acre parcel.” [Sun Gazette]
Arlington Ranks No. 39 Healthiest in U.S. — Updated at 9:20 a.m. — “U.S. News and World Report, in its annual assessment of the ‘healthiest communities in the U.S.,’ has given a staggering third place finish to the City of Falls Church in its latest edition. That’s ahead of all other entities in the entire nation, except for Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Douglas County, Colorado. The magazine listed the top 500 entities in the U.S., and others in this area to finish near the top were Loudoun County at No. 4, Fairfax County at No. 14 and Arlington County at No. 39, the City of Alexandria at No. 124 and Fauquier County at No. 195.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Tattoo Shop Opening New Clarendon Location — “Regency’s The Crossing Clarendon is excited to welcome Lady Octopus Tattoos to its second local storefront in the Arlington, VA area later this year. Run by artist Gilda Acosta and co-owner Jonathan Reed, the custom tattoo shop offers high-quality tattoo artistry in addition to selling brand merchandise including t-shirts, enamel pins and more.” [Regency Centers]
