Upper Burrell medical device company to expand and hire employees

A 35,000-square-foot expansion at Xodus Medical Inc. in Upper Burrell will increase production and warehouse capacity and create 20 to 30 jobs.

Xodus invents and produces medical devices used in surgery to increase patient safety and improve surgical outcomes in medical centers worldwide.

The Upper Burrell site, in the Westmoreland Business and Research Park, is the company’s headquarters. It includes research and development, production and warehouse facilities.

Xodus also operates warehouses and other facilities in Reno, Nev., the Netherlands and Shanghai, China. The company has more than 5,000 customers in the United States and in 55 other countries.

“Our business continues to grow,” CEO Craig Kaforey said. “We’ve had double-digit growth every year we’ve been in the business.”

The medical device company founded by Kaforey and his brother, Mark Kaforey, in 1994 in a Murrysville garage, apparently is not terribly impacted by the pandemic.

“We’re fortunate to be in this industry,” Kaforey said. “People need surgery, and as the population ages and lives longer, the need for surgery will only increase.”

Kaforey declined to provide sales and revenue information, as the company is privately held.

When the expansion project in Upper Burrell is completed this year, the company will have a total of 120,000 square feet and will increase its pool of workers.

“It’s good news for this area as we continue to hire more employees over a number of years,” said Kaforey, a Lower Burrell native who resides in Hampton.

The company has 195 employees worldwide and about 135 employees at its Upper Burrell site, he said.

The new jobs will be at the Upper Burrell facility in production, warehousing and shipping, and will pay well above minimum wage, Kaforey said. He declined to provide salary information but said the company offers a wide range as there is a variety of employees, from warehouse workers to engineers.

Its latest patented product, known as See Sharp, helps surgeons better view their work during a laparoscopy. Xodus secured two patents for the See Sharp device that cleans and defogs the lens of the laparoscope while inserted in patients during surgery, allowing the surgeon to better see the procedure on a monitor.

“The See Sharp made clear improvements to our visualization: better imaging that required less cleaning to maintain,” said Dr. Derek Brenda, head of surgery for Pelham Medical Center in Greer, S.C. “It saved us time and increased the quality of our care.”

The laparoscopy market is huge and is projected to keep growing as more procedures are done minimally invasively, Kaforey noted.

Articulating market needs and providing the R&D to find solutions is what drives the company and accounts for some of its longtime popular products such as the Pink Pad, which keeps patients positioned during surgical procedures.

“We work with surgeons and nurses to identify their problems,” Kaforey said. “Then we try to design the products to provide solutions.”

The Pink Pad is a patented foam material that contours with and envelops a patient during surgery.

“One of the hardest things to control in surgery is positioning whether your surgery is five minutes or five hours,” said Maria Kramer, manager of the operating room of St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh’s South Hills.

Kramer credits the Pink Pad with safely positioning patients.

“Positioning is important, especially when we deal with an older population where they need a little extra guardian angel during a procedure,” she said.

Xodus’ expansion is expected to be completed in the summer. It will add warehouse space, which will free up other parts of the building to increase production, Kaforey said.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, [email protected] or via Twitter .