Chad Price and Mako Medical Continue Commitment to Veterans and COVID Testing 

Mako Medical continues to receive recognition for its extensive and ongoing commitment to employees serving in the military, especially the National Guard and Reserve, along with their families.

The North Carolina-based health provider was recently presented with the “Pro Patria” award from the U.S. Department of Defense Employer Support Guard and Reserve program. Each year, a ESGR committee in each state reviews nominations for supportive organizations and chooses a small business, large business, and public sector agency to honor with the award.

Mako Medical was chosen for the Pro Patria Small Business for 2020 for North Carolina.

Nominated companies from each state are then reviewed by a national selection board, and 15 employers are chosen nationwide for a formal award presented by the U.S. Secretary of Defense. CEO Chad Price says that the award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to companies who go out of their way to support employees who serve or have served, along with their families. It’s considered an honor even to be nominated at the state level.

Part of the strength of Mako Medical has always been its focus on those who have served in the military, along with those who are currently serving in various capacities.

The company was founded in 2014 by Chad Price; his brother Adam Price, vice president of logistics and supply chain and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve; and Josh Arant, chief operating officer. Chad Price says that he and the other founders felt from the beginning that it was important to create programs to help past and present military members, especially those coming out of full-time active military service into civilian or reservist life.

Company officials made sure to develop employee initiatives that emphasized mentorship and training opportunities, including a variety of programs to help people develop skills and advance in leadership.

This interest and investment in employees continues today, with a variety of programs and services that are friendly to veterans and those currently serving in active or reserve positions. These include:

• Pay for service members while they attend their annual two-week training.
• PTO days for service members who have extended drill weekends that may require Friday and/or Monday commitments.
• Work groups designed with small-team structures, similar to the structure of military teams.
• Bringing 140 soldiers to Louisiana in 2017 so they could spend time with their families before they were deployed.
• Providing more than 400 free meals to veterans in Vance County and thanking them for their service.

Price says that Mako Medical’s supply chain, logistics, and procurement teams are made up almost entirely of reservists and veterans. This experience has led to a high degree of efficiency, cohesion, and overall focus.

This dynamic was especially apparent in the spring of 2020 when Mako Medical performed a major shift in operations to help national COVID-19 relief efforts. The company quickly changed its laboratory services model to begin providing COVID-19 testing services, as well as testing for COVflu-19, which screens for both COVID-19 and influenza A and B from a single swab.

The full-service Mako Medical lab received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists. Since April, it has processed more than two million COVID-19 tests from more than 20 states. It is the official testing partner for a variety of Tar Heel State organizations, sports teams, and regional athletic conferences.

The company has also created partnerships for testing with an extensive group of employers and government employees for testing efforts. Many of these groups have praised Mako Medical for its rapid turnaround of testing results. The company also utilizes a secure online testing portal where people can find their results easily. Its lab got a 100 percent score on CAP COVID Proficiency Testing, a measure of quality given to labs that provide testing service.

About Mako Medical

Mako Medical was founded in 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to provide a variety of medical and laboratory services. Today, it employs more than 800 people in Raleigh and Henderson. The company has a strong focus on providing employment for current or past members of the military, along with community outreach.

Since the spring of 2020, Mako Medical’s accredited laboratory has been recognized as a national leader in COVID-19 testing. It also offers nutritional DNA testing, which can provide a profile of optimal food types to boost health. Under the leadership of CEO Chad Price, Mako Medical has also been listed by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Best Startup Employers, one of only 500 companies to receive this distinction.