OptumRx announces that, when complete, the expansion of operations at its Overland Park, Kansas, facility will have generated a total of 600-plus new jobs for the region. In addition to the nearly 450 new positions recently filled or still available this year, OptumRx said it expects to hire an additional 170 new employees over the next 18 months.

OptumRx is a large pharmacy benefit management organization managing the prescription drug benefits of health plans through a national network of 64,000 community and mail service pharmacies. (Optum, which employs over 30,000 employees worldwide, is comprised of OptumRx and two other firms, OptumHealth and OptumInsight.)

Optum CEO Larry Renfro explained that the company is increasing its mail service and customer service capabilities in response to expected growth. "This is our flagship operation, featuring the latest technology and capable of processing more than 100,000 mail service prescriptions per day--about double what we currently handle at our Overland Park facility. We are adding employees in virtually every position, from entry level to highly experienced, from shipper to pharmacist."

The 313,000-sq.-ft. Overland Park site is home to OptumRx's traditional mail service, Specialty Pharmacy operations and Diabetes Active Care Program. It also houses a large customer service operation.

Currently about 1,700 OptumRx employees are based in Overland Park.