WILTON – Synernet’s Medical Transcription Service in Wilton has brought job prospects to the area, Town Manager Peter Nielsen said during an open house for the company Wednesday.

The company, which has been located at the Old G.H. Bass Building since April, has more than doubled its original staff of seven.

The Bass Building was built in the early 1900s and was occupied by G.H. Bass until 1998. It was acquired by entrepreneur Randy Cousineau the end of that year. Cousineau has since brought several businesses into the building, including Franklin County Head Start, the Boiler Room, and now Synernet.

Synernet provides a variety of services to hospitals and other health care facilities. The Wilton Center offers only medical transcription services. The company is owned by eight hospitals, including Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. Richard Batt, president of Franklin County Health Network, said Synernet is the only company in the state that offers a broad base of services to hospitals rather than just in-house services. The hospital is its first area customer.

The Wilton Synernet center began with an original staff of seven medical transcriptionists in April and has already more than doubled its staff. It expects to need another 15 to 20 employees by next year. Employees will be both center- and home-based. Jeff Laniewski, vice president of Synernet, said one reason the company chose Wilton is because of the work ethic here.

Batt said staff at the Farmington hospital was asked to move to the center. “We respect the employees that were willing to take this risk,” he said. In appreciation the former hospital employees were given large trivets imprinted with the hospital logo.

The company currently has an internship program and plans to offer a training program and other benefits as well. Laniewski said the business was developed to address three problems within the medical transcription arena – inconsistent and often poor quality of finished medical records, delays and longer than expected turnaround times for completed records, and spiraling transcription costs.

Using state-of-the-art voice recognition technology and high-speed Internet access, physician dictations are automatically converted into text documents that are edited by the transcription staff. Finished documents are encrypted and electronically sent.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen noted that the Synernet space was once used to produce shoes and other materials and is now being used to produce information.

“What’s happening here is that we are transitioning from the 20th century to the 21st century,” he said. “I think that’s where the future is for the town of Wilton and for this facility,” he added.

Nielsen said the company will save on medical costs, improve the health care of patients, and offer employment opportunities to the area.

Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of Greater Franklin Development Corp., presented Synernet President Gerald Vicenzi with two photographs of Wilson Lake. Vicenzi said Synernet’s goal is to help hospitals improve their operations.

“We’re excited about being in Wilton,” he said.