PA Creates Clothing Line for Women in Health Care

November 30, 2008 - By Janette Rodrigues

PA Lara Manchik loved her job, caring for patients, and collaborating with her colleagues. What she didn’t enjoy were the shapeless, boxy, unisex scrubs mandatory at work. They were about as flattering as a pair of men’s pajamas.

She was working at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., when the group manager ordered three different types of scrubs. Each one was worse than the last. Experiences like this inspired her to create Medelita, a clothing line for women in health care who want comfortable, yet professional-looking scrubs and lab coats.

“The look and style of scrubs and lab coats haven’t changed since the 1970s,” Manchik explained. “There simply were no other options out there for women in health care. So I decided to do something about it.”

She launched the Medelita.com Web site in May, after two years of research, design, and development of everything from medical apparel design to manufacturing. In 2006, she switched from working in an ER to urgent care so she could devote more time to develop the business.

Manchik, 34, who is a 1999 graduate of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York PA Program, saw her perseverance pay off when a performance fabric company agreed to partner with Medelita.

Made in the United States, Medelita’s garments are more expensive than traditional scrubs. But they are also cut to fit and flatter a women’s body, which takes more time and costs more on the manufacturing end. The scrub pants have a slimming bootleg and a contoured rise. The scrub tops have darting at the bust and taper at the shoulders, waist and hips.

“Even small details like the tag-less construction and comfortable drawstring make all the difference to women working eight-to-12-hour shifts,” Manchik said. “Our goal was to introduce these much-needed improvements in the style, comfort, and quality of clinician scrubs and lab coats for women, while respecting the traditional features the industry has come to expect.”

She pointed out that traditional scrubs and lab coats may be called unisex, but they are designed for men. “That’s why the lines of unisex scrubs are straight through the crotch, hips and top,” she said. “If you hold them up or lay them flat, it literally looks like a box. One of our mottos is scrubs are square, and women are not.”

Manchik and Joe Francisco, her husband and Medelita’s business manager, are happy with how the business is doing. The company is meeting its conservative sales goals. Feedback from customers has been very positive, and the Web site is getting steady traffic. Perhaps one of the best indicators of success is the healthy number of repeat sales the company has made.

Along the way, she also wants to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of women in health care. There is an entire section of the Web site where customers can share the stories and achievements of women across the medical professions.

For more information, go to www.medelita.com.