Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/36987
■ Provider Anne Turner and her employees at A Turning Leaf went the extra mile for an MDA fundraiser in June. See story this page. M&A: Foreign-based companies like HME ............ 19 POCs give providers edge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 AmeriCare re-enters retail market. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 DMES ventures into homecare sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Providers WWW.HMENEWS.COM / AUGUST 2011 / HME NEWS 19 BRIEFS Investor owns 6.6% of Rotech ORLANDO – Wynnefield Capital Manage- ment owns 1,682,427 shares or 6.6% of the common stock of Rotech Healthcare, it reported in a June 9 Securities and Ex- change Commission filing. Wynnefield Capital, a New York City-based investor, specializes in “U.S. small cap situations that have a company or industry specific catalyst(s),” according to its website. Wyn- nefield’s MO: “We seek out under-followed, unrecognized and undervalued companies that fit our parameters, which include minimal balance sheet risk and potential for micro or macro change.” Wynnefield’s holdings are worth $6.9 million, according to reports. Rotech announced June 14 that it plans to exchange up to $283.5 million in aggregate principal of its senior second lien notes due 2018 for private notes ten- dered by the holders of those notes. The exchange offer expires July 12. Top 10 most wanted healthcare fugitive nabbed in Miami MIAMI – One of the top 10 most wanted healthcare fugitives was captured June 30 in Miami. According to local news reports, Rolando Cueto owned a durable medical equipment company that submitted $1.9 million in false Medicare claims. Federal officials took him into custody at Miami International Airport. Cueto had been liv- ing in Costa Rica under an assumed name. Provider taps new director WHEATFIELD, N.Y. – Health System Services has promoted Douglas Mooradian to di- rector of marketing and public relations, the Mooradain provider announced June 6. Mooradian will be responsible for mar- keting the company’s products and services to local referral sources; managing the retail divi- sion’s advertising, and overseeing public relations efforts, according to a press re- lease. Mooradian has been with the com- pany since 2004. Short takes Plainville, Conn.-based Connecticut Support Services expanded its service area to cover all of Connecticut, as well as western Massachusetts...MidMichigan Home Care opened a new showroom in Mount Pleasant, Mich., in July...Lincoln, Ill.–based Memorial Home Services moved to a new location in June...Bill and Marla Pennell broke ground May 31 on a 1,200-square-foot facility in Georgetown, Texas, to house Georgetown Home Medical Equipment and Hill Country Audiology…Hudson, Fla.-based ABC Medical, Oxygen & Scrubs received ac- creditation from the Joint Commission for three more years. Quebec company says ‘oui’ to HME But industry analysts say caution is warranted BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor MONTREAL – A Canadian company that says it is eyeing the home medical equipment market here doesn’t exactly have deep pockets, say analysts. Bio-Solutions, which manufactures an organic insecticide and a nutritional supplement for poultry, announced in June that it saw the U.S. HME market as a way to grow and expand. But the company’s most recent 10-K, filed in April, lists a net loss of $632,742 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010. “As desperate as we all are for a knight in shining armor, we have to have our eyes wide open,” said Jonathan Sadock, partner and CEO of Paragon Ventures, a Jonathan Sadock Philadelphia-based M&A firm. “The company doesn’t have a lot of value right now, but they are publicly held.” Bio-Solutions told Sadock that they were looking to acquire three or four companies in exchange for company stock, he said. “They are not looking to put a whole lot of cash in peoples’ hand,” said Sadock. “Nor are they looking for busi- ness owners that are looking to sell their company and ride off into the sunset. QUEBEC SEE PAGE 21 M&A: Teijin ‘nibbling’ BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor I T REMAINS to be seen whether BioSo- lutions will make any inroads into the HME market, but that got us wonder- ing about another foreign-based com- pany: Teijin. The Tokyo-based respiratory giant made a splash in 2008, when it acquired three separate HME companies: Amherst, N.Y.-based Associated Healthcare Sys- tems, Glen Falls, N.Y.-based Home Therapy Equipment; and Bakersfield, Calif.-based Braden Partners, which does business as Pacific Pulmonary Services. But what have they been up to since then? “They’ve been nibbling all along, but to my knowledge, they haven’t done a tremendous amount of deals,” said Bob Leonard, an analyst with The Braff Group, a Pittsburgh-based M&A firm. “They have a laundry list of places that they are interested in, but it’s pretty broad.” Most deals they’ve done have been through Pacific Pulmonary, which is main- ly based on the West Coast. It appears they are looking to continue to grow contigu- ously, say industry analysts. TEIJIN SEE PAGE 21 AmeriCare ready for retail, again Attention to detail, customer service, high on CEO’s priority list BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor TROY, Mich. – When it comes to retail, location is important. So when AmeriCare Medical decided to re-enter the retail market, they went right to the source: the hospital lobby. “It’s very difficult to create demand for home medical equipment,” said Greg Jamian, president and CEO. “People either need it or they don’t. We felt that we could ensure our success by being strategically located, where the patient is right there.” AMERICARE SEE PAGE 20 AmeriCare opened a Sun Medical retail store in June. Pictured are President and CEO Greg Jamian and Sun Medical store employee Karen Eland. A fundraiser bar none Provider Anne Turner served time behind bars June 21 as part of a fundraiser for the local Muscular Dystrophy Association. The president and CEO of Lebanon, Ore.-based A Turning Leaf Medical, was “arrested” and placed in a cell, where she remained until she raised $1,500 in bail for her release. Altogether, the event raised more than $77,000. Provider’s secret weapon? POCs BY ELIZABETH DEPREY, Associate Editor CARTHAGE, Mo. – Portable oxygen con- centrators may cost more, but they may provide the edge HME providers need to survive competitive bidding. At least that’s the hope of Jody Andrews, area manager of Carthage, Mo.-based Patient’s Choice. He believes the savings associated with POCs—mainly in the form of reduced deliveries—will allow his company to put in a lower bid if and when com- petitive bidding comes to his area. “Once the rental starts taking effect, we start getting our money back, because we’re not sending drivers out to deliver all the time,” Andrews said. “It actually saves us a lot of money compared to other companies that have to deliver.” Patient’s Choice began offering POCS SEE PAGE 21