Women play a central role across post-acute health care.

WATERLOO, Iowa (June 14, 2017)—VGM is now accepting nominations for the 2017 HME Woman of the Year award.

The announcement was made during the Women and Wine event at VGM’s annual Heartland Conference. The session included a presentation on how to apply Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" concepts into everyday lives. Following a moderated discussion on work-life balance, a video promoting the HME Woman of the Year award was shown to nearly 100 women in attendance.

“Women play a central role across post-acute health care, as clinicians, caregivers and leaders. They drive a huge share of the innovation and advancement in our industry, as well as making sure the day to day work is done with excellence, allowing millions of patients to be served,” said Mike Mallaro, VGM’s chief executive officer. “At VGM we recognize the important role women play and we want to highlight and honor the contributions of women through our HME Woman of the Year Award.”

Last year, Dr. Kirsten Davin was selected from a group of 37 women as the inaugural HME Woman of the Year. Since receiving the award, Davin has used the platform as a vehicle to network with other women in the industry to share successes and obstacles that impact their businesses.

Although Davin and the other finalists from 2016 aren’t eligible for the 2017 Woman of the Year award, they encourage their peers, both male and female, to take a moment to reflect and then nominate a deserving woman who has impacted the industry. Women are also encouraged to nominate themselves.

“I would encourage everyone to take a minute to really think about what they do, what they've done, and who they've touched,” said Davin. “By really sitting down and reviewing your career, we often find out that we have a greater impact than we think we do.”

HME Woman of the Year nominations are open to all women who work within the HME industry. Nominations are due by Aug. 14 and can be submitted by visiting vgm.com/hmewomanoftheyear.