2004 HomeCaring Awards Presented

We sent our judges a tall order-this year: choosing recipients for the magazine’s 2004 HomeCaring Awards. To fill it, HomeCare has recognized four individuals who have exhibited outstanding service to the home medical equipment industry. They’ve helped block Medicaid competitive bidding, fought for the independent provider, worked to further product technology and patient care and have championed HME causes on both local and national levels.

Joan A. Cross, Van G. Miller, Ron F. Richard and Donald B. White were presented with the 2004 HomeCaring Award in October at Medtrade 2004 in Orlando, Fla. Co-sponsored by Medtrade, the awards honor those whose dedication and commitment defines the “caring” that HME is all about.

The recipients were chosen among nominees — from all areas of the HME industry — submitted by HomeCare‘s readers and judged by a panel of seven industry professionals. Judges included Jerold Cohen, vice president of chronic care, Catholic Healthcare Partners; Louis Feuer, president, Dynamic Seminars & Consulting; Miriam Lieber, president, Lieber Consulting; Simon Margolis, vice president, clinical and professional development, National Seating & Mobility and president, RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America); Sheldon Prial, Prial Consulting; Wallace Weeks, president, Weeks Group; and Colette Weil, managing director, Summit Marketing Group. All of the judges are members of HomeCare‘s Editorial Advisory Board or are past HomeCaring Award recipients.

“The winners are a great symbol of the hard work, dedication and the energy it has taken to make home care such a wonderful resource along the continuum of care,” said Feuer on behalf of the judging panel. “The growth of the industry, the quality of the services provided and rewards patients receive from the programs we provide is exemplified by the work not only of the 2004 winners but of all those nominated … What a great industry we work in.”

Joan A. Cross

As president of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services (FAMES), Joan Cross led the association in a lawsuit that successfully blocked the implementation of competitive bidding by the Agency for Health Care Administration, Florida’s Medicaid administrator.

In addition to policy activities in Florida, Cross, director of operations at Bradenton, Fla.-based C&C Homecare, has worked to reach Hispanic dealers in the state, holding bilingual symposiums on competitive bidding and hosting a HIPAA seminar translated into Spanish.

Active in AAHomecare lobbying efforts, Cross also has served on the Medicare SAC for Region C, on the DMERC Region C Council, and more recently has become a member of the National Supplier Clearinghouse Advisory Council.

Van G. Miller

With more than 40 years of involvement in the HME industry, Van G. Miller founded the Waterloo, Iowa-based The VGM Group in 1986. VGM has expanded every year, and today, in addition to the core buying group, there are groups for orthotic and prosthetic practitioners, private clubs, high-tech rehab providers and Canadian HME/rehab providers. “As a staunch believer that quality home care is best delivered by community-based, independent providers, he has built a group of companies dedicated to creating a level playing field for HME/rehab providers throughout the U.S. and Canada,” says a nomination letter.

“Although he shies away from the limelight, Van has never been reticent about taking strong stands on industry issues that affect independent providers.”

In his local community, Miller sponsors an annual golf tournament for Adults, Inc., a Waterloo-based agency that provides programs and job training for individuals with disabilities. Because he underwrites the entire cost of the event, all monies donated go directly to the agency.

Ron F. Richard

For more than 25 years, Ron Richard has been involved with HME in various positions in the areas of sales, marketing, product development and clinical research, having served as vice president of marketing for Thermo Respiratory Group, product manager at Puritan Bennett and currently as vice president of marketing for the Americas at ResMed, Poway, Calif. Richard’s background as a respiratory therapist and EMT has enabled him to bring a clinical perspective to the development and marketing of products for the respiratory and sleep market, and he holds patents for products related to expiratory pressure support and for minimizing hypoventilation in patients using NPPV.

While Richard has worked at the national level to improve reimbursement and coding for sleep and ventilation products, he has also given his time to many philanthropic efforts. One, Vent Camp for Kids, supports parents and children so that they can attend special summer camps. He also developed one of the first home care ventilator support programs to aid the discharge of patients into the home care setting.

“He has always demonstrated his care and concern for respiratory patients in the corporate world,” states a nomination letter. “It can be accurately said that Ron is the patient’s advocate before he is anything else.”

Donald B. White

After founding Associated Healthcare Systems in Amherst, N.Y., in 1983, Don White realized he did not have all of the answers. “Along with a few other owners who did not mind sharing information, he helped form the Medical Equipment Dealers Association of Western New York,” says a nomination letter, and soon found himself involved in forming a state HME organization. Working together, he and other dealers formed what is now the New York Medical Equipment Providers (NYMEP) association, and White served as one of its early chairmen.

Since then, according to his coworkers, he has carried the HME banner “through the region, the state and nationally with uncommon dedication.” Through the numerous legislative battles he has fought on behalf of HME, the letter continues, “he gets involved and stays involved.”

HomeCare is proud to acknowledge the talent and generous spirit of Joan Cross, Van Miller, Ron Richard and Donald White, and to recognize all of those whose exemplary service makes the HME community a better place. Individual profiles of the 2004 HomeCaring Award recipients will appear in upcoming issues of the magazine.