Farmingdale, N.Y. The New York Medical Equipment Association's annual meeting was a platform to elect new directors, discuss plans for licensure and stress the importance of state association membership, officials said.

In an effort to give diversity to the board, NYMEP added three at-large directors: Dave Williams of Invacare Corp., Elyria, Ohio; Sandy DiDonna of Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo.; and Deborah Buck from the state office of the Advocate for the Disabled, Albany, N.Y.

The new at-large members add diversity to the board because they "are people who are not in the state regulatory end, said Tom Ryan, president of NYMEP from Homecare Concepts, Farmingdale. "Deborah Buck represents the consumer group; Sandy DiDonna has a good amount of experience in expanding membership and knows a lot of the players in the state, and Dave Williams has a Washington perspective and is aware of all the issues."

In addition to Ryan and the three at-large members, new officers and board members elected at the meeting include: Jim Clark, vice president/president-elect, Clark Respiratory and Medical Supply, Catskill; Bill Tobia, past president, Home Care Supply, Bethpage; Bill Cutler, treasurer, Continuous Care, New York City; and Alyce Crossman, secretary, Upstate Home Care, Clinton.

Board members include Frank Brown, Homecare Concepts, Farmingdale; Diane Charuk, CGE Care Systems, Syracuse; Jim Flacke, Home Therapy Equipment, Round Lake; Jan Fisher, Respiratory Care Plus, Upper Nyack; Joe Hroden, Southside Apothecary, Rochester; Roger Hubacher, Complete Homecare, Tonawanda; John Komuda, CNY Medical Products, Syracuse; Alan Landauer, Landauer Home Care, Harrison; Gloria Murray, Dave's Wheelchair, Hyde Park; Tony Strilcic, Total Health, New Hyde Park; and David Verity, First Community Care, Amherst.

The association also rallied members to the cause of licensure during the meeting. It helped develop a bill requiring licensure of home medical equipment providers, which has been introduced into the state legislature. Association members have been asked to work with their legislators to help get the bill passed, officials said. "The licensure bill is the biggest issue we are tackling," Ryan said, "and the more involved we get, the more funds we need to support the committee."

That means generating new members, he said. "If we want the initiative to pass, we need to increase membership."