Washington, D.C. (May 7, 2015)—AAHomecare will be honoring Invacare founder Mal Mixon with a Legislative Advocate Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2015 Washington Legislative Conference, May 20-21, 2015, in Washington, D.C. U.S. Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-OH), will present the award at the conference reception on Wednesday night.
Mixon, who retired as chairman of the board in December, is well known for his active role in developing and defending the home medical equipment (HME) industry during his tenure at Invacare. Mixon will continue to serve as a member of the board until May of 2016. According to Tom Ryan, AAHomecare president and CEO, the decision to honor Mixon is to thank an exemplary member for his contributions to HME, and to inspire a new generation of HME advocates.
“Mal’s tenacity and compassion are admirable,” said Ryan. “It is important that we, as an industry, recognize his contributions. He has certainly set a high bar for what it means to be an impactful business leader." A Vietnam veteran and Harvard Business School graduate, Mixon leveraged a buyout of the wheelchair manufacturer and subsequently grew Invacare’s sales from $19 million to nearly $2 billion. During that growth he was deeply involved in the legislative and regulatory issues impacting the HME industry.
“I realized nobody was representing my industry in Washington,” Mixon explains in his autobiography. “So I started to get active, holding fundraisers and so on. I got involved deeper and deeper. I became close to some politicians — both Democrats and Republicans. I just wanted them to see the issues as I saw them."
In addition to honoring Mixon’s advocacy, AAHomecare also intends the award to serve as motivation for other business leaders to become more active in the legislative process both locally and in Washington. “Mal understands how to bring integrity to the conversation while building relationships in Washington,” said Robert Steedley, president of Barnes Healthcare Services and chairman of AAHomecare’s board of directors. “And our integrity is what gives us credibility as an industry."
The AAHomecare Legislative Advocate Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at a reception during the Washington Legislative Conference from 5:00-7:00 pm on Wednesday, May 20, 2015. All conference attendees are invited to the complimentary event. Register for the conference at aahomecare.org.
