ORLANDO — A third home medical equipment association has entered the picture in Florida, this time a for-profit corporation headed by the previous executive director of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services.
Heather Allan, executive director of FAMES for nine years, said last week she has formed the Florida Home Medical Equipment Association Inc., which is based in Orlando.
"The goals of the organization are to provide cost-effective, affordable education, information and a certain amount of advocacy," Allan said. "One of our concerns is that greater attention needs to be paid to what the Florida legislators and pertinent state agencies are doing. National issues are certainly important and will receive an appropriate amount of our attention, but those issues are very well covered by national organizations such as [the American Association for Homecare]. Some of the state issues have a tendency to fall through the cracks, and that can't happen."
She added, "We want to have a more proactive approach to state issues as opposed to reactive and we really want to have less antagonistic relations with state entities."
Allan said that a Web site is in the works, as are some Webinars.
"We're looking forward to the challenges the industry faces, and we are looking forward to working with providers in Florida on the issues they face — both the big ones and the small ones," she said.
Randy Schluter of Parker, Colo., is secretary/treasurer of FHMEA. Allan said the vice president had not been confirmed, although the association's Articles of Incorporation list her mother, Elizabeth M. Moran, director of the Medical Equipment Suppliers Association, as the vice president.
The news comes in the wake of the announcement that FAMES, which closed in January, was restructuring and had named long-time HME provider and former president Joan Cross of C&C Homecare in Bradenton as the new executive director. Greg Sims of Gator Mobility in Gainesville is president. (See FAMES Regroups: Joan Cross Is New Executive Director, March 23.)
In addition, the newly launched Florida Alliance of Home Care Services, or FAHCS, is headed by Roger Ribas of Hometown Medical Supply in Doral as president with Sean Schwinghammer, an advisor to the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America, as executive director. (See Florida Providers Form New State Association, March 23.)
Both of the groups are non-profit organizations.
Of her new corporation, Allan said, "we structured it in the way we did to avoid the pitfalls of non-profit corporation structures and limitations."
She added that FHMEA "certainly is not intending to work against any other organization based in Florida. I think it is too soon to tell how things will go in the state and whether or not there will be any type of interaction or cooperation among any of the entities that exist or will exist."
For more information on FHMEA, call Allan at 407/421-6118.