ATLANTA (October 27, 2022)—Jim Walsh, the chair of the board of VGM and a longtime advocate for the homecare industry, has been named the American Association for Homecare’s Van Miller Homecare Champion for 2022.
“By sheer force of his vision, his personality, he helped transform this industry,” Tom Ryan, CEO and president of the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) said when he announced the honor Tuesday at Medtrade East in Atlanta. “He was also a driving force to make sure AAHomeCare and VGM worked as partners rather than rivals.”
Walsh was the initial investor in VGM organization when his friend, Van Miller, founded it in 1986. A decade later, he joined the staff full time as general counsel and a member of the senior leadership team; he retired at the end of 2021 but remained board chair and general advisor.
“This is a great award for Jim to receive,” said Jeremy Stoltz, president of VGM Associates. “Jim was right by Van Miller’s side back in 1986, so we’re going on four decades of Jim providing mentorship, leadership and advocacy—and friendship as well.”
Ryan fondly recalled Walsh coming to visit him personally at his home medical equipment business in Farmington, N.Y. to talk about issues facing the industry.
“He was instrumental in bringing HME vendors to the table to work with smaller poviders, allowing them to have better access to more favorable contracts,” Ryan said. “He served as a mentor, sounding board and advisor to many HME professionals through his career, including myself.”
Walsh is currently in poor health and was unable to travel to Medtrade to accept the award, which is given annually by AAHomecare based on nominations from peers in the industry. This year’s other nominees were:
- Greg Duckworth, Senior Vice President of Med-South Inc.
- John Gallagher, Vice President, VGM Group
- Zach Gantt, RRT, FAARC, President & CEO of Encore Healthcare
- Gene Sego, President of Sego's Home Medical Equipment
- Kam Yuricich, Executive Director of OAMES
