The REquipment Durable Medical Equipment Reuse Program is five years old this month! The reuse program received its first grant from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation in April of 2013 to pilot DME reuse in the Greater Boston area. The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission administered the grant, and the pilot was successful in identifying the need for a DME Reuse Program not only in the Greater Boston area but also across the state.
In addition to the Shapiro Family Foundation, we would like to thank past funders, The Boston Foundation and the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, for their support getting the program up and running. We would also like to thank the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services and the Department of Public Health’s Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children for their on-going financial and in-kind support to make the REquipment program possible.
The Boston Home played an important fiscal intermediary role in this private-public partnership during our first three and a half years. Key players building the program were Randi Sargent, REquipment Program Director; Ann Shor, MRC’s Contract Manager; and Karen Langley, EOHHS’s Program Advisor. They designed the program, wrote grants for private funding and implemented the program that in five years has provided 2,418 people with refurbished durable medical equipment valued at $4.7 million. We would also like to acknowledge the Massachusetts’s State Legislature for providing funding in FY’16 that gave the program stability and the capacity to expand services statewide.
Lastly, we would like to thank the thousands of people who have generously donated their gently-used durable medical equipment to be refurbished so that seniors, children, and adults with disabilities and others can live with greater independence at home and in their communities.
This week Jen Baker, our program director, received a call from a woman on the North Shore. The woman was looking for a power wheelchair and said she needed it right away. She had gone out to dinner with a friend the night before and while in the restaurant had turned off the power to her wheelchair. Getting ready to leave, she toggled it back on but to her surprise, no power! Needless to say, getting home wasn’t easy. (Most powerchairs weigh upwards of 150 pounds.)
The next morning she called her durable medical equipment (DME) company to have them come look at the wheelchair. They said it would be a week before they could come to assess it. A week to come to assess it! They also said that if they had to take it back to the shop, it might take 4-6 months to repair. That’s right, 4 to 6 months! And they didn’t think they had a loaner chair to give her while hers was being repaired. Did I mention she is due to start a new job in one week? So having no backup chair and facing possibly months without her chair and no loaner, she contacted REquipment. Luckily we have a power wheelchair that meets most of her needs in our inventory. Hopefully, she can get someone to pick it up this week so she can start her new job Monday. If not, we will deliver next week.
Jen Baker with the power wheelchair
Think about your own situation; what would you do if the durable medical equipment you rely on was broken and unusable? Do you have a backup plan? You could face weeks in bed and develop secondary health conditions such as blood clots, pneumonia, and pressure sores, putting you at risk for hospitalizations. What about work or school? Can you take weeks off? Will your employer hold your job? Will you miss so many days of school that you fail the course or repeat the grade?
If you don’t have a backup plan, begin looking at our inventory and select equipment now before you need it. REquipment is a DME re-use program offering free refurbished wheelchairs, scooters, shower chairs and more to adults, children and elders living in Massachusetts.
And if you’d like to help REquipment keep our community members mobile, consider making a financial donation to support our ongoing need for powerchair batteries. REquipment gets a steady supply of donated powerchairs that require new batteries to make a life-changing difference for someone’s independence.
Jen Baker, REquipment Program Director, and I were talking the other day about how collaborating with other programs makes it possible for us to assist more people with disabilities and seniors to have a better quality of life. Two examples come to mind.
The first connects resources within MassMATCH, our State AT Program run by the Mass Rehab Commission. REquipment is a MassMATCH service provider for reuse durable medical equipment, but MassMATCH has other services as well including a Short-Term Device Loan program provided through its AT Regional Centers (ATRCs). In Pittsfield, Worcester and Boston, anyone can borrow AT devices from the MassMATCH device loan inventory free of charge for up to 4 weeks at a time. Knowing about these ATRC services can be very useful when we are working to help a community member.
For example, when a daughter recently requested a refurbished power wheelchair for her mother who was home on hospice, REquipment was happy to help. We learned, however, that the home has no ramp and so there would be no way to get the chair in or out of the residence. Jen Baker reviews each REquipment wheelchair request to make sure the correct size and model has been selected for the intended user and to help troubleshoot any additional obstacles. Jen knew the ATRCs loan portable ramps free of charge and put the daughter in touch with her local Center. REquipment delivered the family the power wheelchair once we’d learned the ATRC had set the family up with wheelchair access. Linking our programs made all the difference for this daughter and her mother who, while not strong enough to push a manual chair, can operate a joystick just fine!
My second example has to do with the disposal of hospital beds. After a loved one passes away at home, families are often eager to remove the hospital bed as soon as possible. In Massachusetts, however, these can be remarkably difficult to donate. Not only are they big and cumbersome, programs like ours don’t have the storage space or capacity to refurbish and transport them. Until last March, REquipment declined many offers of hospital beds with little advice for callers. Then we learned of The Hospital Bed Project.
Don Hoerman began the Hospital Bed Project as an all-volunteer effort to serve Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Hospital Bed Project is comprised of a small network of people who retrieve beds in their region and then pair the beds with community members who need them. Hoerman recently reported to Jen that since learning of The Hospital Bed Project last March, REquipment has referred over 100 families with beds! Now we have a way to help grieving families get rid of this unneeded equipment while keeping them out of landfills and in use in our communities.
Interested in learning more about your AT Regional Center? Visit this MassMATCH.org webpage. And if you have a hospital bed need or one to donate, contact Don Hoerman at 860-558-5064 or email TheHospitalBedProject@gmail.com
REquipment seeks an additional $360,000 in the Massachusetts State Budget for FY19. Here’s why…
What we do is the most logical thing in the world. REquipment DME Reuse Program keeps valuable durable medical equipment (DME) out of landfills and in the hands of neighbors who need it.
Since the program first began in 2014, over 2,100 pieces of gently-used DME have been distributed to seniors and people with disabilities statewide (representing significant savings to Medicaid and other insurance programs). More than $4 million worth of power and manual wheelchairs, scooters, rollator walkers, bathroom equipment and specialized pediatric devices have gone to residents to assist with their daily living at home and in their communities. Without REquipment devices, many of our program users tell us they would have few options beyond remaining in bed or at home.
REquipment’s power to change lives, however, is limited by the number of devices the program has the capacity to obtain, refurbish and deliver. That’s why for FY19, REquipment is seeking a $360,000 expansion, so we can crack the ceiling on the number of residents who benefit. Already in FY18, we are on track to reassign 1,100 devices–more than double the volume reassigned in FY16 when REquipment first expanded statewide. Yet currently we have just 2.5 FTE administrative staff positions, including a half-time executive director and part-time donations and requests coordinators. The handling and refurbishing of donated devices is provided by staff at 4 Reuse Partner organizations which provide an additional 3 FTEs (1 in-kind)—spread across 8 personnel—for inspecting, refurbishing and sanitizing devices, posting available items online, and providing device pickup and delivery services. In addition, two organizational partners are funded as Drop-off Centers for receiving donated DME.
REquipment is now at capacity.
Considering the anticipated volatility of health care at both the federal and state level, expanding REquipment’s capacity is a wise investment for Massachusetts. Reuse DME is a cost-efficient and environmentally-sound approach to ensuring people maintain their independence, keep their jobs, and stay safe in their homes and out of facilities.
To expand capacity, REquipment DME & AT Reuse Program, Inc. requests an increase of $360,000 to line item 4120-4000, for a total appropriation of $9,983,606 for FY19. The funds will:
Add 4 new Drop-off Centers to serve the North Shore, Northeast, South Shore and Cape (we currently have them in New Bedford and Dorchester). Drop-off centers vastly improve REquipment’s efficiency with collecting equipment donations, increase the volume of donations we can achieve, and improve our turnaround time for residents.
Increase hours for refurbishers, drivers and site coordinators at our four Reuse Partner locations. Our partners are at capacity. To expand the volume of donations we refurbish, 3.19 additional FTEs are needed across our four regional locations.
Provide new batteries for 100 power wheelchairs and scooters. These are our most in-demand devices. Donated powered mobility equipment saves Medicaid and consumers upwards of $20,000 per device! Refurbishing them, however, requires the purchase of new rechargeable batteries at a cost of $300 per power wheelchair. Often equipment we receive cannot be listed in a timely way for lack of funds for batteries.
Provide replacement parts and cleaning supplies for an increased number of devices sanitized and repaired, annually.
Increase administrative staff hours from 2.5 to 5.5 FTEs. This will bring our half-time executive director to full time, bring our part-time donations and requests coordinators to full time, and add a full-time outreach coordinator as well as a part-time administrative assistant.
Ameliorate an anticipated $35,000 loss of federal funds to the program.
Has REquipment DME Reuse Program helped you or someone you know and love? Tell your state representatives your story. And tell them to support the REquipment expansion in line item 4120-4000! Pay it forward so more of your neighbors can stay independent with gently-used refurbished DME.
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to former board member and dear friend, Shawn J. McDuff. Shawn died unexpectedly on Dec. 31, 2017.
Shawn was a founding board member of the REquipment Durable Medical Equipment Reuse Program, Inc. and served as our treasurer until June 2017. As a user of DME and long-time Independent living advocate and activist, Shawn was a great fit for our nonprofit, standing by our DME reuse philosophy which emphasizes the principles of consumer choice and control.
Shawn had worked at the Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann since 1990 where he served as deputy director. There he started a program, the All People Accessible Business Project which uses volunteers to conduct access surveys of selected North Shore and Cape Ann businesses.
Shawn and I had the pleasure of working together many times over the years on independent living and disability rights issues. In 2015, we marched together in DC for disability rights and equality!
Right to left: Shawn McDuff, Maria DiScipio, Charlie Carr, Karen Langley, Joe Tringali, and Kathy Edgell at the ADA 25th Anniversary march in DC
Born and raised in Lynn, Shawn was the son of Joseph and Marie McDuff, of Nahant. He attended Lynn Schools and was a graduate of Lynn English High School, Class of 1986. Shawn earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Salem State College in 1990.
Shawn was an avid Bruins fan, and also a fan of the Patriots and Red Sox “in that order.” He had a great smile and a wonderful sense of humor. He was a hard worker and lived life to the fullest. He and his wife, Maria DiScipio, with whom he shared 17 married years, enjoyed taking cruises, dining out, and exploring trendy restaurants and food shows. I jokingly told my husband that Maria must be a bad cook because they ate out so often!
We played Words With Friends. He beat me badly. All the time. He finally took pity on me and… stopped playing with me.
He was proud of his independence but was proudest of being able to help others achieve their independence. Since his passing, there have been online tributes to Shawn from the many people he guided and mentored through the years, each crediting him with helping them through tough times and helping them achieve their own independence. He was a great role model.
A memorial service is being planned for when the weather is nicer to accommodate those not able to travel in the cold and snow to his wake and funeral.
In the fall of 2016, the REquipment Durable Medical Equipment & Assistive Technology Reuse Program, Inc. (REquipment, Inc.) took over the administration of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission’s DME Reuse Program from The Boston Home. Oh, what a year it has been! As a new non-profit, as well as a new state vendor, there was so much to learn in order to do business with the state and meet all applicable laws and regulations. But was it ever worth it!
856 Devices Delivered in Fiscal Year 2017
We are delighted to report that our reuse partners: Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton, the Department of Developmental Services in Worcester, Stavros Center for Independent Living in Amherst and United Cerebral Palsy of Berkshire County in Pittsfield collected and delivered 856 pieces of refurbished durable medical equipment this past fiscal year. These gently-used devices were all provided free of charge to seniors and people with disabilities including many children and veterans across Massachusetts.
Patrick Wallace, Pappas Site Coordinator, with DME to deliver
In-demand Equipment Yields New Powered Device Policy
The most requested pieces of equipment were shower and tub seats for safe bathing for seniors, transport wheelchairs because they are lightweight and easy to get in and out of a car and, of course, power wheelchairs and scooters. Power wheelchairs were provided to become a person’s primary chair or as a back-up chair (should their primary chair breakdown), or as an interim chair while a new customized wheelchair was built to meet their specific needs. Because of the high demand for wheelchairs and scooters this year, we instituted a one-wheelchair-or-scooter-per-year policy this past May. We now strongly encourage REquipment program users to pursue a new wheelchair from insurance and will be providing resource information on how to do so.
Delivery Challenges and Solutions
Timely delivery has been our biggest challenge. Because all reuse partner staff work part-time and because of a high volume of delivery requests, deliveries can take up to 3-4 weeks. However, MRC provided REquipment, Inc. with the funds to purchase a used lift-equipped vehicle which was assigned to the Pappas reuse center in July. The van is helping facilitate quicker donation pickups and delivery to those who need it. In addition, we reached out to several nonprofits on the South Shore to identify possible drop-off sites and are happy to announce the Southeast Center for Independent Living in New Bedford will be a drop-off center for approved items in that area. This is now saving driver time and gas resources.
Left to right: Brian Devin CEO, Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children; Ann Shor, Director, IL & ATat MRC; Jennifer Baker, REquipment Program Director; Gary Rabideau, Director Rehabilitation Clinic, PRHC; Karen Langley, REquipment CEO; Patrick Wallace, REquipment Site Coordinator at PHRC
Outreach Outreach Outreach
… has paid off! REquipment now has partnerships with DME vendors, Councils on Aging with loan closets, and disability-specific organizations to share reuse information. As a result, many have been donating their overflow DME to us!
Donated equipment from Compassionate Care ALS
Outreach continues as a major REquipment staff activity. In 2017 we exhibited at 23 conferences, health fairs and events. We conducted 9 presentations on our program, sent mass mailings to Councils On Aging, Veteran Service Organizations, Aging and Disability Resource Consortiums, legislators and others. We participated in Recycle Days in Ayer, Arlington and East Bridgewater, resulting in 40 pieces of equipment for our inventory. We were also guests on two cable TV shows in Boston and Worcester and published a monthly newsletter distributed to over 2000 readers.
On the set of Beacon Hill Chat. Left to right: Randi Sargent, Karen Langley, Senator Harriet Chandler
Program Satisfaction is Excellent
Meanwhile, we are honored to learn that 93% of respondents to our satisfaction survey report being “highly satisfied” with our service. What makes us happy to come to work each day, however, is the impact we have on the people who receive our equipment. People like Steve who was recently diagnosed with a progressive neurological disease. Steve received a customized power wheelchair through his health insurer but–ridiculously–it was just too big to maneuver in his home. The chair was not returnable and Steve was stuck unable to get around and with no recourse until he found us. We worked with Steve to identify a refurbished power wheelchair appropriate to his needs, one that was also smaller and allowed for his independence. Steve is just one of the 856 people with unique stories we assisted this past year. Our program satisfaction is high, indeed.
If you have gently-used equipment to donate or are in need of equipment please contact us at 800-261-9841 or through our webpage at www.dmereuse.org or email us at info@dmereuse.org. If you’d like to make an end-of-year tax-deductible donation, you may do so at this PayPal donation page with a credit card or your own PayPal account. Or you may send a check to REquipment, PO Box 311, Methuen, MA 01844. A tax donation receipt will be provided.
Together we’ve made such an impact. Since April of 2013, REquipment has given away 2,119 pieces of durable medical equipment–valued at over $4 million!–to individuals with disabilities, seniors and families in Massachusetts communities. Still, we know there is much more to do.
There are kids like Ricky, a 10-year-old homeless boy with a degenerative skeletal disease AND a broken leg when his aunt found our program this past summer. Getting around with a manual wheelchair while awaiting surgery was not an option because manual chairs were too difficult for him to push. We provided him with a pediatric power wheelchair and connected his family with the AT Regional Center in Worcester to borrow a portable ramp so he could get in and out of his aunt’s home while recuperating from surgery. Thanks to our community of programs and donors, Ricky was able to cruise around independently and he and his aunt could not be happier: “He absolutely loves the chair,” she wrote Stavros CIL, our partner, who delivered the equipment. “I took him to Quabbin Dam on the way home and he was amazed at all the places he could go now.”
Ricky enjoying the great outdoors
There are also couples like the elderly woman and her husband we assisted recently. She was home following a stroke and rehabilitation and needed both the transport chair Medicare had purchased that was light enough for her husband to lift, and a wheelchair with rims so she could push independently. Medicare, however, would not purchase a second chair, so it was REquipment to the rescue! We provided a manual wheelchair to support her independence at home, and she still uses the transport chair for traveling.
Often we hear from people who need more than one mobility device and have no insurance coverage to pay for it. Your donations of gently-used medical equipment and funding for operations means more Massachusetts seniors are living independently in their own homes and more children like Ricky get what they need when they need it most.
Help us continue our mission! Remember REquipment with your end-of-year giving. REquipment is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and contributions are fully tax deductible. DONATE here (via pay pal or credit card) or send a check to REquipment, PO Box 311, Methuen, MA 01844. A tax donation receipt will be provided. If you shop on Amazon, don’t forget to choose REquipment for all your Smile.Amazon purchases. To donate equipment, please complete the online donation form or call 1-800-261-9841 for assistance.
Thank you for supporting access to refurbished gently-used durable medical equipment. Together we are doing the most obvious thing in the world: keeping valuable equipment out of landfills and in the hands of people with disabilities, families and seniors who can use it now.
About a month ago, I received an email from Karl Soderquist asking if a group of people from New Zealand could visit the Worcester DME Reuse Center. Karl is the owner of the New Hampshire-based company, HUBSCRUB. He sold REquipment HUBSCRUB cleaning units for our Canton, Worcester and Amherst locations.
What, you might ask, is a HUBSCRUB?
A HUBSCRUB is a powerful “washing machine” for medical equipment. Have you ever wondered how we clean and sanitize all those donations of large devices? Well, a HUBSCRUB is large enough to handle several wheelchairs, tub seats, rollators, etc., all at once! The machine cleans, rinses and disinfects quickly and thoroughly and saves staff a considerable amount of time and energy.
I told Karl that of course, we would be delighted to demonstrate the HUBSCRUB to his visitors from “down under,” and last Friday we did just that. We met five travelers from New Zealand to show off the HUBSCRUB and the Reuse Center in Worcester.
Leading the group was Karen Beard-Greer, CEO of Independent Living Service New Zealand in Auckland. In addition to offering independent living services, her agency operates four durable medical equipment programs around the Auckland area. She was accompanied by three of her staff members who were interested in seeing the HUBSCRUB in operation to determine if they want to invest in the equipment.
Stacy, our cleaner/technician, demonstrated how she uses the HUBSCRUB system, including the cleaning solutions used and time it takes to process DME. She also answered lots of questions!
Visitors from New Zealand learning about the HUBSCRUB at our Worcester Reuse Center
We gave our enthusiastic support for the HUBCSRUB. We highlighted the value the machines have brought to our program, emphasizing not only the amount of cleaning time they save us but also that their UV lights kill the most dangerous pathogens.
Since we were “in the building” in Worcester, we also did a quick tour of the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) AT Center. We showed off the amazing equipment customization and fabrication services the DDS technicians accomplish there for individuals who are eligible for DDS services. The group was very impressed with our co-located operation, and everyone had a very good time learning from one another.
The HUBSCRUB is a nifty invention from right here in New England that is getting adopted by DME reuse programs around North America and now, perhaps, the world. I told Karl that if the folks from Auckland do purchase the HUBSCRUB units, he will certainly have a great getaway destination for the annual service call!
REquipment, the durable medical equipment (DME) reuse program, is thrilled to announce that we now have a DME drop-off site in New Bedford! No longer will people need to drive their gently-used equipment to Canton or wait 3-4 weeks for our van to pick up from their homes. Donations at the Southeast Center for Independent Living (SCIL) can be arranged in a matter of days. SCIL is a natural partner for REquipment; its mission is to empower people with disabilities to achieve and maintain their independence, overcome obstacles, and participate fully in community life.
“We’ve already taken advantage of the drop-off site,” Jen Baker, our program director, reports. “We had a local Council on Aging offer to donate 20 manual wheelchairs and after we approved the donation, they were dropped off at the SCIL’s New Bedford office.”
Equipment donated at drop-off sites is collected monthly by REquipment for sanitizing and refurbishing. It is then posted online where it becomes available for no charge to individuals and families who need it.
Drop-off sites are great for both our program and program users. They cut down on the time it takes to collect equipment and that means our vans are used more efficiently for getting equipment to community members.
Donation drop-off must be pre-approved by REquipment program staff and then scheduled with SCIL staff. To donate equipment, please complete the online donation form or call 1-800-261-9841 for assistance.
Last March, Senator Harriette Chandler invited our durable medical reuse program to her WCCA (community access) TV show, Beacon Hill Chat. This week we were invited back for Executive Director Mauro DePasquale’s Soapbox. WCCA loves our REquipment mission and is excited to get the word out about the power of DME reuse in Massachusetts communities. REquipment was more than happy to oblige!
Left to right: Stephen Mingolla, Gloria Ahumada-Zonin, Jen Baker, and Mauro DePasquale on the set of Soapbox. (Stephen used a transport wheelchair for this occasion, not the device supplied him by REquipment.)
Jen Baker, REquipment Program Director, gave an overview of our program and explained the types of DME we accept for donation. Stephen Mingolla, a beneficiary of equipment; and Gloria Ahumada-Zonin, Social Worker Care Manager with UMASS Memorial Accountable Care Organization (ACO), spoke about their experiences using the program and the impact it has had on real lives.
REquipment, Stephen explained, solved a crushing and unanticipated problem with his new complex power wheelchair. Stephen lives in Worcester and has a progressive illness which causes him weakness and fatigue. Although his insurance paid for a powerchair, once delivered he discovered it was too big to use inside his residence. REquipment solved Stephen’s problem by providing a powerchair that meets his unique needs. Stephen found the chair at the REquipment online inventory (www.dmerequipment.org) and we were able to approve his request and deliver within just one week! Now, he feels confident and independent home alone.
As a nurse care manager at UMASS Memorial Accountable Care Organization in Worcester, Gloria and 15 other care managers coordinate services for people leaving the hospital or rehabilitation. REquipment, she says, is helping people discharge safely without unnecessary delays. Care managers routinely check the REquipment inventory when the equipment people need is not covered by insurance or when waiting for approval.
One story she told was of an elderly man who’d ordered a transport wheelchair for his wife through insurance. The chair was lightweight and made it possible for him to load into the car when they left rehab. Soon, however, his wife grew stronger and wanted to propel the wheelchair herself, something transport chairs are not designed to do. Since their insurance would not purchase a second wheelchair for five years, REquipment came to the rescue. A UMASS ACO care manager helped the couple find and order a manual chair with large wheels and handrims through our inventory.
Both of these stories illustrate how REquipment makes a difference for individuals when a second mobility device is needed, a common occurrence. Indeed, the UMASS ACO says that REquipment device recipients report, overall, an increase in their ability to participate in their communities. This includes access to shopping, church, medical appointments and other life-sustaining activities.
Soapbox was a terrific opportunity for REquipment to get on our soapbox, tell these stories, and make the case for helping REquipment thrive and grow. Thanks again to Stephen Mingolla and Gloria Ahumada-Zonin for using their time for the cause!
