ABOUT THE FOUNDERS
MED-RESPONSE HISTORY
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
Med-Response, Inc. has its roots in a company called Phymedsco, Inc. Phymedsco began business in June of 1978. Mike St. Clair and Bill Clarke were the original owners. In January of 1984, Phymedsco was sold to Home Medical Systems. In 1986, Home Medical Systems pooled assets with Beverly Enterprises and in October of 1987, the assets of Beverly Durable Medical Equipment Division were sold to Primedica, Inc. In October of 1988, a company owned by Bill Clarke and Bruce M. Bishop, purchased the assets of all the Phymedsco locations from Primedica.
Med-Response, Inc. is a service company. We have always conducted business with the customer (or patient as we refer to you) first on our list of priorities. We need never forget that many other companies may sell the same products, but our service is what keeps us in business.
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in (good) health, even as thy soul prospereth". (III John 2)
ABOUT THE FOUNDERS:
Bruce M. Bishop was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and graduated from high school at Powell High School in Powell, Tennessee. After high school, he attended East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee before joining the U.S. Navy. He attended the Hospital Corpsman School at Balboa Hospital.
After returning from Vietnam, he was once again stationed in Orlando, Florida until he left the Navy in early 1971. Shortly after his Naval duty, he started working for Professional Medical Specialties, a home medical equipment and hospital equipment company in Orlando. After starting in the sales area, he moved to management of the warehouse and took care of all inside sales for the company.
In 1973, Ronnie Young offered Bruce part ownership of Medical Services of America. Bruce, Ronnie, and Joyce Blum started this company on basically a shoestring, and it is now one of the top twenty home medical equipment companies in the country, grossing over $90 million per year. Bruce served as Vice President for Medical Services of America until 1982 when he left to go to work at Phymedsco in Bluefield, WV.
In March of 1982, Bruce moved to Princeton, WV to live. He went to work for Mike St. Clair, a former employee of Medical Services of America. Mike had started a company called Phymedsco in June of 1978. Bruce started in the sales area and the business grew substantially until it was first sold to Home Medical Systems in 1984. Bruce stayed on with the company through two more acquisitions.
In October of 1988, Bruce and Bill Clarke purchased all of the physical assets of Phymedsco from Primedica in Marietta, Georgia. After changing the name to Med-Response, Inc., Bruce and Bill, along with many faithful employees, started to build the company again. When they purchased Phymedsco, it had three stores and approximately 20 employees. Today Med-Response, Inc., has 6 locations and 40 employees. Many of these employees have been with the company almost since its start.
Bruce gives God the glory for the success that Med-Response, Inc., has attained. "I realize that Med-Response, Inc., is a gift from God and we are only stewards over it."
William E. Clarke (Bill) was born and raised in Charlottesville Va. After graduating from high school he attended Ferrum Jr. College and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In the fall of 1977 Mike St. Clair offered Bill a part ownership in a company he was going to start called Phymedsco. In June of 1978 Phymedsco was started with 3 employees in a small office behind Bluewell Pharmacy. Much help and experience was gained from two wonderful local men, Oswald Milam and Earl Rigney, who took Mike and Bill under their wing. The respiratory patients of Pocahontas Welding Supply formed the initial patient base for the new company. From that humble beginning the company grew to 3 stores and 20 employees. Phymedsco was sold to a holding company called Home Medical Systems in the spring of 1984 and was purchased back by Bruce Bishop and Bill Clarke in the fall of 1988 and renamed Med-Response, Inc. Today Med-Response, Inc. has 6 locations and 40 employees.
Bill wishes to thank the God of the Scriptures for giving him and his brother in Christ, Bruce Bishop, the stewardship over Med-Response. He is also very thankful for a wonderful staff that "keep things running" at our company. He is especially thankful for the many wonderful patients the company has been able to serve over the past 22 years.
ESOP:
The Med Response Inc. ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program) was a dream of Bruce Bishop and Bill Clarke that was long in the making. Bruce and Bill, as the sole owners, were concerned that if something ever happened to both of them (untimely death, for example) then there would be no transfer of ownership to the people who helped build the business and who could continue the business as owners. After much searching they came upon the concept of the ESOP through a company called Menke & Assoc. After contacting them and spending a lot of money, they helped the company through the purchase of 30% of the shares of Med Response, Inc. By doing so Med-Response became the only durable medical equipment company in the immediate area to become employee owned.
Now Med Response Inc. has a vesting plan where every employee can own shares of the Med Response, Inc. ESOP Trust. The ESOP is really meant to be a retirement plan based on the appreciating assets of Med Response. Inc. As the company grows and increases in value, the value of the shares of the ESOP grow correspondingly. When an employee retires or leaves they receive the appraised value of those shares. They can receive the entire amount, roll it over into another qualified retirement plan, or any combination of the two.
The long range plan for the company is to be 100% ESOP owned.
Med-Response, Inc.
P.O. Box 3225
Bluefield, WV 24701
Phone: (800) 635-1948 Fax: (304)
589-6319
EMAIL US: medresponse@medresponse.com
TOP
11/29/2006
Last Edited
©2000 Med-Response, Inc.
