COURT HOUSE — If you’re in the market for a giant home healthcare company that has over 1,700 employees in 80 locations serving more than 120,000 people throughout the eastern United States, you’re in luck because one just became available.
Air Products, the Pennsylvania-based industrial air supplier, announced July 22 that it is planning to sell its U.S. Healthcare business, including a small office in Cape May County.
According to a press release, the company plans to report the U.S. Healthcare subsidiary as a discontinued operation beginning in the fiscal fourth quarter this year and will continue to operate and serve patients until the business is transitioned to a new owner.
The healthcare company had sales of $271 million in fiscal year 2007.
“Our U.S. Healthcare employees have worked very hard to execute our plan to increase volumes and reduce costs.
Unfortunately, despite progress in a number of areas, the U.S. business is still not meeting expectations,” said Air Products Chairman, President and CEO John E. McGlade.
Air Products also announced that it reached a preliminary agreement to sell its divisions in the metropolitan New York and New Jersey areas. One of the those branches includes the COPD Services office located at 204-C Hand Ave. next to Suntastic tanning salon and Precision Hair Design by Sandy just west of the railroad tracks.
Air Products spokesperson Katie McDonald told the Herald that the sale is expected to be completed by the end of the fiscal year. She also said the identity of the buyer would remain undisclosed at this time.
When asked what the sale would mean for the Court House office, McDonald said the four employees at this fairly small location would most likely go with the sale.
The COPD Services here provides homecare to hundreds of customers throughout the area.
COPD Services gets its name from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a condition of the lungs in which the airways become narrowed resulting in shortness of breath. COPD is reported to be the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
Many COPD patients require supplemental oxygen to treat their disease and that’s where COPD Services comes in.
“When a patient is medically ill, injured, elderly or chronically diagnosed, home medical equipment and homecare services are critical to the plan of care,” according to COPD Services Web page.
COPD Services stocks and delivers hospital beds, wheelchairs, respiratory equipment and medicine, according to company information. It also offers the following services:
• Licensed respiratory care practitioners available around the clock.
• Disease state management programs to support patients diagnosed with COPD.
• Clinical monitoring for disease state management programs to enhance assessment of compliance, productivity and the patient’s needs.
• Rehabilitative services including ambulatory aids, mobility aids and standard wheelchairs.
• Specialty pharmacy services including convenient unit-dose respiratory medications to encourage compliance and support more successful outcomes.
Overall the Air Products parent company has 22,000 employees in more than 40 countries with annual revenues of $10 billion. It serves four different markets: Merchant Gases, Tonnage Gases, Equipment & Energy, Electronics & Performance Materials and Healthcare.
The worldwide Healthcare business provides services to more than 500,000 patients in 15 countries. The recent sale announcement is for the U.S. portion of the Healthcare business only.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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