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FARMINGTON – A local, independently-owned business that has been here for 100 years is about to go out of business, but not for the usual reasons.
Farmington Medical Supplies & Services has plenty of customers it serves, many of whom have expressed their dismay over the news that the shop intends to close its doors forever on or before Dec. 31. The store’s co-manager Brenda Laviolette, a 39-year employee, said the reason the store is closing is because of the deep cuts Medicaid has made in insurance allowables for medical equipment supplies and the reams of paperwork required to be submitted to get payment for those things it does cover.
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“It takes one full-time person to just complete all the forms required,” Laviolette said. The shop, which carries wheelchairs, safety equipment, medical uniforms and general supplies such as linens, compression stockings and joint braces, had recently employed 10 people with all but three laid off now until it closes. The Wilton Road shop is in the midst of a liquidation sale and will close when everything is sold or Dec. 31 arrives.
The shop is the only medical equipment supplier in Franklin County that also serves customers in the neighboring counties of Oxford, Kennebec and Somerset. For the 5,000 customers the shop serves each year in this rural area of the state, many of whom are disabled or elderly, the shop’s closing will result in a longer drive or ordering on the Internet.
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The nearest medical supplier is Waterville or Lewiston. The medical rental equipment supplier, OxyCare, based in Ellsworth, will be taking over oxygen tank deliveries for this area. The change comes after 100 years of medical service to this area.
In the early 1900s, Farmington Medical Supplies & Services got its start as Tarbox-Hardy, a pharmacy and medical supply shop located downtown on Broadway next to the current Reny’s Department Store. In the 1940s, it became Hardy’s Pharmacy and 20 years later, Farmington Drug Store. In 1970, it was sold and became Farmington Medical Supplies & Services after its pharmacy business was sold to the Hannaford’s food company pharmacy. Two years ago the supply shop which carries Durable Medical Supply equipment, moved to its current location at 407 Wilton Road, next to the Fabric Inn shop.
The move proved to be a convenient one for its customers with plenty of parking and easy access for those disabled compared with downtown’s ify parking and a double granite steps from street to sidewalk in front to the shop.
“This is a much better location with more exposure and easy parking,” Laviolette said. “Our customers really appreciated the new location.” The shop’s customers also include the many heath care professionals in the area who work at Franklin Memorial Hospital just a mile away and the area’s nursing homes and doctors’ offices.
Nancy Walters of Wilton, who works at the hospital stopped in to purchase a uniform this week, all of which have been marked down by 50 percent.
“I’m going to be really sad when you close,” Walters told Laviolette at the cash register. “Where should we go now?” Walters doesn’t like going on the Internet to shop because she wants to try things on and prefers to shop locally “because it’s the responsible thing to do,” she said.
And, in no small way, it’s the people who have worked here for years that she’s come to know that make it an important part of the reason she shops here, she added.
Laviolette worries about her many customers once the shop closes. Many customers would either call for instruction or come by and try out the equipment, such as the motorized wheelchairs sold here. Who, she said, are they going to call if they order something on the Internet?
“A lot of them have called me up and I’d help them,” Laviolette said. “I’m going to miss a lot of the people. There are very nice people in this area. It was a pleasure serving them.”
Just the beginning of life under Obamacare.
Certainly an unfortunate turn of events, but I’d be fascinated if you could please explain exactly how a health care bill which hasn’t been passed yet has caused this business to close.
Bonus points if you can explain why eight years of economic mismanagement and a global recession that began a year before Obama’s inauguration /didn’t/ cause it.
Ben,
Everything is fine now, you can just blame it on the past 8 years!
lets see when did this business go under, the first hundred years before Barry’s rule or the with in the first year of his rule, and what is he implementing in Obamacare, more Medicare cuts, more red tape, more taxes, more government, these all equal less prosperity for America!
Hutch,
Who said everything was fine now? We’ve got a lot of problems that need fixing.
Obama has been in office for about nine months now. Not one of the reforms you listed have actually been implemented yet. Do you honestly believe that a well-established, 100 year-old business took only nine months to fail, solely due to the reforms of a new President that haven’t yet been enacted?
Also, to clarify one final point, there is no “Obamacare.” No bill has been passed, nor has it been signed by the President. I believe you’re referring to H.R.3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which was introduced on the floor of the House only 29 days ago — well after the discussions about closing this business had likely already begun, I might add.
Ben,
It seems in your previous post that you honestly believe that this business failed because of the previous 8 years! Please! to assert that it failed this year because of Obama is just as insane as to propose it was because of the previous 8 years!
The reasons why it failed are clear… it states it in the article to much red tape!!! From guess who… The Government!!!
Shrink government, increase prosperity!
Wait, you just said it was “insane” to blame the government, and went on to say it failed because of the government?
You’re not going to get an argument from me when it comes to shrinking the size of the federal government — I’m right there with you on that. But your statements seem a little contradictory.
Actually Will (and everyone else), having worked there quite a bit BEFORE Obama was even elected, these deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid have been going on for a long time. The main reason for the cuts in allowables and the increase in paperwork comes more from people defrauding the medicare system than anything. It has nothing to do with the current state of healthcare reform (again, a bill that hasn’t even passed yet.). For a number of years now this business has been struggling. When I worked there, there were times when payroll had to wait because there was no money in the store. The bottom line is that there are too many people utilizing medicare and medicaid (Mainecare) and not enough people to pay for it. It’s not just government red tape that is at the heart of the issue. The reason for all the red tape is, after all, because too many people have been screwing the system for too long. Remember, Maine is a state of services. Take a look at the over 200 million dollars in fraudulent claims billed to Medicare last year and the year before. Do any of you honestly think that there was not going to be a major crackdown? Folks, doesn’t it stand to reason that it might be hard for a legitimate business who DOESN’T make fraudulent claims to stay afloat? Sorry, but you can’t blame Obama for this one. You can’t really blame Bush either (dumb as he was). If you’re going to blame anyone, blame all the people who abuse the system. The onus ought to be put on them for a change.
Excellent point, KB.
It’s unfortunate that fraud has been so rampant and destructive in the Medicare system. I was shocked when the latest statistics came out a couple of weeks ago ($47B in suspect claims in fiscal ’09, http://cbs2chicago.com/health/medicare.fraud.health.2.1312663.html). When a system has been continuously criticized for being “a high risk for fraud and waste” for over two decades with little or no action taken to correct it, I think reform becomes a necessity, doesn’t it?
No matter who is at fault, Franklin County is now losing ANOTHER much-needed business – needed because of the “graying of America”. And while there weren’t a lot of jobs lost, this means we have 10 more people out of work. It’s the small businesses of America – ones that provide personal service – that are taking the hit, and it’s the consumers who also suffer. And like so many other things, we don’t know what we have til it’s gone.