Gary Sheehan on industry’s shared vision

SANDWICH, Mass. – Just a year after forming through the merger of America's HealthCare at Home, Cape Medical Supply and Health Complex Medical, Spiro Health was acquired by AdaptHealth – and no one was more surprised than CEO Gary Sheehan. 

“That was never part of the plan, but life happens,” he said. “We watched the merger of Adapt and AeroCare and have a ton of respect for both senior management teams. So, we took the call to discuss what it might look like and we’re happy with the outcome, the team and the vision that we share for what the HME market could and should look like.” 

Sheehan, now senior vice president, regional operations, for AdaptHealth New England, spoke with HME News recently about the future of the HME industry – what he calls the important “last mile” of health care’s infrastructure. 

HME News: Cape Medical Supply got its start as a small family-owned business. How does it feel to now be part of a national company? 

Gary Sheehan: We started out of a rented home and ran it out of my parent’s house for the first eight or nine years. Fourteen months ago, we partnered with private equity. In terms of how we went from a small local company to part of a larger national, it felt just natural. A lot of key employees – people that have been with us since the 80s – are super excited with what AdaptHealth is continuing to build. 

HME: What did Spiro Health bring to the table for Adapt? 

Sheehan: The biggest is, we have a significant presence on the ground in the New England area where they did not. We have a mature senior leadership team in place, and we can and will run the business well in this region and identify new opportunities along the way. 

HME: Where do you think the future of HME is headed? 

Sheehan: I think the future is value-based and cloud connected in the home. Now, we do annual visits that feel arbitrary. We could more actively monitor patients and do it at scale. When certain key indicators are high or low, we can interface with the patient to say, “Hey, we need to do a consult.” Blood glucose, blood pressure, sleep – all are different things that the health care system could do more efficiently because of technology, and HME is the boots on the ground.