Greensburg's MedCare Equipment expands with new Somerset affiliation

Greensburg-based MedCare Equipment Company is expanding its service area and adding about 20 employees through a new affiliation with Somerset Med Services.

On Wednesday, the Greensburg firm, which provides home medical equipment and respiratory therapy services in affiliation with the local Excela Health health care system, is set to conclude its purchase of similar aspects of the Somerset County business.

The move is expected to bring Somerset Med’s customer accounts within MedCare’s centralized billing and procurement operation, for improved efficiency, while allowing increased home deliveries of oxygen and other supplies to Somerset-area customers.

“As our community ages, the need for home medical equipment and supplies will only continue to increase,” recently appointed MedCare Equipment CEO Patricia Mastandrea said in a press release. “The coming together of these two companies allows those needs to be addressed more effectively and efficiently by drawing on the experience of two strong and trusted providers with histories of successfully cultivating business and health care relationships that produce results.”

As of Jan. 1, MedCare Equipment will employ 320 people in 13 locations. Somerset Med’s retail store on Glades Pike near Somerset will become a MedCare store, joining other MedCare retail locations at Greensburg, Altoona and Erie, and at Jamestown, N.Y. MedCare also has distribution centers at Greensburg, Erie, Johnstown, Pittsburgh and Jamestown.

With the addition of the Somerset business, MedCare will serve 27,000 patients annually, with a revenue base of $156 million. The company’s footprint spans Western Pennsylvania and adjacent sections of Ohio, West Virginia and New York.

Integrating Somerset Med Services into MedCare Equipment was “a logical step to eliminate duplication of services and streamline customer services,” Excela Health spokeswoman Robin Jennings said in a statement Monday.

Somerset Med was jointly owned by Excela Health and Somerset Hospital. Then, early in 2019, Somerset Hospital became part of the health network of UPMC — which already was among Excela Health’s partners in MedCare Equipment.

MedCare was founded in Greensburg in 1987. Beginning in 2008, it has formed partnerships with Conemaugh Home Medical Equipment of Johnstown, Indiana Regional Medical Center, St. Clair Hospital, and Heritage Valley, Butler and Washington Health Systems — as well as UPMC.