MUNDELEIN, Ill., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Consorta, Inc., a leading health care resource management and group purchasing organization, and Medline Industries, Inc., the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies, have signed a three-year agreement in which Medline will provide durable medical equipment at significant savings to Consorta's membership. The three-year contract is valued at approximately $6 million and is available to the more than 2,000 facilities in Consorta's membership.
The agreement features Medline's comprehensive line of durable medical products, including wheelchairs, walkers, canes and bathroom safety products. In particular, the agreement includes Medline's recently launched Excel 3000 wheelchair, the newest model in the popular Excel series. Medline is the number-one seller of wheelchairs to hospitals and nursing homes in the country.
"When you combine this DME agreement with the fact that Medline is a prime distributor to Consorta's long-term care members, we can help their facilities reduce their costs and maintain high quality of care," said Joe Gwinn, Medline's vice president of national accounts.
In addition to the new Excel 3000, Medline offers a broad array of chairs including the Excel Narrow, Excel K4, Excel K3, Excel Passenger Transport (for airports, shopping malls, etc.) and the Excel Reclining Wheelchair.
Medline is ISO 13485 registered and FDA QSR compliant, the most stringent international standards for producing quality products. As a leading supplier of quality products, Medline is asked to serve on major industry quality committees to develop guidelines and standards for medical product use. Some of these organizations include the FDA Midwest Steering Committee, AAMI Sterilization and Packaging Committee and the various ASTM committees.
About Consorta
Consorta, Inc., based in suburban Chicago, is a leading healthcare resource management and group purchasing organization whose shareholders are faith-based or non-profit health systems. As a cooperative, Consorta's shareholders and participants share fully in the organization's bottom-line performance and receive significant discounts through scale purchasing economies. Consorta's Shareholders are among the leading integrators of non-profit health care in America, sponsoring significant care providers in many parts of the country. Consorta's Shareholder health care systems operate more than half of all Catholic hospitals in the United States, own many extended and alternate care sites and have extensive affiliate relationships with other non-profit hospitals and alternate care facilities. For more information, visit the Consorta Web site at http://www.consorta.com/ or contact Sheila Reed, Director of Corporate Communications, at 847-255-6990.
About Medline
Medline was founded in 1966 but the company's roots in health care date back to 1910 when it was a garment manufacturer. Headquartered in Mundelein, IL., Medline is the leading direct supplier of medical products and equipment to the health care industry. Based on sales of $1.6 billion in 2003, Medline is the largest privately held national manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the United States. The company has more than 700 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and cost management services. Medline distributes over 100,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, hospital laundries, home care dealers and agencies and other alternate site markets from its 28 distribution centers in the U.S. With seven manufacturing facilities in North America, Medline manufactures many of the products it sells. More information about Medline can be found at http://www.medline.com/ .
Medline Industries, Inc.CONTACT: John Marks of Medline Industries, Inc., +1-847-949-3011,jmarks@medline.com
