About Hope Medical Supply, Inc.

Hope Medical Supply is a third generation family-owned, home medical equipment provider which has been offering the highest quality healthcare for nearly 70 years.  Established in 1941, Hope Ambulance Service was the only and the longest continuously operating ambulance service in San Antonio for many years.  In the 1950's Hope Medical also began supplying hospitals and doctors' offices with medical supplies, over time broadening their line to include medical gases, high-tech equipment, and instrumentation, becoming a local leader in the physician and institutional markets.  

Under the direction of CEO Kathleen Weir Vale, Hope Medical Supply is the premier durable medical equipment provider within a 90-mile radius of San Antonio, Corpus Christi and all points in between.  Ms. Vale learned old fashioned principles of honesty, hard work and customer service from her father, H.R. "Duddy" Weir from whom she purchased Hope Medical Supply prior to his retirement.  Through all the changes the years have brought, Hope Medical Supply has survived and thrived through adherence to these principles.  With the help of her husband, CFO Albert Vale, Ms. Vale has had the vision to expand and grow Hope Medical Supply at a time when other DME providers are struggling due to Medicare and managed care reimbursement cuts.  She practices the highest level of ethics and honesty in all areas of the business from employee benefits to customer service.  Ms. Vale has the rare quality of true leadership, inspiring those around her to greater heights.  Her personal qualities are reflected in the spirit of compassionate care that Hope Medical Supply employees endeavor to provide.   

Ms. Vale attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from the University of the Americas in Mexico City with a degree in Spanish.  She speaks Spanish fluently.  She is extremely active in community and civic involvement.  She volunteers extensively and serves on the vestry of her church, a TERS Board in her district, the board of a non-profit Montessori School, and is a past president of the the San Antonio Choral Society.  In addition to her active involvement with her family, friends and community, she is a classically trained singer who rehearses and trains diligently.  

Rehab Department--"I want to be a resource for the physician's office.  We need to establish a partnership"--Sam Esquivel, RESNA Certified Assistive Technology Professional

In 2005, Sam Esquivel joined Hope Medical Supply as our Rehab Manager.  Mr. Esquivel holds a bachelor's degree from Texas A& M College Station.  As a RESNA certified Assistive Technology Professional, he has undergone extensive training and education in order to assess, build and customize the most up-to-date rehabilitative technology for rehab patients.  Mr. Esquivel's expertise allows him to better serve patient's needs by providing thorough and detailed assessments of their condition, requirements, environment, capabilities and needs.  He customizes seating, positioning, tilt and controls on complex, high-end rehab wheelchairs.  Unlike other rehab providers who use a one-size fits all approach, Mr. Esquivel truly cares about customizing the highest quality rehab equipment to meet the patient's needs.   

He has spearheaded efforts to find community and alternative funding for rehab technologies in order to make up the shortfall for certain items not covered by insurance.  When the Rehab department receives an order for a rehab item, they draw on their extensive experience to assess the suitability of the item to meet the patient's specific needs, and they often recommend other products or services for the patient before they begin efforts to coordinate the order with the physician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, case worker or other necessary medical personnel. 

As Medicare's medical documentation requirements and coverage criteria for power wheelchairs and complex rehab wheelchairs have become more onerous, Mr. Esquivel has endeavored to nonetheless continue to provide the highest quality products and services to rehab patients.  Mr. Esquivel has determined that close coordination with the physician's office is more important than ever.  As Mr. Esquivel states, "I want to be a  resource for the physician's office.  We need to establish a partnership."    In our experience, it is necessary to form a cooperative partnership with the physician's office in order to meet Medicare's extensive documentation requirements for rehab equipment and power wheelchairs.   Note: a seven-element prescription for a rehab wheelchair assessment for a Medicare beneficiary can be found in the Forms Library on this website.    

In addition to high-end complex rehab technologies for adults, the Rehab Department specializes in pediatric rehab as well, including a full-line of pediatric assistive technologies and pediatric hospital cribs, snug-ride car seats.

Hope Medical Supply has dedicated extensive operating space to our Rehab Showroom in order to allow patients to have a personal, hands-on experience with the rehab equipment, new products and technology.  The showroom is designed to support consumers in this area of critical choices, presenting the entire spectrum of choices, from basic to high-tech. 

Respiratory Department  -- "I like to know what's going on with my patients."--Denise Jimenez, licensed Respiratory Therapist.

Denise Jimenez is a member of the Texas Society of Respiratory Care.  She graduated from Respiratory School of Victoria College in 1991 and then worked in a hospital setting for 11 years as a respiratory therapist specializing in long term acute care for very complex rehab patients with pulmonary and physical conditions.  Ms. Jimenez draws  on this clinical experience in her work at Hope Medical Supply in our Respiratory Department.   She provides the highest level of clinical service to Hope Medical Supply respiratory patients with home oxygen therapy, nebulizers and sleep therapy products (CPAPs and BiPAPs).  When Ms. Jimenez receives physician orders for respiratory services, she performs a thorough review of the patient's medical records, progress notes, condition, diagnoses, and medications in order to assess the needs of the patient for respiratory services.  When she meets with a patient to set them up on Hope Medical Supply respiratory products and service, she takes time to get to know her patients.  She draws on her experience from working closely with patients and their families in a hospital setting to develop a rapport with her patients.    As she puts it, "I want to establish a good relationship with patients.  They are not just a number to me.  I am concerned with their overall health and well-being.  I like to know what's going on with my patients."

Ms. Jimenez has received numerous customer raves for her superior customer service.  As consciousness has been raised about the importance of sleep therapy, the demand for sleep therapy products has skyrocketed.  Ms. Jimenez has overseen the growth of  Hope Medical Supply's CPAP business by leaps and bounds.  She combines a warm personal touch with superior clinical expertise.  Additionally, Ms. Jimenez oversees the CPAP-compliance program from downloads, and compliance checks to automatic delivery of CPAP masks, nasal cushions and pillows at manufacturer recommended intervals.

Customer Service Department

Angie Lucas hails from Munich, Germany where she obtained her degree in Business Management from the University of Munich.  After emigrating to the United States, Ms. Lucas began her career in medical billing and customer service in durable medical equipment in 1994.  She joined Hope Medical Supply in 2006 as our Corpus Christi branch manager, but soon moved to overall customer service manager in San Antonio.  Ms. Lucas draws on her extensive knowledge in health insurance reimbursement to advocate for appropriate home medical equipment and supplies on behalf of our customers.  She manages the front line of customer service through the seamless coordination with the other departments of Hope Medical Supply such as Technical Services, Purchasing, Reimbursement and any other departments whose coordination is needed to provide the highest level of customer service.  

Ms. Lucas truly understands the spirit of service that makes Hope Medical Supply the premier regional durable medical equipment provider.  She embodies the Hope Medical Supply philosophy of teamwork in service of the customer.  

 

The Hope Medical Supply advantage is that because we provide such a broad range of services, we can handle the full range of needs of a complex client.  From respiratory to urological, enteral and incontinence, we are able to meet the needs of the complex patient from those catastrophically injured to those with simple DME needs.