Reliable Medical Supply, Inc. opened its doors in 1989 with the idea that people with disabilities desired to be better understood and their equipment needs met. As the company celebrates its 25th year, company leadership looks back on Reliable Medical’s history.
“Our philosophy has always been that the needs of people with disabilities needed to be better understood and met. To this day we have not wavered from that,” said CEO Jeffrey Hall. The company was founded by Jeffrey Hall and his father John Hall, and continues under Hall’s ownership today. Reliable Medical has grown from one location to four, and is headquartered in Brooklyn Park. The company has more than 100 employees, many of whom are customers. It began with an 800-square foot facility, and a hope and a prayer.
“I was 25 years old when I started Reliable Medical Supply,” said Jeffrey Hall. “My father believed in my aspiration to be the best home medical equipment supplier in the state. My father and I each put up $5,000 to acquire the last retail homecare store from Bird and Cronin.” The little store was doing less than $70,000 a year in sales.
“We sold mostly ostomy and orthopedic supplies. I had worked for another company for many years prior to starting Reliable Medical. I knew the mobility/seating, medical supplies and wound care really well,” said Jeffrey Hall. The Halls worked to grow their new store’s sales more than 10 times what the previous owners had seen. “I knew we had something different to offer our customers.”
By 1996 the company had three locations. The company consolidated to one space and moved its base from Bloomington to Brooklyn Park, retaining almost its entire customer base.
The company continued to grow. Additional locations opened in Buffalo and St. Cloud. By 2009 the company had outgrown its facility, and moved into a new 40,000 square foot facility in Brooklyn Park. Jeffrey Hall became 100 percent owner of the company in 2010.
In April 2014 Reliable Medical opened its fourth facility, in Rochester, serving Mayo Clinic and surrounding communities.
Reliable Medical is known for its work with seating, including manufacturing its own seating and providing custom-molded seats and backs for clients.
“We do a lot of custom seating,” Hall said. “We work with a variety of companies to meet a client’s individual needs.” The company does work for the VA and other facilities. “We look at each client and determine what is right for the individual.”
Another program Reliable Medical is known is for is its Exhale Program, which is designed to manage clients with stage four COPD.
Reliable Medical recently won a 2014 Home Medical Equipment (HME) Excellence Award (See related story) and has many other awards and accreditations to its credit. Another highlight was in 2009, when Reliable and Hall won the ALS Association Champion of the Year Award. The ALS Association, Minnesota Chapter created the Champion of the Year Award to honor an individual or an organization who, in their eyes, has been a “champion” in the fight against ALS.
Reliable Medical has partnered with the ALS Association for almost 20 years, helping to start and expand the Durable Medical Equipment Loan Closet. Reliable Medical staff members serve on various
ALS volunteer and fund raising committees, form walk teams, sell wrist bands and volunteer at events.
Hall and his staff have also been major sponsors of the Walk to Defeat ALS and the Dinner of Champions since the inception of both events.
