From black angus beef to extended care, one business owner does it all.
Like many business owners, Dennis Loflin typically begins his day on a call with one of his employees, often fielding questions about client onboarding. Unlike most, however, the owner of NH Med Services, an extended care distributorship in Denton, North Carolina, doesn’t typically take these early morning calls at his desk – not when his cows need to be fed.
Before Loflin began NH Med Services in 2001, he was a full-time farmer. His family’s farm was founded in 1916 and has passed from one generation to the next ever since. Each generation has added on to the original farm, he explains. “I farmed with my dad, Clarence Loflin, for 35 years, until he passed away in 2011. We raise corn, wheat, soybeans and black angus beef cattle.”
Today, he continues to oversee the day-to-day farming operations and decision making, carefully balancing the various agricultural demands with those of running a distributorship. It turns out, however, that healthcare and farming have more in common than one might suppose. Both industries require 24/7 attention, he points out. “Neither of these operations stop for holidays or inclement weather. Having a foot in both worlds keeps me quite busy, but the experience has taught me innumerable lessons, which ultimately have impacted me as a husband, father, brother and friend.”
A new beginning
Loflin’s decision to start an extended care distributorship took root in his concern over the direction in which he saw the industry moving. “In extended care, companies have often grown to be so large that business becomes purely transactional; they lose their personal touch,” he says. NH Med was established as “a personable solution” in an industry that had become increasingly more sterile, he adds.
“NH Med began as a part B billing/furnishing company for skilled nursing and assisted living facilities,” he continues. “Our goal was to source locally-made products. We’ve always maintained a strong commitment to providing top-tier, American-made products to the people we serve.” Watching as his competitors expanded their scope, Loflin recognized the importance of positioning NH Med as a versatile company that could initially service the medical supply and furnishing demands of the industry, and eventually take on additional ventures. “NH Med’s growth has largely been driven by our marketing strategy, which is directed towards long-term care communities, assisted living communities, hospice and the general public,” he explains. “We have tried to expand and diversify our service area and inventory over time to become a one-stop solution, making it easy for facilities to have access to everything they need.”
What began as a three-person operation eventually grew to a staff of 35 in a 37,000-square-foot office/warehouse. “In the beginning, we focused on furnishings within facilities,” Loflin explains. “In recent years, we’ve added more design services and a full line of locally made furniture, which we now offer to other long-term care communities outside of our company network. We also service other markets in extended care, such as home care, hospice and other emerging fields where quality supplies are needed. As we’ve gained flexibility, we’ve grown more attentive to our market’s needs.”
That’s not to imply the past 20 years have been without their share of challenges, he continues. But Loflin and his team were clearly up to the task. For instance, when it became too difficult to directly source products, the company wasted no time in joining Daytona Beach, Florida-based Independent Medical Co-Op, Inc. (IMCO). “Doing so has greatly improved our ability to source products as an independent distributor and stay competitive,” he points out. “IMCO has made it possible for us to find higher quality, American made products, as well as to network with companies nationwide that are similar to NH Med.”
Then came the COVID-19 crisis. As for many companies, the pandemic led to supply-and-demand challenges, making it extremely difficult to move products to long-term care settings. As a high-risk population, older adults were especially vulnerable before a vaccine was approved, he notes. “It proved very challenging to deliver medical supplies to facilities that needed product in a timely manner. We worked tirelessly to ensure this population and their staff were well-equipped with what they needed.”
Indeed, the pandemic has sparked much discussion regarding how best to serve long-term care customers. Not only has the recent move to remote work and meetings impacted how NH Med interacts with clients, increased industry consolidation has made it difficult to access decision-makers, he says. “Whereas many distributors are sticking to their traditional formulas, NH Med is taking a multi-modal approach to communication. We are working on ways to better engage our clients, from email blasts and mailers to more in-person meetings, as safety permits. Our goal is to understand our clients’ needs, even when they do not necessarily relate to the products and services we offer.
“We try to use our resources to provide answers or to create unique solutions,” he continues. “For instance, when our clients express their concerns over staffing challenges, which have become common in long-term care facilities, we keep an eye on potential recommendations for hire. We also try to provide them with education credits and other benefits that could help their staff and address their pain points. And, we offer same-day service – something most companies aren’t able to do. We ask ourselves how we can help out clients rather than determine that we cannot do so.
“My grandfather used to say that life is all about perspective, something I’ve found truer with each passing day. I think having experience in both medical distribution and agriculture have definitely helped me broaden my overall perspective, as well as made me more adaptable.” As busy as it gets, he wouldn’t have it any other way.