I've Been Tenderized, Blog
TenderCare Beds Year-End Review And Looking Forward To 2011
by Gary Owens on 12/31/10
Tomorrow, January 1st, 2011, begins our 3rd year in business, offering medical room enhancement furniture, that has never been seen before. " We Make Hospital Beds Beautiful ".
A little over two years ago, when I built the first head and foot board for my wife, Gina's, hospital bed, I never would have believed or even dreamed , what has happened since then.
This past year has been incredible, with many significant events, that will go down in our history books, as major turning points for TenderCare Beds.
Our products have gone into not only residential homes, but long-tern care facilities, hospice and I recently recieved an order from a major hospital in Georgia. We never expected short term care hospitals to be interested, but they are.
Greg and Susan have traveled this country, from coast to coast, working trade shows, with the highlite being in June of 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Inpex Inventors and New Products Expo. We were awarded three awards, for our revolutionary bed ends. A Best Of Show, a Silver Medal and an International award from the mayor of Taipei, Thailand.
This past year, we have entered into, several prestigious alliances with national distrubutors, of home medical equipment and long term care furnishings. The two largest were, Apria Health Services and Direct Supply. Both of these are the largest in their field. Smaller dealers have been set up in nearly every state.
A state of the art software system was installed in December, with a new online store, to follow in January, that will take orders, send e-mail notifications, order tracking, shipping info, various sales and business reports and even make our morning coffee, ha!, just to mention a few of its attributes.
The media has been very good to us this past year. From national magazines, newspapers, to bloggers, they have all been very supportive with publicity. Even Fox News, mentioned us twice, on one of their live online shows. ( scroll down for the rest of article )
I could go on and on, but what about 2011.
We expect to make a couple of major announcements, pertaining to new joint ventures, during the first quarter of 2011. I'll keep you posted.
We will rollout several new items, that will amaze you. We intend on changing an industry, that is long over due, for a facelift.
Retail sales is becoming the new normal for home medical equipment providers and we will actively support them in their effort, to be successful, with new educational programs, presented by leading industry experts.
Our main goal is to create home-like environments, for all the people in this world, like my wife, Gina, who's world has shrunk to a single room, because of a severe illness or injury. "Your Home Isn't a Hospital and It Doesn't Have To Look Like One".
We have big dreams, that will take even bigger plans, to come to fruition. To achieve this, we need your help, in any way you feel led to participate. Telling everyone you know about us, would be great. We have an active FaceBook page for you to join, that makes it easy for you to share us with your friends. Thanks
Have a great New Year!
TenderCare Beds & Furnishings
TenderCare Beds.... The Missing Link To "Universal Design".
by Gary Owens on 10/24/10
"Universal Design or Design For All", is an approach to the design of all products and environments, to be as friendly and usable as possible, by as many people as possible, regardless of age, ability, or situation.
Before my wife, Gina became ill, we had a normal looking bedroom, as most people do. We had a beautiful home-like space that worked very well for both of us. After she became disable and needed the function of a hospital bed, what worked for her physically, didn't work for either one of us emotionally. The hospital bed wasn't an item, we would've had, unless one of us was very sick. It was clinical, institutional looking and a constant reminder as to what we were dealing with. It wasn't universal to both our needs.
I believe that style and function should go hand in hand. Because no one had ever solved this problem before, I had to create a new way to have the function of a hospital bed, without sacrificing our home-like environment. As a result, TenderCare Beds was born out of our own necessity.
There are many couples, all over the world, who are in this situtation. One needs a hospital bed, but they both want to stay together in the same bed. The solution is to have two hospital beds, with custom made head and footboards, when pulled apart, they are halves of a single looking unit. When pushed together, you have a beautiful large size adjustable bed, that anyone would be excited to have. That's Universal Design!
If you are a person sleeping alone, the task is even easier. Our head and footboards slip over the ends of your hospital bed, like a glove would slide over your hand. They instantly transform an ugly hospital bed, into a beautiful piece of home furniture, that everyone enjoys. That's Universal Design!
Another problem this solves is, what do you do with a hospital bed after it's no longer needed for medical reasons? Most people give them away or store them somewhere, way out of sight. If the bed looked like a fine piece of furniture, you re-purpose it. What a great day-bed in your home office or extra guest bed for the grandkids. That's Universal Design!
" Dressing The Room ", For Better Resident Care.
by Gary Owens on 09/14/10
" Dressing The Room " is a phrase, I coined, meaning to decorate or furnish a room, as you would dress yourself, to achieve a particular look or outcome. When someone meets you for the first time, they have an immediate opinion as to who you are and how they are to treat you based on your appearance. The old saying, "dress for the job you want and not the one you have" has a lot of truth.
I have a friend with a severely disabled son. He attends a special school and I am sure, they are very qualified and wonderful caregivers, to all their students. Everday, for the last several years, it has been one of her top priorities to make sure, his overall appearance,(grooming and clothing), were the very best she could provide. She wanted to set the highest standard of care possible, to let everyone know how she feels about him and what her expectations are, as to how, he is to be treated. She believes, people have gone the extra mile for her son, because of her efforts. I agree.
I'm convinced the same principle would apply to long-term care, if the same attention were given to resident rooms furnishings and decor.
If I were bed-ridden at home or in a long-term care facility, and you were entering my room for the first or the one hundredth time, I would want you to have "A WOW FACTOR" ! I would want a warm friendly, home-like environment. I would not want anything clinical or instutitonal in my view. I would want my furnishings to reflect my tast and personality. Just because I'm sick now, doesn't mean I wouldn't want the same beautiful items I enjoyed and looked forward to before I was ill.
I may not ask for them and you may not think that I even notice, but I do. Sometimes, I feel all I have left in my life, is my room, what I can share with you, and my dignity.
