We can always do better

While HME News obviously has a narrow focus on HME, editor Liz and I do our best to tie larger national issues to the industry when we can. Some issues, like a global pandemic that affects respiratory function, are a no-brainer.

Others are trickier. Case in point: diversity, equity and inclusion. Nearly a year ago, a country struggling with the ongoing pandemic found itself horrified by the senseless deaths of Black people. The murder of George Floyd, caught on camera, sent protestors to the streets in ways I don’t think most of us have seen in our lifetimes and forced a long overdue reckoning.

Watching the national coverage of those protests and the damage to businesses that some of them caused, Liz and I discussed if there was an angle for us. We are a business newspaper, after all.

We, ultimately, decided there wasn’t, not unless anyone directly reached out to us with a story to tell.

In our May issue, though, Liz has a package of stories about Numotion and NSM, two of the industry’s larger companies, launching initiatives aimed at DEI in their respective workplaces. While I’m sure there are other companies out there doing this, I suspect many more have not.

Maybe they need guidance?

A quick perusal of HR-ish sessions at a few upcoming industry events reveals … nothing on the agenda so far for DEI. Having attended a session not all that long ago about LGBTQ employees in the workplace (kudos to VGM’s Heartland Conference) and the positive recognitions in the last several years of women in HME (kudos again to VGM’s HME Woman of the Year), I’m sure we can do better.

I’m heartened by the entry of younger people coming into the market, with different ways of looking at working and running a business. Different ways of thinking.

I think this bodes well for the future.