HOUSTON – The homes of some employees at Houston-based Complete Care Medical suffered flood-related damage last week, but Angelique Gilbert, director of Marketing at the 15-employee company, reports that the one-location business escaped relatively unscathed.
With massive bursts of rain dotting the Houston landscape, Gilbert put the final touches on the skin care portion of the company’s Web site, part of a long-term upgrade designed to boost Internet sales and reduce Medicare dependence. “We specialize in urology and catheters, but this year we’ve expanded our line and launched a new Web site,” says Gilbert. “We have a health and wellness line, general medical supplies, a nutritional line, skin care [Celador], and a pharmacy. Part of the reason for the expansion is the competitive bidding program.”
Boosting e-commerce capacity involved a trip to Medtrade Spring in Las Vegas earlier this year, with Gilbert making her first trip to the Spring version of the nation’s premiere HME trade show. “I thought Medtrade Spring was really good,” she says. “There was a good mix of manufacturers on the show floor, and all kinds of cool products. We just launched an e-commerce site, so we were really going there to chat with vendors and see the innovative products. We found some products that fit our niche, and we are in talks with these companies now. All in all it was a good experience for us.”
When she’s not honing the Complete Care Web site, the 34-year-old Gilbert likes to improve her aim as a member of the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation, which sponsors target-shooting competitions throughout the United States. What started as a means of self defense has become an avid hobby. “I shoot a Glock 17 and a Glock 26,” she says. “I’m practicing for my third competition in a couple of months. I like knowing that should a problem ever occur, I know how to defend myself. An added bonus is that it’s an extremely effective stress reliever.”