The other CMI
After a week off during the holidays, I looked forward to reconnecting with the healthcare marketplace. I was excited to pickup my December 2001 24x7 magazine to see what you had to offer this month. Sydney Schuster’s article on Asset Management was of particular interest. Having worked for CMI Group, Inc., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the past 14 years I was stunned when I came across your reference of Complete Management, Inc. of New York. The way you kept referring to them as CMI made me somewhat uncomfortable.

At CMI Group, Inc. we typically speak of ourselves as CMI and so I could not help myself from wanting to set the record straight. We are not affiliated with Complete Management of New York! Our business practices and relationships with customers and vendors have always been above reproach. We pay our bills, have never been sued by a customer and we have never reorganized under the bankruptcy laws.

Back to your article. The multitude of companies providing asset management programs certainly cast a shadow on each other, especially in the alphabet soup-like environment. At CMI we believe in supporting the organizations that hire us to provide asset management. Our programs allow our customers to decide what equipment and vendors they will utilize. As your article indicates, it’s the teamwork or partnership that makes the program a success.

David M. Kastner
Director of National Sales
and Program Development
CMI Group, Inc.
Milwaukee, Wisc.

Time for unity
Bravo to Bob Larkin on his “Up Front” column in the October 2001 issue [“I Should Have Been There”]. I could not have put it better myself. Whether we are biomeds or manufacturer’s reps, we need to work together with one goal in mind — to maintain and improve our healthcare systems. We need to put the petty nonsense behind us for good. September 11th vindicates our need to work together — not against each other. Thank you.

Christopher Pedrak
Downers Grove, Ill.