CMEPP appreciates its longstanding relationship with supplier CCE Medical Equipment – a company that’s carved a niche in the servicing and distribution of ultrasound equipment. In these turbulent times, they can also proudly claim to be completely Canadian-owned and operated.
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CCE Medical Equipment and CMEPP have forged an 18-year long relationship, united in their shared goals of delivering quality service without breaking the bank.
A proud Canadian company. Contributing to CCE’s sound footing in these turbulent times is the fact that it’s a family-run, 100% Canadian business, committed to doing all of its sales and servicing in-house. “What we’ve seen is that Canadian hospitals and Canadian clinics prefer to purchase from a Canadian business in Canadian dollars,” says Karim Assaad, CCE’s Vice President. Is CCE paying a price for that? Yes, he admits, costs have gone up, especially in the last year. But they’ve been able to mitigate most of those costs by cultivating relationships with vendors all over the world, and the fact that the Samsung product line comes from South Korea.
Karim is the first to admit he never imagined working at CCE, the company founded by his father, Hany Maurice. “Growing up, my dad was always a hero to me, but I also wanted to carve my own path,” says Karim. Still, as a financial professional in his adulthood, he couldn’t resist offering his father a financial analysis of CCE. Fortunately, his father agreed – and Karim discovered he’d found the right path after all.
“I realized I’d be doing myself and my father a disservice by not applying what I know and what I can bring to the table for the company,” he says.
It’s a point of pride for CCE that even as their employee, customer and install base has grown, they’ve maintained their niche focus on ultrasound. In the early days that was in the reconditioned, pre-owned market where they would accept trade-ins and purchase older equipment, refurbish it, re-condition it and then circulate it back into the Canadian market. These days, the business model is different mainly because of the partnership they formed with Samsung in 2015.
With the Samsung product, the company has experienced stronger sales, but Karim and Brock Hutchinson, CCE’s National Hospital Account Manager, emphasize they don’t want anything to distract from their mission which is taking care of the patient.
Alleviating the financial burden: In practical terms, CCE is navigating what they can deliver to Canada’s disrupted and under pressure healthcare organizations. “Hospitals have all got the same objective of minimizing their operational costs and extending the life of their equipment for as long as they can,” says Karim. “That’s where we come in, making every effort to alleviate their financial burden.”
And that, of course, is where CMEPP comes in too. “One of the areas where hospitals rely on CCE is for probe repair,” says Todd Presswood, CMEPP’s Director, Operations and Supplier Relations. “Knowing that CCE will evaluate each situation and provide options and recommendations related to ultrasound machine and probe repairs before suggesting replacement, really helps the value proposition for the hospitals.”
Staying rooted in Canada and having a strong partner in CMEPP have been crucial steps in CCE’s growth journey. “The CMEPP network of Participants and their contacts have given us a much bigger focus,” says Brock. “We could never engage with as many customers without the CMEPP relationship.”
Developing that relationship took time and continuous learning. “I used to hear, ‘The probe isn’t working,’ from the end user. That’s not much help to me,” Brock says. “Over the years, working closely with the CMEPP team, both on the Participant and Operations side, we’ve streamlined the investigative process and it keeps getting better and better.”
Great things on the horizon: CCE didn’t arrive at this day without being open to change and disruption. They’re tapping into new technologies in ways that Karim envisions will keep the company ahead of the curve.
In his everyday dealings, Brock sees how overwhelmed healthcare staff are and hopes that technological improvements will improve their lives. “There are millions of great things on the horizon from robotics to artificial intelligence aiding you in your scans and aiding the radiologist or sonographer in their reporting,” he says. “Fewer keystrokes, quicker examinations, better results – the future for this industry is very exciting.”
“Sometimes change can be intimidating,” says Karim. “It’s not always going to be one-size-fits-all, but it is something we’ve seen that proves beneficial time and time again.
