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RM Tours Dallas-Based LifeGas Factory
DALLAS — In April, LifeGas, an oxygen outsourcing company that was recently acquired by Linde Gas Therapeutics, opened the doors of its Dallas facility for Respiratory Management.
The company, which started in Dallas in 1998, operates in more than 50 locations nationwide, with 43 production facilities. “This is really the genesis of it all,” Mike Walsh, president, says of the Dallas location. “We try to mimic what we do here in the other locations.”
Oxygen cylinders and liquid oxygen bases are filled here and then delivered, along with concentrators, portable oxygen concentrators and transfilling devices, by the LifeGas fleet directly to patients’ homes for providers. The facility is home to 35 employees, 25 of which produce cylinders or drive the LifeGas fleet.
Approximately one-third of LifeGas’ business is home care. “The home care market is by far the least stable,” but it’s also the most competitive and unique market, Walsh says.
To that end, the company has recently rolled out programs, like O2 Shield, to help providers better respond to market changes.
Tony Eafrati, market manager/ home care, explains that LifeGas is sympathetic to changing reimbursement. “That’s why we do what we do — to have solutions,” he says.
Inside the warehouse, Walsh says it’s essential that the company maintain organization and cleanliness to maximize quality.
Cylinders flow through stations: unloading, cleaning, staging, filling and reloading. Every morning, approximately 15 trucks line up to load cylinders. The trucks are loaded to maximize the drivers’ time in the trucks. At the end of the day, the fleet returns to unload inventory. While the company has workers on call for emergency and after-hours deliveries, the majority of oxygen is delivered Monday-Friday during business hours.
Eafrati says LifeGas is famous for its clean cylinders. The company implements a hand-cleaning system to scrape off glue from old labels and wash the cylinders so that the prescription is clearly visible. Every cylinder also passes a “sniff test” to make sure it contains nothing other than oxygen.
The facility also offers biomed repair. Drivers pick up concentrators, ventilators and other oxygen equipment that needs repair. After repairs are made at the facility, drivers return the equipment directly the patients’ homes.
