Wheaton medical supply business offers help

Wheaton businessman Christian Schanie looks forward to the day when he is sitting in a stadium again and he can turn around and high-five the fan seated behind him after a great play on the field.

For now the Medical Products Group vice president keeps his distance while he spends his time driving, making phone calls and emailing in his frenetic hunt for supplies for his Wheaton-based home medical equipment company.

“It’s the wild, wild west,” Schanie said. “We’re just trying to get products to people. We’ll go where we’re needed.”

In his effort to do his part, Schanie recently reached out to State Rep. Amy Grant to offer his help and limited extra supplies, including oxygen concentrators and hospital beds, not needed by his customers for the benefit of area facilities battling COVID-19.

“Christian Schanie and Medical Products Group is an outstanding example of a great neighbor and a good partner in this fight against this dangerous new virus,” said Grant, whose 42nd District includes Wheaton. “It’s heartening to see so many businesses are going above and beyond during these unprecedented times.”

Medical Products Group, which also has a location in Dixon, provides CPAP and BiPAP machines, lifts, wheelchairs, hospital beds, masks and other supplies to hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout Illinois. Clients include a hospital in the metro Chicago area and rural Illinois, and long-term care and rehabilitation facilities in DuPage and other collar counties, as well as in southern Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“There’s a lot of moving parts. It’s way beyond a simple phone call,” Schanie explained.

He contacts his vendors and scours other product sources to track down much needed supplies, lines up the money and delivery method, puts together a purchase order and submits it.

Unfortunately, during the last few weeks the product often is no longer available within the few minutes the order is processed, he said. That or the price has tripled and Schanie won’t allow his customers to be gouged. He is not only competing against other businesses but also major hospital networks, state and federal governments.

“As soon as you find it, it’s gone. It’s like you’re chasing ghosts,” he says. “People are getting desperate. They can’t find anything.”

When he does score a deal, he pounces--sometimes even if transporting it poses a challenge. He drove 10 hours into Tennessee in his own pickup truck recently to deliver hand sanitizer because a shipping firm refused.

“We hit the ground running,” said Schanie, whose Illinois teams keep operations running while he is on the road. “As a small business, we try to innovate. That’s how we survive.”

Amid the frustration of canceled orders, Schanie has been buoyed by the good humanity he’s witnessed, from restaurants feeding truckers to his own competitors helping each other.

Within his network of small businesses, people are working together. If one supplier gets a lead on a product, he shares it with the others. Or if a supplier gets a lead on a new customer outside his territory or a product he doesn’t carry, he will hand off the tip to a competitor.

“If I have one person holding all of the cards, two other hospitals don’t get to play,” Schanie said. “We want to thrive as a small business, but there’s a time and a place. We want to do the right thing. Right now we are fighting an invisible enemy. We need each other more than ever.

“I hope that we’re all taking notes. We are going to have to reboot as a society because nobody wins like this. We’ve got to do better. We can do better.”

Grant echoed his sentiments: “Wheaton is home to a lot of wonderful people and amazing businesses. We take care of each other. For that, I’m thankful and optimistic for our future.”

For more information on resources from the State of Illinois, see www.repgrant.com or dph.illinois.gov/covid19. For more on Medical Products Group, see www.mpg-llc.net.