Josino Ferreira dreamed of being a doctor. He studied biology in college and had a passion for the health care industry. But as a student working full time, he switched his major to business, which allowed him to better balance his work and studies. His mother, Liamar became ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and he needed to care for her.

For years, Ferreira accompanied his mother to doctor appointments and helped her navigate the health care system. He eventually ended up in the medical field, selling medical equipment for more than a decade. Both his personal and professional experiences helped him found and build his company, All States Medical Equipment Distribution (M.E.D.), which provides new and refurbished, competitively priced equipment to health care facilities. In just six years, All States M.E.D. has been named to the Inc 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies twice, earning the No. 616 spot in 2021 and No. 631 spot this year.

PROVIDING A CRITICAL LIFELINE

All States M.E.D. serves hospitals, surgical centers, urgent care centers, and private practices, providing equipment ranging from cosmetic lasers and diagnostic ultrasound technology to surgical equipment and consumables like surgical gloves and masks. Unlike other medical equipment providers, All States M.E.D. also has built a custom biomedical department to perform equipment repairs and maintenance after purchase.

Ferreira, the Miami-area business’s CEO, cared for his mother full-time as he grew the company. During the pandemic, All States M.E.D. experienced a surge in demand for products like masks and gloves. Ferreira saw the coming need and invested “nearly all of my resources” into those supplies.

Ferreira’s foresight allowed his team to serve health care customers and provide critical personal protective equipment (PPE) when these items were scarce. While other providers scrambled to find inventory, All States M.E.D. had PPE items in stock.

A PERSONAL MISSION

Ferreira is proud that his work helped health care professionals save lives. And he also acknowledges that it’s made a difference to those he loves. Throughout his mother’s illness, Ferreira purchased equipment like patient lifts and hospital-grade beds to help her be more comfortable until she passed away in 2020. But the principles and values she taught him are embedded in All States M.E.D.’s culture.

“We are a believer business--a believer in a higher power, a believer in loving our neighbor, and a believer in only doing win-win business deals,” Ferreira says. Treating customers like family is a key tenet of All States M.E.D.’s business.