Mount Taylor Medical Supply owners celebrate one-year anniversary with grand opening

About one year ago, Mount Taylor Medical Supply, a business that has been in Grants, New Mexico for many years, was purchased and taken over by Parkhurst pharmacist Matt Munson and health worker Shelley Martinez. Munson and Martinez took over the business right around the beginning of the pandemic, so they never got the opportunity to host a grand opening or anything of the sort. A year later and the owners were able to hold a grand opening as well as a one-year anniversary celebration.

The celebration included Shelley Martinez, Matt Munson, Doug Bond, Brenda Curtright, Thomas Whelen, Sylvia Gonzales, and Katelin Chavez. Bond is an employee of Mount Taylor Medical Supply, Gonzales was present on behalf of the Cibola Citizen, and Curtight, Whelen, and Chavez were present as representatives for the Chamber of Commerce as a part of their Shop Local Cibola initiative of supporting local businesses.

The celebration gave the owners a chance to reflect on a year’s worth of business, how it all started, and what the future has in store. Munson was approached by the previous owner, Ed Smith, a year or two ago, but the timing wasn’t quite right. However, once everything aligned for Munson in the fall of 2019, he decided to jump on the opportunity and began searching for someone he could trust the business with. That is when Martinez stepped into the picture. The two became business partners and Martinez runs the business.

Mount Taylor Medical Supply employee Doug Bond worked for Cibola General Hospital for 15 years before retiring and coming onto the medical supply staff as a part-time employee. Bond was also trained as a respiratory therapist for 45 years, leading him to where he is now. According to Munson, a man named Francis Padilla is also a big part of the operation and helping with delivering and bringing in supplies.

Mount Taylor Medical Supply offers a wide arrangement of “durable medical equipment”, such as wheelchairs, walkers, canes, semi-electric hospital beds, home oxygen concentrators, portable oxygen systems that can be installed in homes, diabetic footwear, braces, compressions, stockings, ostomy supplies, catheters, incontinence supplies, etc. Mount Taylor Medical Supply also offers delivery services and in-person set ups. Essentially, they try to stock with supplies that will fulfill the needs of their customers and patients.

As far as how business has been within the past year, Munson explained that “business has been growing” and that COVID-19 actually contributed a bit in the way that hospital patients being released with a COVID-19 diagnosis needed oxygen and Mount Taylor Medical Supply was able to provide that. However, getting oxygen supplies from manufacturers proved difficult as the year went on. “Slowly but surely, they’re coming [back] in,” said Martinez, continuing, “which is a very important thing for our patients.”

“It took both of us together, mostly her, figuring out how to lock this down and really figure out how to do it well and make sure that people are treated proper,” said Munson. “That was kind of what we both said. We didn’t care about expanding the business quickly – we wanted to make sure that we did it correctly.”

When asked how it felt to have now reached this point of the one-year mark, Munson responded with, “It’s freakin’ awesome!” Martinez agreed, saying, “It is, and it’s rewarding…. To be able to help the people around us, which a lot of them are our friends and family, who are from here. I was born and raised here, so you know, it’s highly rewarding.” Martinez also talked about her personal investment in the business, considering that her father sadly passed away from respiratory failure. “Being able to assist people is highly rewarding. I’m grateful, I’m honored that I’m able to do so.”

As far as the future is concerned, the proud owners plan to designate the current location on 1023 East High Street as a warehouse, while the primary location of the supply store will be located near Cibola General Hospital, between Cibola Specialty Associates and Parkhurst Pharmacy. They think that this will be a great and convenient location, especially so that patients being released from the hospital may purchase their supplies right next door.

Munson and Martinez want the community to know that they are here for them and will try to give them the best service that they can. Also, Mount Taylor Medical Supply is a Medicare, Medicaid, and DOL approved provider. They can also work with private insurances as well.