STRICTLY BUSINESS: HSCA FOUNDER RECALLS EARLY DAYS IN PURCHASING BUSINESS

Earl Norman knew he could sell. And that's what he did.

Norman, 64, recalled his early days in the health industry group purchasing business last week, following the signing of final papers to sell his corporation.

It was the late 1960s, and he was affiliated with Addressograph-Multigraph Corp., a company that sold special "charge control" data systems to hospitals.

At that time, the concept of hospitals joining together to leverage their buying power was just beginning to gain acceptance.

"In order to give a break to the hospitals we were servicing, we combined to purchase forms for our data systems, and found that we could get them at a savings of 78 cents per 1,000 sheets," Norman said.

The administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital at the time, James R. Stricker, urged Norman to take on some other products, contact more hospitals and start a purchasing group.

So Norman and his wife, Ruth, pooled their cash.

"She had about $35, I had $40," recalls Norman. "We used the money for printing of some simple contracts, letters and envelopes."

That money plus an old desk and they were in business.

The new business was called Mid-America Shared Services. On Feb. 1, 1969, the company started calling on hospitals in Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, Springfield and St. Louis, said Norman.

Early on, Norman's wife served as secretary and number one helper. She eventually left the business, but a son and daughter -- Eric Norman and Anne Norman -- remain actively involved in the business.

Norman's group, in its 32 years of business, has become a national group purchasing organization (GPO), with accounts in all 50 states, with offices in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis and 135 employees, about half of them in Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau-based company was sold in a multimillion-dollar deal to MedAssets Inc., with offices in Alpharetta, Ga., and Northbrook, Ill. Norman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of HSCA the former Mid-America Shared Services company announced the sale Tuesday.

"We plan to incorporate the property into our business," said David Bermingham, chief marketing officer for MedAssets, which has corporate offices in Alpharetta, Ga., and the health equipment business in Wood Dale, Ill. MedAssets has another GPO office in Chatworth, Calif.

The acquisition of HSCA establishes MedAssets as one of the four largest group-purchasing organizations in the United States. It gives the company combined purchasing power of more than $4.5 billion in existing contracts with 13,000 members nationwide. Through group purchasing, the companies offer medical equipment and supplies to hospitals at lower costs.

"We don't anticipate many changes in personnel," Berm-ingham said.

Rand Ballard has been named GPO manager of operations of HSCA and InSource, also a subsidiary of MetAssets Inc., and will be in charge of the transition.

Norman will remain a shareholder of MedAssets and serve on its the board of directors.

B. Ray Owen is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.