This is the part where you find out who you are
– Ray Gilpin BSRT, RRT

Every sunrise is a new beginning that welcomes the change the day unfolds before it.  Yet as seamlessly beautiful and effortless, this continual transformation is, we in our own personal lives find change challenging at best.  We convince ourselves that we are too old to change or that our family needs us to remain constant for security reasons or that a change will point to inevitable financial and personal disaster.  But for the few who have braved the notion that great things have never come from staying in one’s comfort zone the sky’s the limit.  And with that let me introduce Ray Gilpin.

Ray is a good family man.  A man with a wife Geannie and daughter Jessica Yath.  Both Ray and Geannie believe in commitment in both their personal life and professional with Geannie being a 29-year employee of the Spatanburg School District 5 and Ray being a 28 year employee at waste management.  But security isn’t what drives Ray.  Making a difference in the lives of others is the focus of his life.  And so at 49 Ray entered college to get the education he needed to secure a future that would help him help society.  And at 56 he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in  Respiratory Care Advanced Clinical Practice.  Building his credentials and experience he worked at select hospitals as a Respiratory Therapist and Respiratory Manager before beginning his own company Specialized Respiratory Services, LLC.  Ray says “We provide care and education to the patients and staffs of Long Term Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers throughout NC, SC, GA, FL, MS, TN, KY, and LA. Specializing in all modalities of respiratory care including ventilated tracheotomy patients. We also provide consulting and respiratory services for a non-pharmaceutical DME company in SC, ID, NV, UT, and NM. The DME patients are present and former DOL-DOE employees and retirees.”

Specialized Respiratory Services is now approaching its ninth year and is continuing to grow.  When asked what the secret to success is Ray says “Professional Excellence” has always been a definable characteristic of mine. I ALWAYS give what is expected of me, if not more. That theme also carries over into my business philosophy. I and my partners are not greedy people. My goal was to provide my Respiratory Therapy skills to Skilled Nursing Facilities at a very fair rate. 8 years ago that was an extreme challenge because CMS didn’t reimburse for any respiratory services. But even so, clients began to see indirect value in my services versus my very reasonable fees. As my reputation both grew and spread so did my client list. Now my 3 partners and I continue to provide our services by this philosophy.”  And so respected is Ray’s professional reputation that three colleges, Spartanburg Community College, Independence University and Central Piedmont Community College all have him as an Advisory Board Member and the MedTech Visionaries Awards has made them one of their prestigious judges.

Ray Gilpin is proof that “there is nothing in this universe that can stop you from letting go and starting again” to make a better world.