NOVA Medical Products
Started in 1993, NOVA has grown organically with a strong foundation and fundamental values of service, quality and integrity. NOVA’s goal and mission is to provide and service superior quality products with great function and fashion for physically challenged people to live a healthy, independent, and beautiful lifestyle.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Medical Equipment
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 1993
Our Story
NOVA is a leading provider of Mobility, Bathroom Safety, and Independent Living products such as designer canes, rolling walkers, transport chairs, wheelchairs, bath safety, cushions, and mobility accessories. Started in 1993, NOVA has grown organically with a strong foundation and fundamental values of service, quality and integrity. NOVA’s goal and mission is to provide and service superior quality products with great function and fashion for physically challenged people to live a healthy, independent, and beautiful lifestyle.
Our commitment to caring and providing exceptional service is represented by our extraordinary staff, excellent warranty and product service program, consumer and dealer education, product innovation, and charitable contributions locally, nationally and internationally. Although our customers may have physical challenges, beyond their physical being is a heart with tremendous strength, a mind full of wisdom, and a spirit that is determined. We are dedicated to unleashing the potential of our customers. This is our story.
The Beginning
The story of NOVA begins with a dream and a promise. Dr. Bruce Chen’s dream was to come to the United States with his family so he could pursue his medical career and give his young daughters every hope and opportunity. As a doctor, his promise was to heal, serve and inspire his patients to recover and thrive. Dr. Bruce Chen established himself in the United States as one of the leaders in the field of Rehabilitation, but was consistently frustrated at the lack of innovation in the medical equipment his patients were provided. He was especially affected during his time at the VA Rehabilitation Center in Dublin, GA and inspired by the hundreds of returning Veterans that he worked with. Their courage and determination put him on a mission to innovate and manufacture products that they needed and deserved. Sadly, Dr. Bruce Chen lost his 14 year battle with cancer in 1984 when Sue was just 14 years old. Dr. Chen’s three brothers and father carried on his mission and moved forward with medical equipment manufacturing. However, without Dr. Chen’s guidance, the manufacturing was to current industry standards.
Sue Chen launched NOVA in 1993 with only three employees in a small 4,000 square foot space in El Segundo, California. With only one loading dock available, shipping AND receiving was an early challenge that was faced and figured out in a determined and often scrappy way. That mantra often referred to as the “entrepreneurial” spirit started to define NOVA as a company and people who would be different, unique and connected…three words that did not exist in an industry that served an insurance and Medicare model completely disconnected from the consumers. That connection with customers would inspire NOVA’s early innovations with Rolling Walkers adding color, options, style and most of all joy to their customer’s mobility.
The Vision
We believe in human ability, courage and hope. Life transformations and transitions are possible with exciting and beautiful products. NOVA’s solutions are created to help human beings of all ages and stages of life fulfill our two most important purposes: personal relationships and meaningful experiences. And, of course is the NOVA style! We want people to own and continue professing their personal style with vivid colors, hundreds of gorgeous prints and thousands of choices. One day the ubiquitous symbol of tennis balls on a grey walker will truly live in the past and the new NOVA normal will be a sexy, stylish, hot walker that turns heads.
The Promise
From the beginning, NOVA claimed a unique place within its industry by providing exceptional service to its growing network of dealers as well as the consumer. In the early days, such care and concern were hard to find. We hope that our commitment to human beings — not only the bottom line — has helped raise awareness in other businesses who contribute products to the independent living industry. The NOVA promise deepens our resolve to be as unique — and inspiring — as our customers:
- A genuine passion for helping all people become more independent
- Exceptional quality and complete customer satisfaction
- The best warranty in the industry
- Knowledge and compassion that evolve through the ages
- The human connection: We know our customers
The Future
After quickly doubling its capacity in El Segundo and again in Gardena, NOVA relocated to a larger modern facility in Carson, California in 2004. Also, in 2004 NOVA expanded on a national scale by opening a state-of-the-art distribution center in Chicago, America’s heartland. In 2010, the Chicago distribution center tripled in size. The NOVA that began with three employees is now 75 strong. And the original 4,000-square-foot facility has been expanded to over 160,000 square feet. We are so proud of our humble beginnings, our 20 year journey and our mission to improve the lives of millions.
Our Mission
At NOVA, our mission is not just a statement, it is how we live. There is a purpose and intention that lives in our people and our company. Every day and in every way we think, act and react to do good for people and planet. When a person walks through our door, it’s all hands on deck. It could be a simple NOVA walker tune up or a complex mobility makeover. When we volunteer at community events we get our hands dirty, spread the love and get a lot of hugs. When we think about our products we also think about our trash and our recycling program has diverted more than 550 tons of recyclables from landfills. Yes indeed, we love what we do at NOVA.
NOVA’s First Community Makeover
The first ever community Mobility Makeover event was on Saturday, August 27th 2012 at Florence Western Medical Clinic. NOVA people volunteered to provide people the equipment they need to get moving again and take control of their personal mobility. All equipment, accessories and services were donated by NOVA. According to Dr. Kevin Thomas, Director of the Florence Western Medical Clinic, many of his patients are using ill-fitted, used, broken or inappropriate mobility equipment, keeping people from living life fully. “We are very grateful to NOVA for recognizing and responding to a need in our community,” says Thomas. “Restoring peoples’ mobility and dignity will help break the vicious cycle of sedentary lifestyle and depression that cause and exacerbate illness.”
NOVA Goes Green!
Our recycling program has diverted more than 550 tons of recyclables from landfills in just the last 5 years. Each year that’s 110 tons of cardboard a paper, 6 tons of metal and over 300 miles of shrink wrap plastic! And, guess what we do with the income we earn from all of that recycling…shhh…it goes into the NOVA Party FUND and we have a really good time.
NOVA’s Retail Revolution
The NOVA Retail Revolution is about our mission to transform our industry and bring the humanity, care and empowerment back to our dealers and our customers. Medicare has stripped our industry of our mission to improve the lives of physically challenged and aging Americans. People deserve better – they deserve their mobility and independence. Home Health dealers and providers deserve better — they deserve to take care of their customers, grow their business, provide jobs and be successful. Together, NOVA and our dealer partners will bring back our industry so we can serve our mission. It’s time for a Revolution and we’re ready.
The NOVA Wheelchair for a Day Challenge
In 2012, NOVA people team up with our Next Step for their Wheelchair for a Day Challenge to raise money and awareness for the millions of Americans who live in and use a wheelchair. NextStep is a nationwide movement that aims to revolutionize the quality of healthcare for the physically challenged community. NextStep has paved the way with the first community facility in the U.S. to offer Locomotor and activity based training at its state of the art facility in Los Angeles and continues its vision to expand across the United States.