The Respira Story

In the spring of 2001, Founder and CEO Y. Maria Martinez began breathing life into what has become a major presence within the medical home care community. With a focused drive towards providing the highest level of compassionate service, Maria combined over 25 years of experience in the medical field with her desire to build a company that truly cares about outcomes and accountability. The result was Respira Medical—a company dedicated to ensuring effective treatment for patients requiring individually tailored home care services.

The inspiration behind this effort can be largely attributed to Maria's father, Miguel A. Better, and his battle with COPD. A career iron worker for 32 years, Mr. Better was diagnosed with COPD—specifically Asbestosis—in the late 1970s, which was in direct relation to long term work-related exposure. Mr. Better suffered with COPD for over 20 years. Throughout Mr. Betters’ illness, Maria and her family experienced many frustrations that came as a result of ineffective home care and disappointing management of his illness. Mr. Better ultimately required full time home respiratory care in 1995 until the time of his passing, care which Maria and her mother provided unconditionally. Empathetic to the suffering of her father, countless others living with respiratory conditions and their caregiver’s experiences, Maria became intent on finding a better way to treat patients requiring home care. In 1998, she decided to place her focus in the area of home respiratory service to provide a much needed alternative to the poor treatment shown to her father, and to further ensure that current and future patients would be shown the dignity and respect they so rightly deserved. In 2001, Maria formed her company, Respira, which, in honor of her Hispanic heritage, means 'to breathe' in Spanish.

Today, Respira Medical has become one of the largest providers of clinical respiratory services and home medical equipment within the Mid-Atlantic Region. As evidenced by its local, national and international awards for clinical innovation, business acumen, cultural competencies and community service, Respira Medical is dedicated to excellence. Through unwavering morals and a dedicated team of healthcare professionals, the vision of Y. Maria Martinez and the memory of Miguel A. Better are alive and well and will continue to breathe a better quality of life into every member of the Respira family.