This Oklahoma City company got $10 million from the government, but gave it back

Oklahoma City-based 180 Medical was among the companies to receive CARES Act stimulus funding from the federal government. Unlike many other recipients, however, it sent the money back.

Seth Segel, CEO of the nationwide supplier of chronic care medical supplies, said the funds were a surprise.

"We literally opened up the bank account on Monday morning and there was $10 million in the account," he said.

Segel said 180 Medical didn't ask for or apply for any funding. Along with business loans and personal assistance to individuals under the CARES Act, the federal government allocated $130 billion to medical and hospital industries, and 180 Medical received its share based on a funding formula.

"It was somewhat of a remarkable experience," he said. "We ultimately decided the CARES Act really was about front-line workers that were doing the heroic efforts to handle the COVID-19 crisis throughout the (United States). And it was critical to get it back into the system and get it to folks on the front lines."

It might be hard to believe a company would voluntarily give up millions of dollars that had very few strings attached. Segel said the company's leadership debated whether to keep it.

"We definitely could make an argument that we need the funds, but in all reality one of our core values is to do what's right, operate with integrity," he said. "And we couldn't justify keeping that money in any way, shape or form and immediately returned that back to the government in the hopes they would rapidly deploy that to folks that were truly on the front lines."

The money was tempting, especially since the company is incurring additional expenses during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We just said, honestly, being a good corporate citizen means can you do things like get the money back into the hands of folks that desperately need it? And we couldn't look ourselves in the face and sleep well at night knowing that we desperately needed it. We just didn't," Segel said.

With Oklahoma City as its founding headquarters, 180 Medical employs more than half of its 600 employees in the state. Many of them are working from home, but the company's warehouse operations continue with additional safety protocols and personal protective equipment.

The workers also receive supplemental hazard pay, Segel said.