Tag: Continuing Education & Legislative Advocacy (CELA)
Exit interview with Simon Margolis
August 23, 2013Elizabeth Deprey
LUBBOCK, Texas - Simon Margolis retires from his executive director position at NRRTS Aug. 30. While he will spend the rest of the year as a part-time consultant for the registry, his official retirement will mark the end of years of service to the complex rehab industry. He recently spoke to HME News about how the industry and NRRTS have grown together.
HME News: How long have you been with NRRTS?
Simon Margolis: I've been in and out. I was there at the first inkling of NRRTS in 1990,...
Let's all stare at Shannon
December 4, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
Before I went to CELA this spring, I hadn't met anyone who used a wheelchair. I mean, sometimes when family members took my grandmother to a mall or Disney World, they'd grab a wheelchair to help her get around because of her sore knees, but that's about it.
Before I left for DC, I did some googling to find out how to avoid any rudeness on my part when I met the consumers there. (Do you crouch down to talk to people in wheelchairs? Do you just pretend they aren't using one?)
Luckily,...
CRT event debuts next spring
September 25, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
ARLINGTON, Va. - NRRTS and NCART will mix things up next spring, combining the five-year tradition of CELA with the Medicaid Summit and a new leadership day.
Combining events should make it easier for stakeholders to find resources to attend, organizers say.
“We're cognizant of the demands on people's time and dollars,” said Don Clayback, executive director of NCART.
The first-ever National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference will be April 9-April 11, at the Hyatt...
CRT event debuts next spring
September 25, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
ARLINGTON, Va. - NRRTS and NCART will mix things up next spring, combining the five-year tradition of CELA with the Medicaid Summit and a new leadership day.Combining events should make it easier for stakeholders to find resources to attend, organizers say.“We're cognizant of the demands on people's time and dollars,” said Don Clayback, executive director of NCART.The first-ever National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference will be April 30-May 2, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in...
National complex rehab conference announced
August 30, 2012HME News Staff
ARLINGTON, Va. - NCART and NRRTS will combine CELA, the National Medicaid Summit and a new CRT Leadership Day into a three-day conference April 30-May 2, 2013, in Arlington, Va.
The National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference will allow attendees to save time and resources while participating in complex rehab education, networking and advocacy, organizers say.
The first day will include business presentations and breakout sessions for provider and manufacturer management teams.
The second...
Not that kind of pageant
May 25, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
While I was at CELA (which seems like thousands of years ago, but was actually only last month), I met Susan Houston of Hudson Seating and Mobility.
She gave me a packet if information about Ms. Wheelchair America. Now, I know with that show about evil pageant moms on TLC and scandals circling other pageants, people might not want to jump on idea of a 'Miss Wheelchair America' pageant.
I'm here to tell you, this is a totally different thing. While these girls are beautiful, the...
Reporter's Notebook: Consumers tell how it is at CELA
May 24, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
WASHINGTON - The consumers at CELA gave lawmakers and staffers real examples of the difference complex rehab can make.
� Paul Tobin, president and CEO of United Spinal Association, told people on the Hill complex rehab has allowed him to head his national organization.
“I wouldn't be able to do what I do today without it,” Tobin said.
� Fin Bullers, of Kansas City, Mo., said getting people complex rehab technology will get them back out into the workforce.
“I'm...
Consumers rock CELA
April 24, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
I followed CELA's New York team around Capitol Hill last week as they visited more than 25 congressional offices. I think I hit about 8-10 of those as I followed different people around during the day.
One of the New York advocates was Paul Tobin, a consumer and the president and CEO of United Spinal. (He'll be back on the Hill in June for his organization's Roll on Capitol Hill, promoting HR 4378 again and other bills that would help United Spinal members.)
Tobin is living proof...
New bill energizes CELA attendees
April 20, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
WASHINGTON - Stakeholders attending CELA last week took to the Hill with a new and powerful tool: a bill to create a separate benefit for complex rehab, something they've been fighting for since 2009.
"We've reached a major milestone," said Simon Margolis, executive director of NRRTS, at CELA. "It makes it so much easier to explain what we're doing. We've been working toward this for years."
More than 150 stakeholders attended the two-day event. They conducted 237 visits to...
What we're up against
April 19, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
When Paul Tobin gave the keynote speech at CELA yesterday, he wanted the audience to know what they'd be up against on the Hill today—deep-seated attitudes about disability that most people don't even know they have. The same attitude that makes people shout at blind people or treat anyone in a wheelchair as mentally disabled began with Plato, he said. The renowned philosopher said people with disabilities should be “put away in an unknown place.” That exclusion continued...