 |
The Cornell Brothers
By PEL Supply Co. A funny thing happened to Keith and Ken Cornell on their way to
dental school. Ken was in the placement office of Saint Anselm
College, a small Catholic college in Manchester, New Hampshire,
waiting to talk to an adviser when he began leafing through some
occupational briefs. The entry on orthotics and prosthetics grabbed
his attention, he remembers. "There were stories and pictures of
people being x-rayed and fitted with prostheses," he says. "And the
more I read, the more fascinated I became."
 Ken couldn't shake the intrigue. He shared his
findings with his brother and before he knew it, Keith too was
gung-ho. The world of O&P had beckoned the Cornell twins;
dentistry was a thing of the past.
Keith D. Cornell CP, BOCO, FAAOP--who is the 2004 president of
the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA)--went on
to take short-term courses at Northwestern University, Chicago,
Illinois, and New York University in Manhattan before being
certified in prosthetics in 1980 by the American Board for
Certification in Orthotics & Prosthetics (ABC). Kenneth D.
Cornell, CO, FAAOP, worked at Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston, for a year before doing a long-term post-graduate study at
the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). He then interned
for a year at Massachusetts General before becoming ABC-certified
in orthotics in 1981.
By 1985, the brothers decided to start their own practice and
founded Cornell Orthotics & Prosthetics Inc. in Salem,
Massachusetts, where Keith serves as president and Ken, vice
president. "It's been very satisfying watching the company thrive
and grow to about 20 employees strong," Keith says. "Besides having
many satisfied patients, it's very meaningful to me to look out and
see all our employees at our annual holiday party with their
spouses and family. What started out as just my brother and me is
now a room full of people."
Keith, who prides himself on being well-rounded, treats amputees
of all ages and handles everything from evaluation to follow-up. "I
don't concentrate on one particular area," he says. "I think of
myself as a community prosthetist."
And whereas Ken says he also sees a broad mix of patients in
need of orthotic services, his one area of special interest
involves Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a hereditary
progressive nerve disorder that is fairly common in the New England
area. CMT causes patients to slowly lose normal use of their feet
and legs and hands and arms as nerves to the extremities
degenerate.
Together, the Cornell twins--who profess that the O&P world
is all about people helping people--say they feel revered and
humbled all at the same time while they go about their business. "I
feel honored when everyone from the family and patient to the
doctors and other specialists all turn to us to come up with a
solution to the problem, when they all want to hear our opinion,"
Ken says. And then there's the humility: "When we're working with
all those doctors and dealing with family members that look to us
for the answers, we feel humbled. We know the outcome ultimately
hinges on our opinions and our abilities."
Working with Distributors
 The Cornell brothers concede that when they
started, they never would have gotten their fledgling business off
the ground without the help and support of one distributor in
particular, PEL Supply Company of Cleveland, Ohio.
"My previous employer had always used PEL," Keith recalls, "so I
knew they were a good company. Still, I was very anxious when I
first called them and spoke to Al Gullifer as I had no previous
credit history with any other O&P supplier. I said, Hi, Al;
it's Keith. I'm calling from my own place now.' Al said, Really?
That's fantastic; I'm really happy for you. Whatever you need,
we'll get it to you. Many times our smallest customers become our
best customers.' He took a tremendous weight off my shoulders. And
you know what? His good wishes came true: PEL is largely
responsible for us doing as well as we do."
Ken wholeheartedly agrees. "We owe our loyalty to them," he
adds. "PEL gave us carte blanche as to what we needed and told us
we're here to help the little guy get going.' Every time Al would
call, he'd ask to speak to the big guns of the East.' Here it was,
just the two of us, and he'd ask for the big guns of the East.' It
was fun," he recalls with a laugh.
Keith interjects. "A lot of what we do is personal in this
business," he says, and relationships--such as the one they share
with their favorite distributor--are a key to success. "PEL is also
very capable at what they do; they always do what they say they're
going to do. If they can't get you exactly what you ordered,
they'll come up with an alternative that will work. Because, just
like us, they know the business." And that business is people
helping people to get the job done right. 
Table Of Contents - March 2004
|
|
