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Hanger Education Fair Boasts Record Attendance
By Karen Henry 
The 2008 Hanger Education Fair,
held January 28 to February 2 in Reno, Nevada, was marked by record attendance and a major announcement as Ivan R. Sabel, CPO, chief executive officer and chairman of the board, used the occasion to announce that he would be stepping down as CEO. Sabel, who has been Hanger's CEO since 1995, will remain chairman of Hanger's board.
"This is the right time for me to start transitioning my life," Sabel said to the 1,000-plus attendees during the opening ceremony.
Thomas F. Kirk succeeded Sabel as CEO March 1. Kirk has served as Hanger's president and chief operating officer since 2002 and maintains his title of president. From 1998 to 2002, he was a principal with AlixPartners LLC (formerly Jay Alix & Associates Inc.), a management consulting company. Kirk also has held several senior executive positions with FPL Group, Quaker Chemical Corporation, and Rhone-Poulenc, S.A.
"I have big shoes to fill," Kirk said during the opening ceremony. "Thank you to Van and the board for their confidence in me to fill this role."
Hanger President Rick Taylor also announced that the company was awarded the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Patient Care Provider Leadership Award.
The Education Fair also boasted a record number of vendor attendees. In addition to the more than 1,000 conference attendees, there were 135 vendors on hand represented by more than 350 vendor attendees. Chad Simpson, LP, a five-time Education Fair attendee, said he found the interaction with the exhibitors exciting. "Each exhibitor brings new and exciting products, which really starts the gears turning when applying their products to your practice needs."
While the exhibitors gave Hanger clinicians and administrators a glimpse of the latest products and services available, Hanger employees also received a comprehensive education program. Courses ran the gamut from a WalkAide® certification course and a microprocessor-controlled lower-limb prostheses seminar to sessions on upper-extremity prosthetics, pediatric prosthetics and orthoses, materials design, practice finance, coding, and medical documentation, to name a few.
"This year's education sessions were excellent due to the expertise of the presenters and the collective knowledge base that is contained within the classroom with fellow practitioners," Simpson said.
Thranhardt Honored
During the Chairmans dinner, Taylor and Sabel presented Ted Thranhardt, CPO(E), with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Thranhardt was recognized for his more than 50 years in the O&P profession as well as his leadership skills, generosity, and his dedication to clinical and technological advancement.
A Hanger employee at age 18 and an ABC-certified prosthetist at age 21, [Thranhardt] provided his clinical expertise to patients throughout Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida as a traveling prosthetist for Hanger Southeast, Taylor said. Within ten years he managed several offices, and in 1975 he became president of Hanger Southeast.
He is one of only two persons who have ever served as president of all three major O&P organizations: the Academy [American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists], ABC [the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics], and AOPA [American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association], Taylor added.
Thranhardt is a member of Hangers board of directors and chair of the Quality and Technology Committee.
A practitioner, an entrepreneur, a clinical leader, a business strategist, an educator, and an extremely generous benefactor, Taylor said. We are proud to have benefited from his guidance, innovation, and dedication for so many years.
Table Of Contents - April 2008
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