NAAOP June 2022 Udpate
Paul Prusakowski
Description
Collection
Title:
NAAOP June 2022 Udpate
Creator:
Paul Prusakowski
Date:
6/15/2022
Text:
*Dear listserv subscribers, *
The latest video from NAAOP including Peter Thomas and Nikki Grace- Strader
is available on the NAAOP.org website for you to view. Included is a
heartfelt remembrance for Todd Eagen, an NAAOP board member who passed
unexpectedly just recently. Please take a moment to watch the video and
review the Todd Eagen Remembrance that was assembled by the Breece Fellows
who were mentored and assisted by Todd during their tenure.
Links are at the bottom of this email.
*Breece Fellowship*: After a 2-year delay due to the pandemic, NAAOP is
excited to announce that Nikki Grace-Strader has started her tenure in
Washington, DC, as an NAAOP 2022 Breece Fellow. Nikki will spend 10 weeks
in DC and another Breece Fellow, Lucas Deluca, will start in DC for an
abbreviated fellowship in July. Fellows will spend time shadowing Peter
Thomas, NAAOP General Counsel and O&P Alliance Counsel, learning about
advocacy and policy issues impacting orthotics and prosthetics, as well as
the broader rehabilitation field. Throughout the summer, fellows will have
opportunities to meet with elected leaders and Hill Staff to promote NAAOP’s
priorities including the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act (H.R. 1990
and S. 2556) and educating policy makers on the issue of osseointegrated
prostheses.
*Todd Eagen: In Memoriam*: The start of this year’s Fellowship has been
bittersweet as our dear friend and beloved board member, Todd Eagan, passed
away unexpectedly last week. Todd led the OPGA and was the
Secretary/Treasurer and a board member of NAAOP. We deeply mourn Todd’s
passing. Todd was a thoughtful, kind, and generous person and extremely
dedicated to the O&P profession and community. He will be greatly missed by
many in the O&P field and his loss will be acutely felt at NAAOP. In fact,
one of Nikki’s first fellowship assignments was to travel to Iowa to visit
OPGA as a guest of Todd Eagan and his colleagues at VGM. During her time in
Iowa, Todd arranged for meetings with former senators and congressmen from
Iowa and Kansas in addition to many meetings, discussions, and dinners.
Todd and the OPGA family went above and beyond to help Nikki kick off her
fellowship.
*Osseointegration**:* Nikki is an above-knee amputee and has been living
with osseointegration (OI) for four years. After sustaining a spinal cord
injury in 2009, complications in her recovery led to her amputation
however, the significance of her spinal cord injury made success in a
traditional prosthetic socket difficult. Nikki currently works for
Osseointegration International as the Director of North American Operations
and she is passionate about sharing her experience with osseointegration to
educate amputees, clinicians, and practitioners about OI. As part of the
fellowship, Nikki will help lead NAAOP’s efforts on OI and will work
alongside the O&P Alliance advancing the issue on behalf of the
profession. Nikki and NAAOP will also host a briefing at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland in July for the benefit of O&P
leaders, elected officials, hill staff, CMS staff and other policy makers,
including the viewing of an OI surgery.
*Virtual Congressional Lobbying Day**:* The two Breece Fellows will take a
lead role in organizing the NAAOP virtual Congressional Lobby Day in July
to encourage Congress to pass the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act
and to educate policy makers on osseointegration.
Link to website:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__naaop.us_&d=DwIFaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=KmuawjwNpT9A2bnhzaNVjw8wO7L_TDosEXIk33h_tlw&m=SdwKzzT9Nk05gqlOvO1r8P5Hb4K6cIK4s4l1wz3GKPpdCeog7odnFrROH7g_el3D&s=YRCxeIRg8cL4d67MpdYlPD2KKRUUYcfcvPufe2UPO1o&e=
Link to download / view the Todd Eagen Remembrance
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__fyles.link_p_1655151506.pdf&d=DwIFaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=KmuawjwNpT9A2bnhzaNVjw8wO7L_TDosEXIk33h_tlw&m=SdwKzzT9Nk05gqlOvO1r8P5Hb4K6cIK4s4l1wz3GKPpdCeog7odnFrROH7g_el3D&s=I7OAEYOEooogp5XvjBMe--5SkbWHx-G5LEVd37D0PkM&e=
Paul E. Prusakowski, CPO, FAAOP
NAAOP Board Member
********************
The latest video from NAAOP including Peter Thomas and Nikki Grace- Strader
is available on the NAAOP.org website for you to view. Included is a
heartfelt remembrance for Todd Eagen, an NAAOP board member who passed
unexpectedly just recently. Please take a moment to watch the video and
review the Todd Eagen Remembrance that was assembled by the Breece Fellows
who were mentored and assisted by Todd during their tenure.
Links are at the bottom of this email.
*Breece Fellowship*: After a 2-year delay due to the pandemic, NAAOP is
excited to announce that Nikki Grace-Strader has started her tenure in
Washington, DC, as an NAAOP 2022 Breece Fellow. Nikki will spend 10 weeks
in DC and another Breece Fellow, Lucas Deluca, will start in DC for an
abbreviated fellowship in July. Fellows will spend time shadowing Peter
Thomas, NAAOP General Counsel and O&P Alliance Counsel, learning about
advocacy and policy issues impacting orthotics and prosthetics, as well as
the broader rehabilitation field. Throughout the summer, fellows will have
opportunities to meet with elected leaders and Hill Staff to promote NAAOP’s
priorities including the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act (H.R. 1990
and S. 2556) and educating policy makers on the issue of osseointegrated
prostheses.
*Todd Eagen: In Memoriam*: The start of this year’s Fellowship has been
bittersweet as our dear friend and beloved board member, Todd Eagan, passed
away unexpectedly last week. Todd led the OPGA and was the
Secretary/Treasurer and a board member of NAAOP. We deeply mourn Todd’s
passing. Todd was a thoughtful, kind, and generous person and extremely
dedicated to the O&P profession and community. He will be greatly missed by
many in the O&P field and his loss will be acutely felt at NAAOP. In fact,
one of Nikki’s first fellowship assignments was to travel to Iowa to visit
OPGA as a guest of Todd Eagan and his colleagues at VGM. During her time in
Iowa, Todd arranged for meetings with former senators and congressmen from
Iowa and Kansas in addition to many meetings, discussions, and dinners.
Todd and the OPGA family went above and beyond to help Nikki kick off her
fellowship.
*Osseointegration**:* Nikki is an above-knee amputee and has been living
with osseointegration (OI) for four years. After sustaining a spinal cord
injury in 2009, complications in her recovery led to her amputation
however, the significance of her spinal cord injury made success in a
traditional prosthetic socket difficult. Nikki currently works for
Osseointegration International as the Director of North American Operations
and she is passionate about sharing her experience with osseointegration to
educate amputees, clinicians, and practitioners about OI. As part of the
fellowship, Nikki will help lead NAAOP’s efforts on OI and will work
alongside the O&P Alliance advancing the issue on behalf of the
profession. Nikki and NAAOP will also host a briefing at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland in July for the benefit of O&P
leaders, elected officials, hill staff, CMS staff and other policy makers,
including the viewing of an OI surgery.
*Virtual Congressional Lobbying Day**:* The two Breece Fellows will take a
lead role in organizing the NAAOP virtual Congressional Lobby Day in July
to encourage Congress to pass the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act
and to educate policy makers on osseointegration.
Link to website:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__naaop.us_&d=DwIFaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=KmuawjwNpT9A2bnhzaNVjw8wO7L_TDosEXIk33h_tlw&m=SdwKzzT9Nk05gqlOvO1r8P5Hb4K6cIK4s4l1wz3GKPpdCeog7odnFrROH7g_el3D&s=YRCxeIRg8cL4d67MpdYlPD2KKRUUYcfcvPufe2UPO1o&e=
Link to download / view the Todd Eagen Remembrance
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__fyles.link_p_1655151506.pdf&d=DwIFaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=KmuawjwNpT9A2bnhzaNVjw8wO7L_TDosEXIk33h_tlw&m=SdwKzzT9Nk05gqlOvO1r8P5Hb4K6cIK4s4l1wz3GKPpdCeog7odnFrROH7g_el3D&s=I7OAEYOEooogp5XvjBMe--5SkbWHx-G5LEVd37D0PkM&e=
Paul E. Prusakowski, CPO, FAAOP
NAAOP Board Member
********************
Citation
Paul Prusakowski, “NAAOP June 2022 Udpate,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/142114.
