Re: charleston bending brace.
Peter Kapelke, CPO
Description
Collection
Title:
Re: charleston bending brace.
Creator:
Peter Kapelke, CPO
Date:
10/5/2006
Text:
Please note the following response to my query on alternative manufacturers of the Charleston bending brace from Ralph Hooper for clarification. Note that Ralph is still the owner of the Charleston Bending Brace. Fab at Orlando (formerly Sea-fab) is its exclusive fabricator and was before Hanger purchased it.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: <Email Address Redacted>
Pete, I am sorry you have incorrect information, but the fact that you take the liberty of placing it on the list prior to verification may well be part of the problem and not part of the solution. Indeed, a company that was once not owned by Hanger and now is owned by Hanger does manufacture the Charleston Bending Brace for me. They do not own the CBB, I do, they have a contract to manufacture it for me, a contract that was entered into long before Hanger bought the company (which I never owned). I have left the manufacturing contract with them for a number of reasons, least of which is the fact that most all of the original people from the CBB manufacturing section are still with the company. They do a good job for me, they do not make a windfall profit, in fact very little. They only manufacture and collect, I pay them a portion for this service which they perform quite well.
There is also a legal document spelling out the reasons I can remove them as my manufacturer, and they have not violated any of these specifications. I do not imagine they will.
I also am a small office practitioner, I don't know your situation, but I compete with Hanger at two locations in the Charleston, SC area. The revenues from the CBB does help me in this competition, I am doing my part with the Cigna/Linkia situation, in fact probably more than you. However, as I do my part I am not attacking other practitioners who are fighting the same battles I am.
To answer your question, No there are not any other manufacturers that make the CBB, however there are companies that make braces similar, and some even call it the Charleston Bending Brace, however the only Charleston Bending Brace is made in Orlando at NationalFab. I am sure your patients in need of the Charleston Bending Brace, and doctors ordering the CBB are not interested in our private industry battles, and if you think that providing a copy of the CBB, abandoning your ethics and patients needs will help US in this situation with Cigna/Linkia, then continue on your misguided path and be part of the problem rather than the solution.
C. Ralph Hooper, Jr., CPO
My response to that email:
Ralph, we have had great success using the Charleston bending brace and I realize that your research and education have made it a very successful brace and that the whole idea of a nightime bending brace came from you.. I apologize for my mistatement on who owned CBB. What I should have inquired to the listserve is if there are any non-hanger owned facilities that provide an effective bending brace, not an alternative manufacturer of the Charleston. With your approval I will post your response and this follow up to you from me.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: <Email Address Redacted>
Pete, I am sorry you have incorrect information, but the fact that you take the liberty of placing it on the list prior to verification may well be part of the problem and not part of the solution. Indeed, a company that was once not owned by Hanger and now is owned by Hanger does manufacture the Charleston Bending Brace for me. They do not own the CBB, I do, they have a contract to manufacture it for me, a contract that was entered into long before Hanger bought the company (which I never owned). I have left the manufacturing contract with them for a number of reasons, least of which is the fact that most all of the original people from the CBB manufacturing section are still with the company. They do a good job for me, they do not make a windfall profit, in fact very little. They only manufacture and collect, I pay them a portion for this service which they perform quite well.
There is also a legal document spelling out the reasons I can remove them as my manufacturer, and they have not violated any of these specifications. I do not imagine they will.
I also am a small office practitioner, I don't know your situation, but I compete with Hanger at two locations in the Charleston, SC area. The revenues from the CBB does help me in this competition, I am doing my part with the Cigna/Linkia situation, in fact probably more than you. However, as I do my part I am not attacking other practitioners who are fighting the same battles I am.
To answer your question, No there are not any other manufacturers that make the CBB, however there are companies that make braces similar, and some even call it the Charleston Bending Brace, however the only Charleston Bending Brace is made in Orlando at NationalFab. I am sure your patients in need of the Charleston Bending Brace, and doctors ordering the CBB are not interested in our private industry battles, and if you think that providing a copy of the CBB, abandoning your ethics and patients needs will help US in this situation with Cigna/Linkia, then continue on your misguided path and be part of the problem rather than the solution.
C. Ralph Hooper, Jr., CPO
My response to that email:
Ralph, we have had great success using the Charleston bending brace and I realize that your research and education have made it a very successful brace and that the whole idea of a nightime bending brace came from you.. I apologize for my mistatement on who owned CBB. What I should have inquired to the listserve is if there are any non-hanger owned facilities that provide an effective bending brace, not an alternative manufacturer of the Charleston. With your approval I will post your response and this follow up to you from me.
Citation
Peter Kapelke, CPO, “Re: charleston bending brace.,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 24, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/227393.
