2006 HomeCaring Awards

HomeCare’s HomeCaring Awards^™ are given to recognize service and commitment to the home medical equipment community.

For 2006, the magazine has recognized three exceptional individuals whose efforts on the industry’s behalf have distinguished them at the highest level: Nagle Bridwell of Newton Square, Pa.-based Ultimate Resource; Bonnie Laster, a respiratory care practitioner and assistant manager of Rowan Medical Facilities in Salisbury, N.C.; and Dan Meuser, president of Exeter, Pa.-based Pride USA.

The awards were presented at an afternoon ceremony Sept. 19 at the Georgia World Congress Center during Medtrade 2006. The presentation was hosted by emcee Jack Evans of Malibu, Calif.-based Global Media Marketing.

The three recipients were chosen from nominees submitted by HomeCare’s readers and judged by a panel of seven industry professionals, including: Jerold Cohen, president, Caesar Cohen Ltd.; Louis Feuer, president, Dynamic Seminars & Consulting; Miriam Lieber, president, Lieber Consulting; Simon Margolis, vice president, National Seating & Mobility, and past president, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA); Sheldon “Shelly” Prial, Prial Consulting; Wallace Weeks, president, Weeks Group; and Colette Weil, managing director, Summit Marketing.

With a long career in HME as one of the co-founders of The Med Group, Nagle Bridwell remembers naming the Sip ‘n Puff, and he also remembers when bringing someone home with a ventilator or a complicated seating system was not possible — but he did it anyway.

Bridwell was the founder of the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers and also helped in forming the New Jersey Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers. On the national front, he was one of the founders of NADMAC, a forerunner to NAMES and AAHomecare.

Bridwell is “dedicated to making the home medical industry a profession to be proud to be part of,” a nomination letter reads.

During an ice storm in 2002, 185 of Rowan Medical’s oxygen patients were left without electricity — for five days — but due to Bonnie Laster’s preparation and patient care, there was not a single emergency incident for those patients. Laster also has developed a blueprint for oxygen patient education, and the procedures, forms and follow-up patient checklist that she put in place for Rowan have been published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

“She is a valuable asset to our staff, our community and the patients whom she serves,” a co-worker wrote.

Dan Meuser has been involved with Pride in an official capacity for more than 18 years, but it is his active leadership and extensive educational efforts with both CMS and Congress that caught the judges’ attention this year.

Meuser’s vocal support of the power mobility sector in lobbying efforts with CMS helped lead to the development of more functional coverage criteria for mobility assistive equipment. He also has worked to garner support in Congress for appropriate implementation of the new PMD codes and fee schedules, and for the industry’s Hobson-Tanner bill, which would ease the effects of competitive bidding.

Meuser’s “extensive government lobbying efforts have strengthened the mobility industry’s position in Washington and have helped ensure that those who require mobility aids will not be denied the equipment they need,” noted his nominator.

“HomeCare is proud to acknowledge the tireless efforts of those who further the goals of the home medical equipment industry in serving the nation’s home-based patients,” said Editor-in-Chief Gail Walker. “The HomeCaring Awards^™ are only a small token in recognizing the unwavering service and commitment of so many individuals whose work makes the HME community such a caring place.”

Look for individual profiles of the 2006 HomeCaring Award^™ recipients in upcoming issues of the magazine.