An Agent for Change On the Local Level

These days, it is clear HME providers have to get involved in the legislative process if there is to be any change in the restrictive policies that continue to plague the industry. For most, that means participating in a grassroots lobbying effort.

But Darren Jernigan, vice president of government affairs for Lebanon, Tenn.-based Permobil, took his political involvement a step further last year. He was elected to the Nashville, Tenn., Metropolitan Council, the legislative body governing the state’s Nashville and Davidson counties.

Jernigan, a self-described “public policy junkie,” says it was a “no-brainer” when it came to his decision to run for a seat on the council. “If you generally care about where you live and the people who live around you, then the decision is easy,” he says. “I do, and I wanted to utilize my previous experience in government to work for my community. So when this opportunity became available, I seized it.”

To win the council seat, Jernigan utilized a personal approach. “I went door-to-door, which is not the easiest thing to do in a chair, but it enabled me to meet an incredible amount of people, many of whom had amazing stories. The experience was invaluable,” he says.

Jernigan, who was injured in an automobile accident, has been in a wheelchair for 17 years. During the recent council campaign, his opponent tried to insinuate that Jernigan’s disability would physically prevent him from handling the job. Fortunately, voters felt differently. “That actually offended a lot of people because they didn’t see my being in a wheelchair as a factor. If you have your head and your heart, then that’s all you really need to do the job,” he says.

However, he is breaking ground in the area. Jernigan is the first person in a wheelchair to be elected to the Metropolitan Council in Nashville, and his campaign and win has made an impact. “What it has done is bring a tremendous amount of awareness of disabilities to the government as a whole,” he says.

“The administration called me and took a very proactive approach to ensuring I had what I needed be on the same level playing field as my fellow council members.”

Jernigan has been on the job since October — he actually missed the first day of Medtrade 2007 to attend his first council meeting — and he has already seen the differences that can be made on a local level.

“When you’re involved in local government, you have the opportunity to create change … It can be something as small as somebody calling about their street light blinking or it can be as large as building a coliseum for a professional sports team,” he explains. “But it does provide an opportunity for change.”

Naturally, not everyone in his jurisdiction agrees on every issue. When things get touchy, Jernigan uses his background in public relations and his experience in lobbying to resolve conflicts and disagreements.

“Last night, there were some very angry people who were very mad at me, and I listened to them. Calvin Coolidge said, ‘No man never listened himself out of a job,’” he relates.

Jernigan is no stranger to politics. He earned academic degrees in public relations and political science. He has worked at the U.S. State Department and the Veterans’ Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C., and as a staff member for former Congressman Bob Clement, D-Tenn.

In 2001, he was elected a member of the Davidson County Democratic Executive Committee and was appointed by a federal judge as commissioner of the Old Hickory Utility District from 2001-2006.

The lessons Jernigan learned through his campaign are simple but effective, and they are extremely relevant to the home medical equipment industry’s need for grassroots lobbying.

“If you want to create change and you want to get a message across, there are three things that you really need to do,” he says. “You definitely want to volunteer on a campaign. If you volunteer on a campaign, it makes a tremendous impact on the public official.”

You also must be prepared with financial support. “I don’t mean you have to give $1,000. You can give $25,” Jernigan says.

Finally, he says, “you have to become visible and known in your community. When policymakers continue to hear your name on various fronts, it becomes apparent you have influence and that you aren’t just bringing one vote to the table [but] you have the capability to bring several hundred.”

At that point, the elected official begins asking what he or she can do for you, according to Jernigan.

When it comes to asking federal legislators to support industry legislation, Jernigan advises HME providers to find out who in their community did those three things for their congressman. “Then, you go to [that person] and ask them to make a phone call. I guarantee you will get a cosponsor and they will sign that piece of legislation. It’s that simple,” he says.

Now seven months into his position, Jernigan is enjoying the ride. He campaigned on a multi-faceted platform including public safety and accessibility, among a host of other issues, and he is hopeful about accomplishing his goals.

“Regarding home care in my first term, I would like to see greater accessibility outside the home and to see individuals with disabilities get out of nursing homes and into society as productive tax payers,” he says, noting that the council’s airing of its own meetings “requires and needs closed captioning. Those are just a few, but I have many more ideas related to different subjects,” he adds.

As far as his future in politics, Jernigan says a move into the state or national arena is not out of the question. He is “waiting his turn,” he says, and when the time comes, he and his ideas will be ready.