The Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) named Harry “J.R.” Brandt, BOCO, CO/L, as the inaugural recipient of the Jim Newberry Award for Extraordinary Service. Brandt, a former member and chairman of BOC’s board of directors, was instrumental in developing BOC’s accreditation process. He also supervised BOC’s expert site surveyors, and served as a BOC representative to the O&P Alliance and as a test development volunteer. Throughout his career, Brandt has demonstrated expert knowledge of O&P, specifically of Medicare and other accreditation standards. He is well known for providing outstanding service to his patients and extraordinary dedication to mentoring others in his field.
Brandt’s O&P career spans more than 36 years, beginning as an orthotic technician in 1981 at Metro Orthopedics, Landover Hills, Maryland, and most recently as a pediatric practitioner and director of orthotics at California-based Collier Orthotics and Prosthetics. He also spent more than 15 years as the manager of the O&P department at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Northern California, Sacramento. Additionally, Brandt provided manufacturers’ training courses to O&P practitioners throughout China prior to working as the director of external relations at BOC.
“J.R.’s tireless dedication to the orthotic and prosthetic field, as well as to our mission to assure the competency, professionalism, and safe practice environments of BOC credential holders, made him an extremely deserving first winner of this prestigious award,” said L. Bradley “Brad” Watson, BOCO, BOCP, LPO, chair of the BOC board. “On behalf of the entire BOC board, we are delighted to have the opportunity to publicly recognize his decades of service to BOC and to the O&P profession.”
The Jim Newberry Award for Extraordinary Service is an honor named after longtime practitioner and BOC board member James Newberry Jr., BOCO, BOCP, BOCPD, who passed away in 2016. It recognizes outstanding individuals who perform extraordinary service for BOC and the community of stakeholders BOC serves, and who live out the superior example modeled by Newberry during his more than four decades in O&P.
“This is truly a special honor for me. BOC has been a large part of who I am since 1989, and to have known Jim since 1982 is even more special,” said Brandt.
In addition to an upcoming celebration, BOC will commemorate Brandt and subsequent award winners on the Jim Newberry Award web page and on signage at BOC headquarters.
