For the first time since February 2020, the annual Hanger LIVE conference was held in person. The event, held January 23-25 in Grapevine, Texas, gathered more than 1,000 Hanger employees and 370 exhibitors for educational courses and collaboration with colleagues, manufacturers, and O&P industry partners.
With a theme encouraging attendees to “ShiftMoveGo,” the opening ceremony featured the first-ever Hanger LIVE Sled Hockey Classic, showcasing Team USA Sled Hockey athletes. The teams were comprised of the defending Paralympic gold medal–winning team and members of the US Women’s and Men’s Development Sled Hockey Teams. The match was broadcast live from the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, on Hanger Clinic’s YouTube channel.
The opening ceremony also featured clinician Rebecca Cook presenting a $3,000 check on behalf of the Hanger Foundation to her patient Olivia Lavieri to benefit Lavieri’s youth sled hockey team, the Hurricanes.
Hanger’s 10th annual Partner Awards recognized five outstanding companies for their roles in supplying products and services used to provide excellent O&P care and patient outcomes. Partners recognized this year were: Trend Medical for “Rising Star,” OssKin for “Collaboration,” Fillauer for “Innovation,” Anclote for “Operational Performance,” and Blatchford for the “Clinicians’ Choice” category.
More than 160 instructors presented 80 courses, including Clinical Keynote sessions featuring thought leaders in the O&P profession and a presentation on improving health outcomes by Scott Wallace, JD, MBA, co-founder and managing director of the Value Institute for Health and Care at the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School. Additionally, Hanger’s longstanding “Women in Leadership” series featured a workshop led by motivational speaker Tia Banks.
