The Board of Certification/Accreditation, International (BOC) has announced the election of its 2011 Board of Directors officers. Sharon Nichelson, CMOF, has been elected to serve a second term as chairwoman. Kimberly Hertz, CMF, BOCO, has been elected vice chairwoman; Jim Hewlett, BOCO, will serve as secretary; Joe Lawson, BOCO, will serve a third term as treasurer; and James Newberry Jr., BOCPO, BOCPD, has been elected as BOC’s member-at-large.
“I’m honored by the confidence my fellow board members have placed in me by selecting me to serve a second year as chairwoman,” Nichelson said. “Their confidence indicates that we are taking BOC in the right direction.”
BOC President and CEO, Claudia Zacharias, MBA, CAE, said, “Under Sharon’s leadership, BOC has been able to strengthen our credentialing programs. We have continued to expand our outreach to and relationships with other groups and organizations in the O&P community; developed a model licensure bill; and completed a total overhaul of our website…. We have expanded the BOC staff to assure we are as responsive as possible to the needs of BOC certificants and accredited facilities. I look forward to continuing to work with her and the other officers and members of BOC’s board over the coming year.”
Nichelson practices mastectomy fitting and orthotic fitting with Frontier Home Medical, North Platte, Nebraska. She has been a member of BOC’s Board of Directors for five years, serving as a certification exam item writer and as a member of both the legislative and ethics committees before becoming vice chairwoman in 2008. Nichelson also served as chairwoman of the Region D DMERC advisory committee and chair of the Region D O&P A-Team.
Hertz has been a member of BOC’s Board since 2006. She works at Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics patient care facility in Spring Valley, New York.
Hewlett served two terms on BOC’s executive committee as member-at-large before being elected secretary. He has nearly 40 years experience including marketing/merchandising as a practitioner, running an O&P facility, and operating durable medical equipment (DME) businesses, both as an owner and as a consultant.
Lawson is the owner of Lawson Medical, Virginia Beach, Virginia. He entered the O&P profession as a fitter and later earned his certification as an orthotist.
Newberry owns Mahnke’s Orthotics-Prosthetics, Oakland Park, Florida. A past chairman of the BOC Board of Directors, he served as acting executive director when the late Donald O. Fedder, DrPH, MPH, BSP, FAPhA, retired.
The BOC Board of Directors elects its officers to one-year terms. The Board of Directors comprises 16 individuals, 12 of whom are practitioners elected directly by BOC certificants. Two ex officio members, who have experience in business, the military, and non-profit organizations, serve at the board’s appointment, and the public member of the board is tasked with representing the interests of the public served by BOC certificants and accredited facilities.
