​May 26, 2020
Hello to Alabama Prosthetic and Orthotic Association members, friends, and supporters,

I hope you are all staying safe and well!

As President of APOA I have been working with the APOA board and Elizabeth Mansfield to determine our options for the annual APOA meeting that was to be held in July. We have decisions to make and now we know more about how the COVID 19 crisis will affect our meeting and can begin to make informed decisions regarding logistics.
 
The Embassy Suites staff has been working to accommodate us as we consider options. As you know, the meeting was to be held Wednesday – Saturday, July 15-18. The hotel more than likely would be able to accommodate us in July, however, your board believes that many who would attend under normal circumstances would not be able to attend because people are just resuming operations and will be unable to take so many days out of the office.

In addition, many of our great vendor supporters will still be on travel restrictions or unable to make the trip due to corporate constraints. With that in mind, and knowing that APOA would be subject to heavy penalties if we cancel, we are changing the date and making reductions in contractual requirements to avoid being heavily penalized.

The selection of dates through the end of 2020 is limited and we had to choose November 13-14. We do not have the option of rescheduling to 2021 without incurring heavy penalties. We will have an agenda that will begin at lunch on Friday and conclude on Saturday after Legal and Ethics.

Elizabeth is working on moving all the fitter courses online so that fitters would not need to travel to Birmingham but would still be able to meet their yearly CEU requirements.

We hope that several vendors who are willing to make the trip will be able to join us. We feel that there is some benefit to offering the opportunity for some face to face interaction with appropriate safety considerations in place.

We will be working with Alabama Medicaid to attend and give a presentation that they committed to earlier this year. There were significant updates to relay, and it will be even more beneficial to know what changes have occurred during the crisis and what life will be like moving ahead. We want to welcome MSPO students and new graduates to participate and engage with us. We will be making the effort to include Category one CEU presentations at the Friday afternoon session as well.
 
For those who can not make it in person, we will miss you! There will still be online Legal and Ethics as there has been in previous years. Elizabeth is preparing online CEU offerings that will give you the opportunity for a blended experience if you are able to attend and get maximum educational CEU’s.

I was looking forward to a great meeting as we were planning it in 2019-20. We have been dealt a major obstacle but we can be flexible and maintain some of the benefits of a live meeting while respecting the needs of O&P businesses and clinicians to be in their practices and communities providing high quality care. There is also the need to respect the sacred traditions associated with college football and hunting season. I hope you will find a way to join us for a Friday and Saturday in November. Look for details in the coming weeks.

Thank you for understanding.

Glenn Crumpton, CPO/L
APOA President

November 13-14, 2020

APOA Annual Meeting
Embassy Suites Hoover/Birmingham
Address: 2960 John Hawkins Pkwy
Birmingham, AL 35244
Phone: (205) 985-9994

2020 Legal and Ethics Online Course will be available shortly.
Please make sure you are signed up to receive the APOA newsletter so you will be notified when registration for the course goes live.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT FOR 2021
Prosthetics, orthotics, pedorthics, mastectomy fitter, orthotic fitter, therapeutic shoe fitter .
​Share your knowledge with your colleagues!

    Abstract submission form

2019 APOA Annual Meeting, Embassy Suites Birmingham/Hoover