Brad Poziembo Featured on PBS Career Connections
Our very own, Brad Poziembo, was recently featured on PBS Career Connections. Hear how a trip abroad put Brad on his career path and how emerging 3D printing technology allows him to improve the quality of life for more of his patients.
Dayton Daily News Feature
Breaking down Transportation Barriers in Healthcare Across the Miami Valley with Prosthetic Home Care
September 28, 2017
Dayton Artificial Limb in Englewood, Ohio is working to extend the reach of prosthetic care across the Miami Valley and have been for years. First established in 1996, Dayton Artificial Limb strives to provide the best care for their patients through innovative technology and techniques. Since 2003, DALC’s Mobile Unit has been treating patients at their homes in the Dayton area, which is monumental for the amputee community.
Certified Prosthetist at DALC, Brad Poziembo states, “It is very difficult for many amputees to get the care they need and deserve especially post-amputation. There can be a period where the patient is bound to a wheelchair and transportation can be tough getting to and from appointments. This is just one more thing we can take off their hands.”
Transportation issues shouldn’t prevent anyone from receiving medical attention and missing an appointment. Sadly, this is the reality for an estimated 3.6 million Americans whose medical care has been delayed due to common transportation issues. Missed appointments and delays in care cost our health system an extra $150 billion each year. (STAT, 2016) Delayed care also results in disuse of the muscles leading to atrophy and a loss of muscle strength at a rate of around 12% a week, decreasing the well-being of the patient and delaying rehabilitation. (Nursing Times, 2009)
Dayton Artificial Limb has seen a remarkable impact by using their Mobile Unit and expect that impact to grow, especially with the recent extension of the Veterans’ Choice Program, President Trump signed in April. The bill allows veterans to pursue private care outside the VA in response to delayed care within the system in some parts of the U.S.
On May 5, 2017, Washington Free Beacon reported:
More than 100 veterans died while waiting for care at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Los Angeles, Calif., over a nine-month span ending in August 2015, according to a new government report.
The VA Office of Inspector General found in a recent healthcare inspection that 225 veterans at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System facility died with open or pending consults between Oct. 1, 2015 and Aug. 9, 2015. Nearly half—117—of those patients died while experiencing delays in receiving care.
The inspector general reported that 43 percent of the 371 consults scheduled for patients who ended up dying were not timely because of a failure by VA employees to follow proper procedure. The report was unable to substantiate claims that patients died as a result of the delayed consults. (Washington Free Beacon, 2017)
“We at Dayton Artificial Limb see this bill being very beneficial to veteran patients in the U.S. who need and deserve expedited care. Specific to amputees, everyday a patient remains immobile their muscle mass and overall health can diminish by the day. That’s the idea behind our method of care: efficient, accurate, and quick. Our Mobile Unit helps us deliver these qualities to our patients.”
DALC’s Mobile Lab is equipped with a full prosthetic workshop. A rolling tool chest complete with tool sets, grinders, generator, air compressor, and a full parts and components inventory. The Mobile Lab allows DALC to make deliveries and perform fittings and adjustments at patients' homes or other external locations.
For questions on Dayton Artificial Limb’s Mobile Unit or to schedule an at-home consultation, contact:
Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic, Inc.
937-898-2200
700 Harco Drive
Englewood, OH 45315
email: pccdal@daytonartificiallimb.com
http://www.daytonartificiallimb.com/
Sources
Cronk, Imran. "Transportation Shouldn't Be a Barrier to Health Care." STAT. STAT, 01 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 May 2017.
June, 2009 29, Anonymous14 March 2010 4:37 Pm, and Edwin Chamanga5 April, 2010 9:04 Pm. "Effects of Bedrest 3: Musculoskeletal and Immune Systems, Skin and Self-perception." Nursing Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017.
"OIG Report: More Than 100 Veterans Died While Waiting for Care at Los Angeles VA." Washington Free Beacon. N.p., 05 May 2017. Web. 10 May 2017.
Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic and Patient Reggie Showers Featured at Limb Loss Education Day in Dayton
Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic patient Reggie Showers – a bilateral amputee who became a world champion motorcycle drag racer and world record holder, pilot, and certified snowboard instructor – inspires others with limb loss to try scuba at Limb Loss Education Day at Wright State University.
2012: Year in Review
Our Year in Review report captures a few of the many highlights of 2012 at Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic. Chances are you either have played a part, or been touched in some way, by at least one of these stories of progress.
We invite you to check out just how far we came last year – (even to the London Paralympics!) – and stay tuned about where we’re going this year.
INSIDE:
Comfortable prosthesis made her mobile: Determined traveler set to vacation again in 2013
‘Yoga for Amputees’ training goes beyond traditional physical therapy
PDI built rowing seat for U.S. bronze medalist
Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic ahead on accountability
After 3 decades on crutches, he’s finally on 2 legs
Rehabilitating people with limb loss requires specialized training for PTs
PDI makes devices stronger, lighter, more comfortable
Co-op program helps keep projects moving
Three Years of R&D Produce a Breakthrough for Trotwood Bowler
‘I walk a whole lot better’
Right-handed Don McElroy slides on his right leg since he has an artificial left leg. His new prosthesis will make bowling more comfortable, he says.
Don McElroy, 52, of Trotwood, barely remembers life without an artificial left leg – he’s had one since age 5. But in 2008, he told his prosthetist, Tracy Slemker of Dayton Artificial Limb Clinic, that walking long distances was getting tougher.
“Fatigue hits, and I have to rest,” Don said. “It just takes more energy to move that left leg.”
That’s a problem for Don, who plays tennis and basketball, rides a stationary bike, and takes on yard work and house projects. Plus, he’s a serious bowler.
“I have always competed with the best of the bowlers,” said Don, who’s shot 28 perfect games “and six 800 series, with 877 my highest.” That score is close to a perfect 900 series – three perfect games in a row.
So the clinic and its sister company, Prosthetic Design, Inc. (PDI) of Clayton, began research and development (R&D) on a new prosthesis for Don. He’s among the world’s most difficult patients to fit, Tracy said, since his amputation was performed on an atypically shaped limb because of a congenital condition also affecting his hip joint and surrounding muscles.
“Improvements came in small bits and pieces and accumulated into something much bigger,” Tracy said. “You don’t fit a patient like Donny off the shelf. Everything was custom.”
Staff marveled at Don’s patience. “He never once got frustrated,” said Rob Hoskins, the prosthetic engineer and clinical consultant handling the parts fabrication, working closely with PDI staff.
Finally, after 150 appointments; hundreds of liners, seals and socket iterations; and almost 50 people working on the solution, a breakthrough came in 2011.
“I walk a whole lot better in this new one – the dip on my left side is just about gone. I don’t feel like I exert as much energy to walk. And the cosmetics and appearance? They play a big part,” said Don, who had to wear a belt with his old prosthesis. “Now I can walk down inclines without it catching, and
there are more safety features.”
His innovative prosthesis works with elevated vacuum at a low pressure without a lock, Rob said. Final socket modifications are under way, and Don is looking forward to wearing his new prosthesis soon.
Tracy said typical prosthetic patients – those with diabetes, heart conditions or kidney disease – don’t take three years to fit, but they will benefit from all the R&D that went into Don’s prosthesis. A report on his case will run in the March 2012 issue of The O&P EDGE, an industry publication.
“I know all this is going to help others in the long run,” Don said. “If they can fit me, they can pretty much fit anybody.”