Comp Laude Award Nominees

At the end of October, the Comp Laude Awards will convene in San Diego. It promises to be an informative educational program, and there is a great deal of chatter about it out there on social media. I understand that there are still seats available. I was told recently that registrations already exceed any previous Comp Laude, so a record audience is expected (don't tell anyone I told you).

In addition to the educational component, the Comp Laude honors various individuals for their contribution to the world of workers' compensation. In April I blogged about the nominations opening. An image listing all 172 nominees and the finalists (called the "honor roll") has been posted on social media, and on the WorkCompCentral website. Two things strike me about the nominee list. First, it is huge. 

I ran across a tweet regarding the list of nominees. Someone was questioning why more people from a particular geography were not on the nominee list. The easy answer was Comp Laude provides the nomination forms and the platform, but it is up to you to make the nominations. If you are troubled that people from your: (1) industry, (2) geography, (3) philosophy, (4) specialty or even (5) company are not listed, make a note and nominate them yourself next year. 

Since I could not find a list of just the finalists, I decided to publish one. They include (apologies in advance for typos or omissions):

Dorothy Albrecht - Sedgwick

Jill Allen - Consumer Health Connections

Carolyn Arambula - Injured Worker

Beverly Brown, RN, - Genex

Darrell Brown - Sedgwick

Brock Carter - Safety Counselling Inc.

Dr. Jennifer Christian - Webility Corp.

Jess Clyde - Erie Insurance

Jeanette Connelly - Health E Systems

Craig Hospital

Michelle Elder - Sedgwick

Rachel Fikes - Rising Medical Solutions

Debra Fox - Five Star Quality Care

Kayla Frederick - Injured Worker

Chris Garland - Gallagher Bassett

Paul Gaspar - Physical Therapist

Kimberly George - Sedgwick

Russell Ghitterman - Ghitterman, Ghitterman, Feld, et. al.

Alan Gurvey - Rowen, Gurvey & Win

Cheryl Hayes - Health E Systems

Maria Henderson - Kids Chance California

Kate Henschem - Ascent Return to Work Plans

Barry Hinden - Hinden and Breslavsky

Kenny Hosack - Craig Hospital

Abbie Hudgens - Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation

Robert Keefe - Keefe and Griffiths

Sharon Kelly - Rockwell, Kelly, Duarte and Urstoeger

Judy Ko - ACM

Gerald Lenahan - Lenahan, Lee, Slater and Pearse

Danielle Lisenbey - Broadspire

Joseph Molloy - Northwell Health

Keith More - Bentley and More

NeuroInternational

Shauna Nielsen - Sedgwick

James O'Brien - Gallagher Bassett

Mark Pew - Prium

Mark Popolizio - ISO Claims Partners

Elizabeth Robinson - Coventry

Jeremy Romero - Injured Worker

Mark Sidney - Midwest Employers Casualty

Nina Smith - Mitchell International

Tyrone Spears - City of Los Angeles

Julie Swan-Paez - Inured Worker

Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Marques Torbert - Ametros

Dawn Traverso - Eraclides, Gelman, Hall, Indek, et. al.

Dr. Nick Tsourmas - Texas Mutual Insurance

Dawn Watkins - Los Angeles Unified School District

Ruth Williams - Coventry

I know a great many of these nominees personally. There are also approximately ten people on this list that have never been in a selfie with Rafael Gonzalez (but their day is probably coming soon, he is presenting at Comp Laude). There are workers, claims professionals, lawyers, doctors, and a variety of other industry experts on the list. It seems to me to be very diverse, and everyone that was nominated should be proud that someone thought enough of their efforts to make the nomination. The finalists should likewise be proud of this Honor Roll recognition. 

As I congratulate all of the nominees, I am sure of two things. First, David DePaolo would be proud of the growing interest in Comp Laude and this long list of nominations. Second, there are a great many people in workers' compensation who are worthy of praise and recognition; certainly this list is a start, but there are far more out there. So, next April (just remember when its Tax Day, the nominations are probably open) keep your eyes open for announcements and nominate someone that you believe is worthy of Comp Laude recognition. 

Your nominee need not be "Batman" (read my post from last April), but they need to have done "Something good." There is not a person reading this post that does not know someone in that category.  See you soon in San Diego!