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!




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