Press Release: Lazzaretti nominated to BOC Board
DATE: Friday, February 6, 2009
FOR RELEASE: Immediately
CONTACT: Greg Safko, President
Lazzaretti Elected to BOC Board
Pete Lazzaretti, AAS, BOCPD, C.Ped., has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Board of Certification/Accreditation, International (BOC), according to BOC president Greg Safko. Lazzaretti will serve through 2011, filling a seat that was vacated by the resignation of Rick Sevier, B.S.Ed., BOCPD, C.Ped., ROPA.
Lazzaretti earned his associate degree in applied sciences, with a concentration in pedorthic footwear technology, at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee, where he was on the President’s Honor Roll, as well as being a Phi Theta Kappa Honor Roll Scholar. An eight-year Navy veteran, he received a medical discharge after injuries sustained during deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Southern Watch. He has been certified in pedorthics by all three U.S. organizations to confer that credential, and currently holds certification from BOC International and from the American Board for Certification in Prosthetics, Orthotics & Pedorthics (ABC), into which the original Board for Certification in Pedorthics merged in 2006.
The owner of Caravan Pedorthic Services in Federal Way, Washington, Lazzaretti is also a representative for Instride Footwear, headquartered in New Jersey. Before opening his own practice, Lazzaretti worked for several durable medical equipment companies and, while in school, held clinical studies positions with Virginia Mason Podiatry/Sports Medicine Clinic in Seattle, Washington; Footstride Technology in Snohomish, Washington; and Compton Orthopedic Services in Oklahoma City and the Muskogee Indian National Health Clinic in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.
He is currently serving as director of pedorthic education and lead instructor in therapeutic shoe fitting for Instride Footwear, and teaches therapeutic shoe fitting with CFS Allied Health Education of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has also authored white papers on infrared temperature testing and monofilament neuropathy testing for patient care specialists. In addition, Lazzaretti is an affiliate member of the American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists, and a member of the Pedorthic Footwear Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics & Prosthetics.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity to be on a team dedicated to building strengths within the OP&P community,” said Lazzaretti. “Rick Sevier continues to make solid contributions to our field as a practitioner and a teacher, and I intend to carry the same type of commitment forward on the BOC Board of Directors, doing everything I can to increase the opportunities open to us as practitioner-professionals, and especially for the patients we serve.”
Preston Madler, BOCO, chairman of the BOC Board of Directors, welcomed Lazzaretti to the Board, noting, “As certified health care professionals, we have extraordinary opportunities to learn from each other and put that learning to use on behalf of our patients and our fellow practitioners. It’s a pleasure to work with BOC’s directors in taking on the challenges and transitions that affect our certificants, and it’s great to have someone of Pete’s caliber to join us in our responsibility to serve this incredibly rewarding profession.”
The BOC Board of Directors is an active board that meets regularly to oversee certification and accreditation programs, build alliances with related organizations groups, advance positions on relevant issues and develop valid exams on which certifications are based. “Although it’s an honor to be elected to the BOC Board, it’s also a commitment to work hard for the people who have earned certification and the facilities we accredit,” says Safko. “I welcome Pete, not only for his experience, but also for his volunteer ethic that makes him want to further the profession and mission of the BOC, International.”
BOC offers certification in five practice specialties: orthotics, prosthetics, orthotic fitting, mastectomy fitting, and pedorthics. BOC also offers a non-credentialed specialization in footwear that is designed to help patients meet their footwear needs. In addition the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have recognized BOC as one of the ten deemed providers of facility accreditation.
For more information on BOC International or its programs, visit http://www.bocinternational.org.