Page 12 - Mobility Management, February 2018

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NSM Expands Westward
In its latest expansion, National Seating & Mobility (NSM) has looked west.
In a Dec. 13 announcement, NSM said it has opened new of ces in Washington State and Alaska. The branch of ce in Anchorage is NSM’s rst in Alaska. The new Washington location is in Olympia.
Bill Mixon, NSM’s CEO, said, “The continued growth of the company supports our goal to reach more clients in need of mobility solutions. We are excited to operate our rst location in Alaska and to expand our presence in the Washington area.”
ATP Wayne Gould will work in the Anchorage of ce;
he will be joined by technician Aaron Gray, techni- cian Eduardo Llanderal, customer service rep Michael Bay, and funding specialists Tonya Gould and Brenda Saunders.
ATP Dan Stewart will staff the Olympia of ce. Joining him is technician Ernesto Ang Jr.
Of his new position in Anchorage, Gould said,
“NSM represents the client-focused, do-the-right-
thing approach that I’ve also subscribed to. In today’s changing environment, I felt that NSM was the best place for me to take care of my clients, and at the same time provide me with a long-term, stable career.” m
Permobil Adds MAX Mobility
Acquisition activity continues, as Permobil adds a power-assist manufacturer to its growing roster
Permobil has acquired MAX Mobility, manufacturer of lightweight power-assist systems for manual wheelchairs.
In a Dec. 27 announcement, Larry Jackson, president of Permobil Business Region Americas, said, “We are excited to welcome MAX Mobility to the Permobil family. The addition of power-assist technology to our portfolio greatly expands our offering and will provide an inde- pendent mobility solution for our users globally.”
MAX Mobility, headquartered in Antioch, Tenn., manu- factures SmartDrive, a system that easily attaches and detaches from manual wheelchairs to provide propul- sion assistance when needed. The newest version of the system, the MX2+, is designed to work with MAX Mobility’s PushTracker Activity Monitor, a wrist-worn device that can be used by its wheelchair owner to operate the power-as- sist system and adjust its settings. Used with its corre- sponding smartphone app, PushTracker can also track propulsion metrics, including push count and coast time, to provide data for its consumers and their clinicians.
MAX Mobility CEO Mark Richter noted in the news announcement, “Almost three out of four manual wheel- chair users have shoulder pain already. By becoming part of Permobil and adding power assist to the portfolio, we can expand our reach and reduce shoulder pain for users globally.”
Richter added he would be joining Permobil “as the
SmartDrive power-assist units for manual wheelchairs have been perennial Mobility Management Best Picks winners.
Senior Group Innovation Advisor working across the Power, Manual and Seating and Positioning portfolios.”
MAX Mobility is the latest acquisition for Permobil, which announced the acquisition of Comfort Company, a seating and positioning manufacturer, in October 2017, and the acquisition of custom-molded seating manufac- turer Prairie Seating in January 2017.
Permobil, headquartered in Sweden, currently employs 1,600 people in 17 countries. m
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