An Agent for Change On the Local Level

These days, it is clear HME providers have to get involved in the legislative process if there is to be any change in the restrictive policies that continue to plague the industry. For most, that means participating in a grassroots lobbying effort.

But Darren Jernigan, vice president of government affairs for Lebanon, Tenn.-based Permobil, took his political involvement a step further last year. He was elected to the Nashville, Tenn., Metropolitan Council, the legislative body governing the state's Nashville and Davidson counties.

Jernigan, a self-described “public policy junkie,” says it was a “no-brainer” when it came to his decision to run for a seat on the council. “If you generally care about where you live and the people who live around you, then the decision is easy,” he says. “I do, and I wanted to utilize my previous experience in government to work for my community. So when this opportunity became available, I seized it.”

To win the council seat, Jernigan utilized a personal approach. “I went door-to-door, which is not the easiest thing to do in a chair, but it enabled me to meet an incredible amount of people, many of whom had amazing stories. The experience was invaluable,” he says.

Jernigan, who was injured in an automobile accident, has been in a wheelchair for 17 years. During the recent council campaign, his opponent tried to insinuate that Jernigan's disability would physically prevent him from handling the job. Fortunately, voters felt differently. “That actually offended a lot of people because they didn't see my being in a wheelchair as a factor. If you have your head and your heart, then that's all you really need to do the job,” he says.

However, he is breaking ground in the area. Jernigan is the first person in a wheelchair to be elected to the Metropolitan Council in Nashville, and his campaign and win has made an impact. “What it has done is bring a tremendous amount of awareness of disabilities to the government as a whole,” he says.

“The administration called me and took a very proactive approach to ensuring I had what I needed be on the same level playing field as my fellow council members.”

Jernigan has been on the job since October — he actually missed the first day of Medtrade 2007 to attend his first council meeting — and he has already seen the differences that can be made on a local level.