Don Clayback will take over as NCART’s executive director on July 15, says NCART President Gary Gilberti.
In an interview with Mobility Management, Gilberti indicated NCART is also adding a dedicated lobbying effort, as well as administrative support. In light of the policy issues and funding climate currently facing the rehab industry, Gilberti indicated that NCART wants to “step up our game.”
Clayback is a rehab industry veteran, most recently serving as VP of government relations for The MED Group.
Gilbert says Clayback will focus on “upgrading our communications, making sure we are meeting the needs of our membership and communicating what NCART is doing — including everybody in the process and trying to make sure everybody’s informed and up to speed.”
As for Clayback’s priorities when he becomes the executive director next month, Gilberti says, “Our number-one issue is the benefit category opportunity that we talked about when we were on the Hill (at April’s CELA event in Washington, D.C). We still see some opportunities with the 9.5 percent (Medicare funding cut that took hold in January), and there are still some little pockets in competitive bidding that we have to approach. We still need to deal with some of the Group 2 power that rehab folks do. We have to deal with the fact that other rehab components have not been exempt, like custom manual — which is not in competitive bidding yet, but eventually, we’re going to have to deal with that, I’m sure.”
Gilberti says Clayback is ideally suited for these challenges and called him “a great person that can bring different groups together. I think he can bridge some gaps between organizations that have not worked together in the past or worked together well in the past…. His experience in the industry is extensive, he’s well respected and I think he’s a great communicator.”
Clayback replaces outgoing Executive Director Sharon Hildebrandt, whom Gilberti says, “has done a wonderful job for us.”
