Penta Medical Recycling Attends 105th Annual AOPA National Assembly

Penta Medical Recycling recently attended the 105th Annual American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) National Assembly, the oldest and largest meeting for orthotic, prosthetic, and pedorthic (O&P) professionals in the United States. The event was held in San Antonio, Texas at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, where Penta’s founder, Henry Iseman; Deputy Director, Anna Szczepanek; and Director of Operations, Mijamin Strong, joined more than 160 exhibitors to educate and share Penta’s mission with the 1,500 professionals in attendance.

The mission they were presenting is simple, life-changing, and mutually resolves separate issues of waste and need: Penta collects used and discarded prosthetic limbs from across the U.S. ––where hundreds of thousands are discarded every year while still functional–– and sends them to partner organizations in over 20 countries where they can be fitted to amputees who cannot otherwise afford or access care. Penta’s team wants more industry professionals and users of prostheses to be aware of this channel, which was their primary goal at the conference.

Penta’s exhibit included signage and visuals displaying their work, providing a perfect backdrop to inform attendees about the organization’s work and global impact. Their exhibit was selected as an exclusive stop for a San Antonio STEM based high school, CAST Med, with more than 100 local students stopping by to learn about Penta and its mission. As part of this inaugural High School Career Day, Penta Medical Recycling was joined by industry leaders in the O&P field, such as Hanger Clinic and the Limbs for Life Foundation. These organizations answered questions on many topics ranging from technology in prosthetics, to roles in the profession, to the experience of limb-loss. Penta was able to speak specifically about the challenges faced by amputees globally, social entrepreneurship, and Penta’s efforts to reach the world’s most vulnerable amputees.

“Attending the AOPA National Assembly was extremely beneficial for our cause,” said Iseman. “It provided the ideal platform to network and expand our brand and mission. It is very important to meet people in person and give them a very clear sense of the impact their donated equipment can have.”

In addition to the exhibitor hall, the conference featured speakers such as Mona Patel––CNN Hero and founder of the San Antonio Amputee Foundation––and former NFL Quarterback and ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) user, Alex Smith, who spoke about his orthotic case study.