National Seating & Mobility (NSM) and the company’s international private equity owner, Cinven, announce the appointment of former US Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, MD, as a Special Advisor to the NSM Board of Directors. In this role, Sen Frist will provide insight, counsel, and strategic guidance on national and state policy affecting the Complex Rehab Technology and Home Access industries.

Frist is a nationally acclaimed heart and lung transplant surgeon who served as a US Senator from Tennessee from 1995-2007 and as US Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. As a US Senator, and the first practicing physician elected to the Senate since 1928, he actively shaped national policy for individuals with disabilities as Chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, NSM notes in a media release.

“Senator Frist has a deep knowledge of the healthcare marketplace and is well respected for his contributions to life-changing health policies,” says Bill Mixon, NSM CEO. “His role as a special advisor to the NSM board will strengthen our industry’s work to introduce constructive policy changes in support of individuals with mobility challenges.”

Currently, Frist serves as an adjunct professor of Cardiac Surgery at Vanderbilt University. In addition, he frequently speaks nationally on health reform, government policy, global health, education reform, and volunteerism.

“NSM improves the daily lives and well-being of hundreds of thousands of individuals with disabilities and their family members in communities all across America,” Frist says in the release. “It is an honor to continue as I did in the Senate to shape policy and facilitate independence for these individuals with disabilities and for those with profound healthcare challenges.”

[Sources(s): National Seating & Mobility, Business Wire]