NCMIC Group announces leadership change

NCMIC, the nation’s largest chiropractic malpractice insurance company, announced that Louis Sportelli, DC, will retire as president of NCMIC Group (NCMIC) and National Chiropractic Mutual Holding Company (the Holding Company) and will transition to a new role as president of the NCMIC Foundation (the Foundation), a 501(c)3 nonprofit research and education foundation founded by NCMIC in 2003.

NCMIC also announced that the board of directors of the Holding Company has elected Wayne Wolfson, DC, president of NCMIC and the Holding Company.

In announcing these changes, Patrick McNerney, CEO of NCMIC, recognized Sportelli’s significant contributions to the company. “NCMIC has gone through tremendous growth and change since Dr. Sportelli began leading the company in 1995,” McNerney said. “Through his leadership, NCMIC achieved and continued to retain an ‘A’ (excellent) rating from A.M. Best, recognizing the company’s financial strength and performance. In addition, we now insure close to 40,000 DCs and have significantly grown NCMIC’s offerings to include equipment loans, credit card processing, working capital loans, and a full‐line property and casualty insurance agency.”

McNerney said that the leadership transition at NCMIC had been under consideration for some time: “With the transition of Dr. Sportelli to the Foundation and the naming of Dr. Wolfson to president of NCMIC, the chiropractic profession will not only continue to benefit from our financial strength and customer service, but it will also benefit from an increased focus on chiropractic research. Both Dr. Sportelli and Dr. Wolfson have been long‐term policyholders of NCMIC. Dr. Sportelli has been insured with NCMIC since 1962, and Dr. Wolfson became a policyholder in 1977.”

Sportelli and the NCMIC Foundation

While Sportelli will no longer be involved in the day‐to‐day activities of NCMIC, the chiropractic profession will continue to benefit from his over 50 years in practice and his 25‐year career with NCMIC.

Sportelli’s passion for the profession has been evidenced in many ways, but none more so than his involvement with the Foundation and its research efforts since its inception in 2003. Speaking to management and the board of the Holding Company, he said, “No other challenge has been of more importance to the profession than the ability to be able to fund valid research to advance our profession’s research agenda.

“The area of research in 2015 and beyond will be what the legislative eras of the ’70s and ‘80s were for the chiropractic profession. The profession cannot and will not make progress in this changing healthcare environment unless there is credible data to support the outcomes, cost‐effectiveness, and patient satisfaction of what doctors of chiropractic do each and every day,” Sportelli said. He further noted, “Without a strong Foundation to help provide funding for research, progress for chiropractic will be stymied and its inclusion in the new healthcare system of tomorrow will be challenged.”

Wolfson and NCMIC Group

Wolfson joined the board of the Holding Company in 2005 and has served on its executive committee for the past three years. He has served in various leadership positions in the profession as the past chairman of the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine, director of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and past president of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards. He has also served as a college site team examiner for the Council on Chiropractic Education, Commission on Accreditation.

Wolfson was named Florida Chiropractor of the Year in 2002 by the Florida Chiropractic Association, and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine in 2005.

He was honored with the George Arvidson Award for meritorious service from the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards in 2007, and in 2010, he received the Paul M. Tullio Award for dedicated service to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

In being named to his new position as president of NCMIC, Wolfson said, “I am deeply honored to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Sportelli. His efforts over the past 25 years have resulted in a truly exceptional company dedicated to protecting and supporting our profession like no other. I am fortunate to have been involved firsthand regarding how NCMIC delivers on our promise of ‘We Take Care of Our Own, ‘and I look forward to continuing to build NCMIC’s legacy for the future.

Source: NCMIC