At Oxner + Permar, we’re always excited to support a good cause. We like to do our part to give back to the community when we have a chance. I want to take this opportunity to tell you about one of the groups we work with, to try to get the word out, and bring some attention to a good cause.

Rock and Wrap It Up is a very impressive organization that we partner with. They take unused food from schools and distribute it to the hungry.
More than 50% of children in Guilford County are on free or reduced-cost lunch programs. This means all too often these children can’t afford to bring snacks for later on in their day. Rock and Wrap It Up saves unused packaged items from school breakfast so that these children can have them later in the day. Food that would otherwise be thrown away gets eaten, and children who would otherwise go hungry get to eat. It’s a win-win!

As part of a 25-year-old nonprofit, Rock and Wrap It Up works hard to discover and vet agencies who are able to recover wholesale food and redirect it to those in need rather than sending it to landfills.

They are diligent about following the USDA and Health Department of North Carolina’s guidelines to ensure that the food is safe and stored under the correct conditions in order for it to be passed along to those in need. The organization also hosts the School Wrap program, which encourages students to get involved with saving food and sending it to those in need. This program has served more than 100,000 meals.

We encourage you to find out more about Rock and Wrap It Up and contribute to this wonderful organization if you have the time or resources.

At Oxner + Permar, we’re always looking for opportunities to give back to the community. So this month we thought we’d spotlight a couple of the charities that we support. They’re wonderful causes, very deserving of attention.

The first charity we’re highlighting is NC MedAssist. NC MedAssist is a great program devoted to helping North Carolinians be able to afford the medical care that they need. Even with health insurance, certain medical treatments and medicines can be very expensive. That’s why NC MedAssist is devoted to ensuring that everyone has access to the care that they need.

They believe that no one should have to choose between purchasing food or affording medication. One way they help is through their Free Pharmacy Program. The current eligibility requirements for this program are:

• You must be a NC resident
• You must be living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
• You must not qualify for Medicaid, Veterans Administration, or private health insurance.

NC MedAssist also has a senior care program that works to provide alternate options for seniors whose Medicare Part D prescription benefits run out during the year.

Their Over the Counter (OTC) Medicine Program provides free OTC medicines to families in need — it’s essentially like a food bank but for medicine!

To find out more about any of these programs or about how you can contribute, visit the NC MediAssist website. This is a really great program that’s close to our hearts. We sponsor one of their giveaway days every year, and we encourage you to get involved if you’re able!

If you’re able to contribute to NC MediAssist, we invite you to visit their website to find out more about how you can get involved!

At Oxner + Permar, we’re devoted to ensuring our clients receive the best service possible. To us, this means that you get our full time and attention. We’re not the kind of attorneys who make you wait a week before we get back to you. We take your calls, listen to your questions and concerns, and do our very best to keep you informed during every step of your workers’ compensation claim.

Your time is valuable to us, and we know that dealing with a workers’ comp claim can be stressful. We don’t want our clients anxiously waiting for an attorney to make time to answers to their questions. That’s why, if you call our office, and don’t get a call back by the end of the day, lunch is on us! We’ll send you a gift card in the mail.

In the off chance that we’re unable to return your call on the same day you reach out to us, we’ll make it up to you! We don’t want you to feel like your time isn’t valued, or that you’re just one of many clients in our system. All of our clients are important to us. Every one of our attorneys takes great care with each case they take on.

We welcome questions! If you need answers, or would like to check in with your attorney, feel free to give us a call. Our team of experienced attorneys is here to help you.

I recently had a client ask me, “What’s so special about Board Certified attorneys? Aren’t all attorneys board certified?” Interestingly enough, not all attorneys are Board Certified. Board Certification has nothing to do with certification to become an attorney. It is, in fact, an additional achievement that an attorney can strive for.

In order to become Board Certified, an attorney has to have a certain amount of experience. They have to have been practicing for at least five years in the area that they’re practicing. For instance, you wouldn’t be considered if you’d spent four years practicing family law and only one year practicing workers’ compensation. After they meet their experience requirements, they can apply to become board certified.

Their work will be reviewed extensively, and finally, they will have to take a day-long written examination. The idea behind Board Certification is continued education. The attorney must be committed to proving that they’re willing to continue learning and studying their field.

Attorneys who obtain Board Certification have to renew their certification every 5 years. This ensures that even once becoming Board Certified, an attorney’s education will continue.

So when you hire a Board Certified Workers’ Compensation specialist, you know you’re hiring someone who has been thoroughly vetted and is well educated in their field. You can bet that attorney is willing to work hard and tirelessly to make sure that your case is given the proper attention, and that a fair outcome is obtained.  At Oxner + Permar, we’re proud to say that we have seven Board Certified attorneys on our team.

If you have any questions about what it means to be Board Certified or about your workers’ compensation claim, don’t hesitate to give us a call for a free consultation.

You may have heard that the Huntersville hospital is looking to expand its capacity. Novant Health is seeking a $45.6 million grant to add a 3-story addition to the Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center. The hospital is currently functioning at or close to capacity, and hospital officials worry that if need continues at this rate, they won’t be able to accommodate all of the patients who come through the doors.

An expansion of the facility would also mean an increase in the number of jobs the center offers as well as those jobs needed to carry out such a project. The Huntersville Medical Center will need to recruit more nurses, and in order to complete the addition in the first place, construction jobs will be need to be filled. While it’s exciting to have added jobs, it’s also important to be mindful of the possibility of injuries. Medical professionals and construction workers are both fields that see an awful lot of workers’ compensation claims.

If you work in either of these fields, make sure that you’re taking the necessary steps to protect yourself at work. Are you following proper safety guidelines and regulations? Are you properly equipped and trained to handle the machinery? Are you seeking assistance when trying to lift people or objects that are too heavy for you to handle alone?

Even if you’re following best practices and safety guidelines, accidents still happen. If you’re injured at work, you should report your injury and take the necessary steps to file for workers’ compensation. Your employer takes out workers’ comp insurance in order to cover you in these situations. Make sure you’re protecting your rights, and claiming the benefits that you deserve.

Hospital workers and construction workers are professions with a high number of workers’ comp claims. If you’re injured at work, be sure to seek legal assistance from an experienced attorney who will fight for you.