Association of Medical Device Reprocessors

Daniel J. Vukelich, Esq.
President and CEO

Daniel J. Vukelich, Esq. is the President/CEO of the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR). Mr. Vukelich has been with AMDR since 2000, having previously served as the Association’s Deputy Executive Director.  AMDR represents approximately 95 percent of the third-party medical device reprocessing done in the U.S. today.  Mr. Vukelich joined AMDR in the same year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued requirements putting reprocessors on equal regulatory footing with medical device manufacturers. During his time at AMDR, he has worked with regulators and legislators as they implemented the federal Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002 (MDUFMA), the Medical Devices Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (MDTCA), the Medical Device User Fee Stabilization Act of 2005 (MDUFSA), the FDA Amendments of 2007, and the comprehensive healthcare insurance reform legislation of 2009-2010.

Mr. Vukelich has overseen a team of state contract lobbyists and has beaten back every legislative attempt brought by some in the original equipment manufacturing industry aimed at reprocessing to date.  Mr. Vukelich also has represents the device reprocessing industry before state regulatory agencies and international bodies (including Canada, the European Union, and other nations).

In 2000, the nation’s third-party reprocessing industry saved U.S. hospitals $20 million in device acquisition costs.  Today, AMDR’s members save U.S. hospitals over $250 million a year in device acquisition and disposal costs.  AMDR’s members now also serve all of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals, as listed by U.S. News & World Report and all of the top 10 “heart hospitals.”

With over 10 years experience working on medical device reprocessing issues, Mr. Vukelich is intimately familiar with the legal, regulatory, public relations and political issues surrounding the reprocessing industry. Prior to joining AMDR, Mr. Vukelich gained experience working for a non-profit citizens’ advocacy group and worked on a U.S. Senate campaign.  He is a member of two Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) technical working groups, the American Society of Association Executives, the American League of Lobbyists, among other groups, and is a former National Debate champion (1996). Mr. Vukelich received a B.A. in Political Science and Public Communication with Pi Sigma Alpha honors from the American University in Washington, DC and his Juris Doctor degree from the American University’s Washington College of Law.  He is a native of Minneapolis and a member of the Florida and District of Columbia Bars.

B. Chase Matson
Manager, Government Relations

Chase joined AMDR in January 2011 and focuses his efforts on AMDR’s domestic lobbying, outreach, public relations/advocacy and administrative matters.  Prior to joining AMDR, Chase served as an associate in the White House with the Office of Presidential Personnel and spent a year as intern for the President of the University of North Carolina. Chase is a native of North Carolina and received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008.

 

Kathryn E. Balmford, Esq.
Counsel

Ms. Balmford serves as Counsel to AMDR and is a Principal Attorney at Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC.  Ms. Balmford’s food and drug practice focuses on counseling clients on dietary supplement, food, medical device, over-the-counter drug and cosmetic issues.

Ms. Balmford was born in Youngstown, Ohio and was graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Politics-Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999.  Ms. Balmford received her J.D. in 2002 from The George Washington University Law School.  She is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar.

Sally Donner
Senior Policy Advisor

In addition to working with AMDR, Sally Donner is a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank.  Before joining the firm in April 2004, Ms. Donner spent 22 years representing Altria Group, Inc. and its current and former operating companies (General Foods Corporation, Kraft Foods, Inc., and Philip Morris, USA).  During her employment with Altria and its food businesses, Ms. Donner managed a large portfolio of wide-ranging food issues with special emphasis on matters relating to food safety, nutritional labeling, advertising, meat and poultry inspection, and the environment.  Prior to joining the General Foods Corporation Washington Office in 1982, she served as Chief of Staff to the late Representative Silvio O. Conte (R-MA).  She was born in Troy, New York, grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts, and is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.  Long active in her District of Columbia neighborhood, she currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the H-Street Community Development Association, a CDC that since 1984 has completed economic development projects valued at more than $70 million.