Little Rock, AR - The Case Management Society of America's (CMSA) 15th Annual Conference and Expo in Orlando, FL, June 21-25, was the site where CMSA's Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Mary Gambosh, RN, CCM, a case management pioneer in the truest sense of the word. According to CMSA Executive Director, Jeanne Boling, MSN, CRRN, CDMS, CCM, "The scope of her work is amazing, the impact of her ideas, incalculable, and the extent of her influence, enormous and all pervasive. In an extraordinary career spanning four decades, there is little that today's care managers do, think, or face, that she has not pioneered, taught or written about. Virtually every area of care management practice has been enriched, enlarged and improved by her keen perception, endless curiosity, humor, wit, and energy."

Gambosh began her professional life in 1958 upon graduation from the Medical College of Virginia and St. Luke's Hospital in Richmond, VA, launching a nursing and business career which spanned 50 years. In 1975, Gambosh left the hospital structure to start her own company. Gambosh says, "it was an era where selling case management services was like selling ice cubes to an Eskimo." Yet, her company flourished becoming the largest independent case management company in the US.

In 1989, Gambosh was an integral part of the initial group that founded CMSA, and served as the organization's first Secretary-Treasurer. She is probably best known today as the CMSA National President who in 1996 forged the consolidation of the Individual Case Management Association and CMSA into one dynamic organization. As President, she tirelessly visited chapters sharing her limitless knowledge as well as encouraging and mentoring young leaders. The advice she offered in a 1999 article is equally applicable to today's case manager:

What can you do? Join the association of your choice and volunteer to assist wherever your talents lie. Ask what is being done to spearhead collective efforts to educate lawmakers, employers, healthcare consumers, and the media. Don't leave it to someone else. Your future may be at stake."

Now retired, and residing in Charlotte, NC, she and her husband of 29 years have 9 children, 12 grandchildren and 3 great grand children.
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