LIVINGSTON STREET — Arimed Orthotics Prosthetics, a family-owned business founded in Brooklyn in 1949 that makes prostheses for people who are missing limbs, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Thursday afternoon, the firm marked the occasion with a dinner for 100 well-wishers including physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and employees.

The late Aristotle Mirones opened the business three years after immigrating to the United States from Greece, and today Arimed is run by his son, Steven, the firm’s president. Steven’s brother, Matthew, served as the previous president.

“Dad’s story is the classic immigrant story,� Steven said. “He left us with the building blocks to carry on. Those building blocks being integrity, hard work, and a commitment to patient care. It’s very gratifying to be celebrating our 60th anniversary this year.�

Arimed features board-certified orthotists and prosthetists, professional orthopedic fitters and technicians, and an on-site laboratory and technical staff at offices in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The company services orthopedic, rehabilitation, and diabetic clinics throughout the city, and is a prosthetic and orthotics provider to numerous area medical institutions.

Steven said the company has continued to thrive at a time when the medical field is coping with declining insurance reimbursement rates, increasing compliance requirements and a weakening economy.

“We don’t have a lot of turnover and we have a lot of dedicated long-term employees,� he said. “We hire up. We hire good people, people who are committed to the profession and exceed our expectations.�

Steven said the management team leads by example. Steven, Timothy Evans, Arimed’s chief operating officer, and Evelyn Neonakis, general manager, also treat patients as well as manage the business.

“Patient care is very gratifying,� Steven said. “If I could do this work for free, I would do it. We treat each patient as if they’re members of our own family, and we appreciate the confidence our referral sources have in us.�

The value Arimed places on patient treatment was illustrated by the debut of a DVD at the anniversary event. The DVD is designed to help new and imminent amputees deal with the practical and psychological aspects of limb loss. The video features patients who talk about their loss, how they coped with it, how clinicians at Arimed helped them recover, and how they’re living happy and productive lives using a prosthesis.

William L. Goldberg, an board-certified prosthetist at Arimed, is among the patients in the video sharing how he dealt with the loss of his leg in an accident. The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com, key words Arimed Prosthetics.

Also at the event, Borough President Marty Markowitz honored Arimed with a proclamation recognizing Mirones and “his amazing team for their ongoing dedication to the health and well-being of Brooklyn’s residents and those beyond our borders, providing professional orthotic and prosthetic care to countless individuals, from those affected by injury or tragedy.�

Matthew Mirones initiated a number of humanitarian efforts during his tenure as president, and Steven has continued that tradition. Arimed donated treatment and artificial limbs to victims mutilated in the civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa, and in 2008 donated treatment and a prosthetic leg to a 14-year-old boy from Ramallah, a Palestinian city, who lost his lower leg following a car accident.

In addition, Arimed donated prostheses to victims of the Staten Island Ferry crash in 2003; and donated prosthetic legs to Edgar Rivera, whose legs were severed after being shoved in front of an uptown No. 6 train in 1999.

For more information about Arimed, please see www.arimed.com or call (718) 875-8754.

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