Yesterday morning at the Harrisburg Hilton, the Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA) hosted its first-ever Long-Term Care Policy Summit. The PHCA is the commonwealth’s leading advocacy association, representing Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents and their providers of care. As a new addition to the PHCA’s programming, the Long-Term Care Policy Summit is a collaborative work session focused on identifying new and meaningful policies to support the long-term care needs of Pennsylvania’s growing aging population.
This year, the Summit consisted of two dynamic panel discussions, one on workforce and career pathways, and the second on the economics of caring and reimbursement. It was an opportunity for long-term care providers and industry-leading experts to come together in identifying solutions for some of the biggest challenges affecting long-term care and the broader healthcare continuum.
PHCA Committee Chair, Transitions Healthcare Chief Financial Officer, and discussion panelist, Marc Feldman, remarked about the goals for the Summit saying, “This is a unique opportunity to not only engage in important dialogue, but to propose significant policies that ensure we’re progressing towards improvements for long-term care.”
During the first panel discussion, experts Deborah Rowe (Vice President, Nursing Workforce Development, Genesis HealthCare), Joseph DeMattos (President and CEO, Health Facilities Association of Maryland), and Tine Hansen-Turton (President and CEO, Woods Services) spoke about the systemic workforce challenges that exist across senior living and how best to address and resolve those challenges.
In the second panel discussion, experts Mark Zimmet (President and CEO, Zimmet Healthcare Services Group), Meredith Mills (President and CEO, Country Meadows Retirement Communities), and Marc Feldman (Chief Financial Officer, Transitions Healthcare) addressed the economic realities of caring for Pennsylvania’s vulnerable populations, as well as how to structure reimbursement to support an equitable, sustainable long-term care continuum.
Mr. Feldman praised the efforts of the Summit participants, saying, “We assembled an amazing group of experts who are sharing their experiences and offering recommendations. At the end of the day, we wanted to establish a clear path forward in ensuring access to long-term care for Pennsylvania’s seniors – and I think we achieved that.”
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