Mass Senior Care brought together long term care professionals from across the state at its 2017 Annual Meeting & Trade Show held at the DCU Center in Worcester on November 9th.
Association President Tara Gregorio welcomed and thanked all attendees for making the time to attend the Annual Meeting, noting that “it has been an extraordinarily difficult year for the provider community and your Association is committed to aggressively representing the sector to ensure that the voice of long term and post acute care is heard, understood and acted upon by the Administration, Legislature, payors and other stakeholders.”
The morning keynote address was presented by Maureen Bisognano, President Emerita and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an independent not-for-profit organization helping to lead the improvement of health care throughout the world. She also serves as the co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care. Maureen shared her experiences with end of life care and conversations, including the story of her brother’s death at a young age, which inspired her to pursue a career in health care quality improvement. Inspired by her remarks, many attendees commented that they would go back to their facilities and ask residents and staff, “What Matters to You?”, a question that is the cornerstone of Maureen’s approach to end of life care.
Mass Senior Care’s longest serving Chairman, Bill Bogdanovich, delivered his final Chairman’s Report, highlighting key accomplishments over the past year including recognizing the 24 facility members receiving the prestigious AHCA Quality Awards. Chairman Bogdanovich echoed Maureen’s remarks stating, “It is especially true at end of life and in facilitating thoughtful decision-making that we have this opportunity…no, responsibility… to help make something even as difficult and devastating as even death can seem … we can make that a little easier with this work.” Concluding his remarks, Chairman Bogdanovich stated, “Together, we have made this association stronger and better than ever before. It is with humbling gratitude that I thank you for having afforded me this opportunity.”
Gregorio conducted the Annual Business Meeting at which the Slate of Officers and Members at Large and the 2018 Budget were approved. Matt Salmon, Chief Executive officer of Salmon Health and Retirement was elected as the incoming Chairman of the Association and his first order of business was to present Bill Bogdanovich with a plaque in recognition of his four years as leader of the Association. Calling on all members to participate in the Association, Mr. Salmon noted, “In order for there to be any progress in the way we’re treated and the way we’re perceived, each and every one of us needs to take an active role in helping achieve the Association’s goals. We need whatever you can offer.”
Following the sold-out Trade Show featuring 105 Associate members, attendees reconvened for the afternoon education session featuring a panel which presented data and best practices on end of life care.
Thank you to our generous sponsors for their continued support of the Association:
Premier Sponsor - CliftonLarsonAllen
Tote Bag Sponsor - Access Ambulance
Lanyard Sponsor - Partners Pharmacy
Lunch Sponsors: Clean Facilities Group, Inc., Mass Care Self Insurance Group/Cove Risk, SDX Dyphagia Experts and South Coast Improvement Company.