(Annual Conference Registration)  (Conference Program)  (Topic Descriptions) (Conference Notes)   (Pictures)

SPEAKERS

Pioneer Network (Sunday)
Bonnie Kantor

Bonnie S. Kantor, Sc.D is the Executive Director of the Pioneer Network in Culture Change. The Pioneer Network, formed in 1997, is a national network of change agents pioneering a new vision for long-term care that is life-affirming, satisfying, meaningful, and humane.  The Network’s mission is to advocate and facilitate deep system change and transformation in the culture of aging.  To advance these goals, Pioneer Network supports public policy change; conduct research into the financial and quality outcomes associated with person-directed care; develops and shares adaptable practices that put person before task; creates communication, networking and learning opportunities; coordinates with state coalitions and hosts a national conference.  Bonne’s ongoing goal is to contribute to the development of consistent and creative policies and programs for long-term care that support the culture change the Pioneer Network has so successfully set in motion.  As part of this effort, Bonnie is helping to broaden the Network’s focus and areas of emphasis by bringing together additional stakeholders at the local, state and national level including the academic and research communities.  Current projects include developing core competencies in person directed long-term care for health providers (beginning with physicians and nurses); and establishing a strong, compelling business case for culture change and deep system transformation to demonstrate that resident-centered care is not at odds with operational objectives, treatment goals and fiscal allotments. Our overall goal is to further drive the transformation of long-term care so that elders will be entitled to self determination and high quality, evidenced-based person directed care wherever and whenever they need care and as they transition through the acute, sub acute and continuing care environments.  Prior to joining the Network in January 2007, Bonnie served as the Director of the Office of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Ohio State University Medical Center for 15 years. She received her doctorate in Health Policy and Management from The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Opening Ceremony
Susan R. Cooper, M.S.N., R.N.

Susan R. Cooper, M.S.N., R.N., made Tennessee history on January 20, 2007, when she became the first nurse to serve as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. A former Assistant Dean for Practice at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Cooper came to the state in 2005 as a special policy advisor to Governor Bredesen. She was charged with the development of the Health Care Safety Net and innovative programs to address the threats of Type II diabetes facing residents of Tennessee, including Project Diabetes and Get Fit Tennessee. She was also one of the chief architects of the Smokefree Tennessee initiative. Ms. Cooper serves on the National Commission for Prevention Priorities, the Board of Directors of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and is chair of the Prevention Committee. Her priorities are to protect, promote, and improve the health of all Tennesseans through policies, programs, and partnerships. 

Keynote Speaker (Monday)
Steven Levenson, M.D.

Steven Levenson, MD, CMD has spent his 32-year career throughout the long-term and postacute care continuum. He is currently medical director of six postacute and long-term care facilities in Maryland. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in medical direction and efforts to improve geriatric and long-term care. He has authored or co-authored four books and over 70 articles. His book, Medical Direction in Long-term Care, was the first in the field about how to be a medical director. Another book, Subacute and Transitional Care Handbook, has remained the only comprehensive clinically oriented reference on the topic of postacute care. He has received a number of awards, including the 1998 American Medical Directors Association's (AMDA) Education Award for his efforts to educate and train physicians, nurses, surveyors, administrators, and others across the care continuum. In 2006-2007, he was the President of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA). For several decades, he has been involved extensively in legislative, regulatory, and public policy initiatives and activities, including consultation with CMS and various state agencies and legislatures.

 

Keynote Speaker (Tuesday)
Kent Rader

Known as the “World’s Cleanest Comedian and Speaker,” Kent Rader helps people and associations learn and experience how laughter matters in reducing stress and building quality organizations.  Kent graduated from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri with a B.S. in Accounting.  He spent five years in public accounting and twelve years as C.F.O. and C.E.O. of hospitals before becoming a professional speaker in 1997.  Kent has authored the stress reduction book titled Let It Go, Just Let It Go released in April 2002 and is featured in 450 Country Inn and Suites Hotel’s Read It and Return program.  Kent has been heard on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and Sirius Satellite radio.  Kent also performs clean stand up comedy in comedy clubs from New York City to Seattle and is the winner of the 2007 Branson Comedy Festival.  

The description of "Let It Go, Just Let It Go - Using Humor to Manage Employee Stress," is as follows:

The stress reduction keynote titled “Let It Go, Just Let It Go” is both entertaining, yet informative. Our healthcare industry is experiencing workforce shortages that promise to only get worse. Recent surveys report more than half of our employees hate their jobs. The number one reason sited is the stress associated with today's healthcare environment.  Having spent twelve years as CFO and CEO of Hospitals, Kent Rader has experienced this stress first hand.  This keynote program takes participants on a journey they won’t want to end.  It begins by showing participants the origins of stressful feelings and how humor is a proven tool in combating these feelings. 
Kent offers practical ways to include more humor in your life, along with stories that are guaranteed to make you 

Luncheon Speaker (Tuesday)

Jill Hudson currently serves as the communications director for The Tennessee Association for Justice. Her role encompasses several areas including communications, media relations and lobbying, as well as membership outreach.   Hudson comes to the Tennessee Association for Justice from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities where she worked as director of communications since 2005.  Prior to that, she was federal relations manager for the Epilepsy Foundation of America in Landover, Maryland, and press secretary and legislative assistant for U.S. Congressman David Phelps in Washington, D.C. Hudson also consults with various groups training volunteers on campaign messaging and earned media. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently enrolled at the Nashville School of Law. 

CMS Presentation (Tuesday)
Cindy Graunke, CMS

Cindy Graunke is the Director, Division of Nursing Homes in the Center for Medicaid & State Operations.  Ms. Graunke also is a Senior Fellow in the Council for Excellence in Government.  During her over 36 years of service in the Federal Government, Ms. Graunke has worked in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Veterans Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and for the past 30 years, in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  Cindy holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences & Policy from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. 

 


Breakout Sessions

A1

Harry E. Morgan, M.D., has developed and is President of The Center for Geriatric and Family Psychiatry, Inc., located in Glastonbury, Connecticut.  The practice is a unique multidisciplinary professional group committed to providing for the mental health care needs of the elderly and their families.  Dr. Morgan is a member of the active psychiatric staff at the Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, the Masonic Health Center, and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He is the Medical Director for the Alzheimer’s Resource Center of Connecticut in Southington, Connecticut.  He is Psychiatrist for the Southington Healthcare Alliance. He is an active Psychiatric Consultant to many agencies, care facilities, and homecare organizations.  Dr. Morgan is Board Certified in Geriatric Psychiatry.  He is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut, an active member of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and an active member of the American Psychiatric Association.  As a Geriatric Psychiatrist, his teaching interests include education related to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses of later life, the diagnosis and treatment of depressive illness as it affects adults in later life, and the study of personality development during aging.  He has consulted and taught nationally related to Forensic issues in geriatrics and aging. Dr. Morgan’s clinical work with patients and families occurs in the office, in long term care facilities, and in patient’s homes.  Dr. Morgan was educated at Dartmouth College, where he received his B.A. degree.  He obtained his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his psychiatric

 
A2 Dr. Priti Patel is a medical epidemiologist in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine. Her areas of expertise include infection control in dialysis and viral hepatitis and she currently leads her division's efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections among dialysis patients. She has published multiple articles on dialysis-related topics, including outbreak investigations of infections and other adverse events in hemodialysis patients and has worked closely with CMS on the interpretive guidance for new infection control conditions for coverage in End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) facilities.

Dr. Melissa Schaefer is a Medical Officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  I work on the team that deals with healthcare settings outside the hospital.  My work focuses primarily on infection control issues in ambulatory surgical centers and outpatient clinics and well as issues related injection safety and medication handling in all settings. 

Nimalie Stone, M.D. is an infectious disease physician who has a research and clinical background in managing infections and antibiotic resistant pathogens in the elderly long-term care population. She recently joined the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as their Medical Epidemiologist for Long-term Care. In this role she coordinates and develops infection prevention and surveillance programs for the long-term care setting. Prior to this position, she was an assistant professor in the Infectious Diseases Division at Emory University which she joined after completing her ID fellowship at Emory in 2007. She did her Internal Medicine residency and a Clinical Pharmacology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before moving down to Emory. She continues to remain on the ID faculty and serves as the healthcare epidemiologist for Emory University’s geriatric hospital and long-term care facility at Wesley Woods Center.

 

A3

Dr. Tom Geary earned his M.D. in 1974 from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, NOLA.  His internship was with Charity Hospital of New Orleans and his residency with the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama Dr. Geary was in private practice from 1977 to 2007 and served as Medical Director of several Alabama nursing homes between 1994 and 2007.  He joined the staff of the Bureau of Health Provider Standards, Alabama Department of Public Health, in September, 2007, and serves as the Medical Director of the Alabama state agency.
 

A4

Lisa Re is Deputy Chief in the Administrative and Civil Remedies Branch in the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, focusing on health care fraud enforcement actions under the False Claims Act and the Civil Monetary Penalties Law.  Before joining the OIG, Ms. Re was a litigation associate at Koonz, McKenny, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot.  Ms. Re is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Law.  Prior to attending law school, Ms. Re practiced as a critical care registered nurse.

A5

Alfreda Walker  has 30 + years’ experience in a variety of health care settings, with an emphasis in administration and management.  This diversified experience has encompassed over 20 years in long term care, in addition to experience in acute care, home health care and education.  She was also an entrepreneur for 8 years as co-owner of a recruitment service, NurseNet, Inc.  In the area of long-term care, Alfreda has held positions as Director of Nursing Services, Administrator, Total Quality Director, Educator and Consultant.  She joined CMS as a surveyor in January 1998 and assumed the position of Manager for the Survey Branch in December 2003.  Alfreda has an undergraduate nursing degree from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration from the Medical College of Georgia.   

Theresa  Bennett is the oldest of six children and has always been a caregiver.  Her 81 year old mother, Eve, has moderate Alzheimer’s and lives with Theresa and her disabled sister.  As you might imagine, she has a particular interest in changing the culture of nursing homes.  Early in her life, Theresa knew that she wanted to be a Registered Nurse. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1973 with academic honors.   As a registered nurse for more than thirty-five years, Theresa worked for nineteen years as a critical care nurse.  She managed a 20-bed unit as a charge nurse for eight years and was head nurse for a 25-bed critical care unit for three years.  In 1990, Theresa became a nurse surveyor for the Health Facility Licensure and Certification Division of the Texas Department of Health.  She held a variety of positions including program reviewer, training coordinator, and program manager.  In May 1993, she came to the CMS Dallas Regional Office as a federal surveyor.  Theresa has worked in the Division of Survey and Certification for more than sixteen years.  Her responsibilities have included State liaison with oversight of State Survey Agencies, and Program/Policy Coordinator for Long Term Care providers and Long Term Care Enforcement.  She has served as Acting Manager for the Long Term Care Enforcement and Review Branch.  Currently, she is Technical Advisor for the Division of Survey and Certification for Region VI.  She enjoys the challenge of working with the diversity of three branches that make up the Division.  She brings the unique perspective of working experience with each branch throughout her CMS career. Theresa has a particular interest in quality assessment and quality improvement and leads a group known as the Quality Improvement Coalition for Region VI.

Nadine Renbarger holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology and has worked for CMS for 22 years.  During her career with CMS, she has surveyed ICFs/MR, Psychiatric Hospitals, CMHCs and Nursing Homes. For the last eight years, Nadine has been the Technical Advisor for the Division of Survey & Certification in the Chicago Regional Office.  In this capacity, Nadine works closely with the Long term care and non-long term care surveyors as well as the enforcement staff in the regional office.  She provides technical assistance and support to staff in survey related issues and conducts the quality review of the surveyor’s statement of deficiencies.  Nadine also participates in various CMS initiatives and was a member of the CMS workgroup on abuse. 

B1

Jillayne Kaiser-Robinson is currently the Section Chief for Special Investigation unit, Long Term Care, Bureau of Healthcare Regulation, Illinois Department of Public Health.  Jillayne has been an RN for 37 years, has been with the Department for 26 years.  She is board certified in gerontology.  The Special Investigations Unit handles the statewide Central Complaint Registry, processing complaints for 29 programs; also receives and processes all serious facility reported incidents; processes CNA’s for abuse, neglect and theft; handle the monitor and receiver program; provides technical interpretation and consultation on medically complex issues as it relates to state and federal guidelines; the Abuse Review Team; provides consultation on identified offender issues.

B2

Mark A. Crafton is the executive director of state and external relations for The Joint Commission.  He represents The Joint Commission in presentations to regulatory agencies, provider associations, business coalitions, Fortune 500 companies and other healthcare purchasers in an effort to promote the value of accreditation.  Before joining The Joint Commission, Mr. Crafton was the Senior Director of Advocacy for the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.  As senior director, he was responsible for monitoring all legislative and regulatory activity that affected member hospitals and health systems.  Mr. Crafton began his career as a Medical Technologist at Edward W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan where he worked in a variety of laboratory positions.  He has also held several other clinical positions, including Virology Technician and Infection Control Coordinator in acute care hospitals.  Mr. Crafton also worked as a Risk Management Consultant for the Michigan Hospital Association Insurance Company, where he provided guidance to over 100 client hospitals on loss avoidance and loss control issues.  Mr. Crafton is a 1984 honors graduate from Michigan State University, where he majored in Natural Science.  In 1985, he completed a one-year internship in Medical Technology and became registered as a Medical Technologist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.  Mr. Crafton received his Masters Degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University in 1994.  He also is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.

 Jennifer Hoppe currently serves as the associate director of state and external relations, within the Division of Business Development, Government & External Relations for The Joint Commission.  In this role, she works with state agencies, provider organizations, and payor/liability insurers to expand recognition of Joint Commission accreditation programs.  Ms. Hoppe has been with The Joint Commission for approximately twelve years and has held various positions within the organization.  Previous to her current role at the Joint Commission, Ms. Hoppe served as Project Manager, Standards Database within the Division of Standards and Survey Methods.  As Project Manager, she was responsible for supporting the business processes associated with the maintenance and monitoring of the standards development cycle.  Ms. Hoppe was also responsible for conducting and analyzing field reviews for various standard development initiatives, as well as the National Patient Safety Goals.  Ms. Hoppe has over three years of experience in the Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations at The Joint Commission.  In her current role, Ms. Hoppe acts as liaison with state regulatory agencies to monitor information about the status and substance of state legislation related to quality and patient safety.  She works with both state and federal healthcare associations.  Ms. Hoppe holds a master’s degree in public health from Northern University, DeKalb, Illinois, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.

B3

Rick Harris received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980.  He joined the staff of the Alabama Department of Public Health in 1989,  beginning as legal counsel for the Division of Licensure and Certification, and since 1998 he has served as director of the Bureau of Health Provider Standards. 

He is a past president of the Association of Health Facility Survey Agencies and represented AHFSA on a national assisted living workgroup which was formed at the request of the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

B4

Lisa Tripp is an Assistant Professor of Law at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Georgia.  Prior to joining John Marshall’s faculty she was an attorney in the Atlanta regional office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  While at HHS, she litigated many federal nursing home cases involving physical and sexual abuse, neglect, elopements, falls, pressure sores, malnutrition, and substandard quality of care. Prior to her employment at HHS, Professor Tripp was an associate in the commercial litigation practice group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP in Atlanta.  Professor Tripp received her law degree, with honors, from George Washington University Law School, in Washington, D.C.

B5

Tom Dudley has been with CMS since 2000 and is a Technical Advisor in the Division of Chronic and Post Acute Care in the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality.  Duties include the development and public reporting of ESRD and Nursing Home quality measures and overseeing the development and implementation of MDS 3.0.  Past CMS projects have included the development of the many databases on www.medicare.gov including the Prescription Drug Plan Finder and Online Enrollment Center, Dialysis Facility Compare, Nursing Home Compare (associated with the Nursing Home Quality Initiative), Your Medicare Coverage, and the Medicare Eligibility Tool.  Professional health care background spans over 25 years in the public and private sectors with experience in the planning, implementation and management of multidisciplinary health care programs.  Education includes a M.S. in Nursing and Business Administration and a B.S. in Nursing from University of Maryland. 

C1 Steven Levenson, MD, CMD has spent his 32-year career throughout the long-term and postacute care continuum. He is currently medical director of six postacute and long-term care facilities in Maryland. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in medical direction and efforts to improve geriatric and long-term care. He has authored or co-authored four books and over 70 articles. His book, Medical Direction in Long-term Care, was the first in the field about how to be a medical director. Another book, Subacute and Transitional Care Handbook, has remained the only comprehensive clinically oriented reference on the topic of postacute care. He has received a number of awards, including the 1998 American Medical Directors Association's (AMDA) Education Award for his efforts to educate and train physicians, nurses, surveyors, administrators, and others across the care continuum. In 2006-2007, he was the President of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA). For several decades, he has been involved extensively in legislative, regulatory, and public policy initiatives and activities, including consultation with CMS and various state agencies and legislatures.
C2 Dr. Priti Patel is a medical epidemiologist in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine. Her areas of expertise include infection control in dialysis and viral hepatitis and she currently leads her division's efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections among dialysis patients. She has published multiple articles on dialysis-related topics, including outbreak investigations of infections and other adverse events in hemodialysis patients and has worked closely with CMS on the interpretive guidance for new infection control conditions for coverage in End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) facilities.

Dr. Melissa Schaefer is a Medical Officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  I work on the team that deals with healthcare settings outside the hospital.  My work focuses primarily on infection control issues in ambulatory surgical centers and outpatient clinics and well as issues related injection safety and medication handling in all settings. 

Nimalie Stone, M.D. is an infectious disease physician who has a research and clinical background in managing infections and antibiotic resistant pathogens in the elderly long-term care population. She recently joined the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as their Medical Epidemiologist for Long-term Care. In this role she coordinates and develops infection prevention and surveillance programs for the long-term care setting. Prior to this position, she was an assistant professor in the Infectious Diseases Division at Emory University which she joined after completing her ID fellowship at Emory in 2007. She did her Internal Medicine residency and a Clinical Pharmacology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before moving down to Emory. She continues to remain on the ID faculty and serves as the healthcare epidemiologist for Emory University’s geriatric hospital and long-term care facility at Wesley Woods Center.

C3

Donna Cochems is a professional consultant and training officer with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  She has been the lead curriculum developer and training facilitator of Wisconsin’s Caregiver Abuse and Neglect Prevention project since 2007.  Donna also served as a senior manager in Wisconsin’s state survey agency, overseeing investigations of caregiver misconduct, the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, and the ongoing implementation of the state’s caregiver background check law.  She attended the University of Wisconsin Madison. 

C4

Tom Walsh has served as a Senior Attorney in the General Counsel's Office of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration since 2004. In addition to managing and prosecuting an active caseload of facilities regulation actions, Tom also heads the Emergency Licensure Action team. He has also served as the Agency's informal hearing officer on numerous occasions.  A graduate of Stetson College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, and a member of the Florida Bar in excess of twenty years, Tom has extensive litigation experience in civil, family, and administrative law. He has served as Court Counsel to the Sixth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida and has been a guest lecturer in numerous areas including guardianship, alternative dispute resolution, emergency administrative actions, and Florida Civil Practice.  In addition to his legal career, Tom is active as a member of the board of directors for a national not-for-profit organization focusing on the treatment of addictions, mental health, and homelessness. Included in this service is serving as Chair for a Florida based not-for profit and a member of two other Florida based not-for-profit corporations.  Previously Tom served as both a member and Chair of the Health and Human Services Board for District Five of Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.  A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Tom resides in his home town with his wife of twenty-seven years, Susan.

Susan Davis serves as the Director of Enforcement for the Regulatory Services division of Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS).  Ms. Davis has a bachelor's degree in psychology, a bachelor's of fine arts degree in studio art, and a doctorate in jurisprudence, all from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Ms. Davis spent approximately nine years working directly with persons with mental retardation in ICF/MR and Medicaid waiver settings. Ms. Davis has worked in both state operated facilities and in privately operated facilities. Ms. Davis' legal experience includes working as a law clerk for Advocacy, Inc. (the state protection and advocacy group) and for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Ms. Davis previously worked for the Texas Medical Board (which regulates physicians, acupuncturists, and physician assistants) as a staff attorney and chief of compliance. In May 2000, Ms. Davis began working for the Texas Department of Human Services as assistant general counsel advising the state survey agency and then for DADS as an enforcement unit attorney advising the state survey agency.  Since June 2005, Ms. Davis has served as the Director of Enforcement for the Regulatory Services division of DADS. 

C5

Jack Williams is the Director of the Division of National Systems in the Finance, Systems, and Budget Group of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations. During his 27+ years of service in the Federal Government, Mr. Williams has worked for the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration (SSA), and for the past 20 years in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS.)  Mr. Williams has worked in computer systems development for 24 years with SSA and CMS.  At SSA he was responsible for the maintaining the Master Beneficiary Record and the Treasury files.  At CMS, Mr. Williams has worked with the Peer Review/Quality Improvement Organizations systems, the Survey and Certification Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system, and the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES.)  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore.

Pam Bosley is a Technical Director in the Division of National Systems in the Data and Systems Group (DSG) of the Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey & Certification (CMCS.)   During her 29 years service in the Federal Government, Mrs. Bosley has worked for the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration (SSA), and for the past 22 years in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS.)  At CMS, Mrs. Bosley has worked with the Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system, the Year 2000 conversion of CMS systems and the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES.)  She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Mansfield University.

.Jeff Amirani is founder and managing partner of Alpine Technology Group (ATG) and has over 20 years experience designing and developing information systems supporting government healthcare agencies.   Jeff’s work also includes development of RUG scores for case mix payment systems, other health policy data analysis and, as a member the technical advisory group, he participated in the development of the standard MDS system. While technology manager at the Colorado survey agency, he developed the original ASPEN system under a grant from CMS.  Since then his company has developed ASPEN to support all S&C operations including the STAR and QIS survey systems for ESRD and NH providers.
 

D1

Robert Solomon is the Division Manager for Building Fire Protection and Life Safety Codes at NFPA.   He oversees the operations of the department whose projects include NFPA 101, Life Safety Code and the NFPA Building Construction and Safety Code ™. Upon graduation from the University of Maryland, he worked with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Charleston, SC. Since 1986, he has held several positions at NFPA, including staff liaison for the NFPA water extinguishing systems projects.  He has been an editor for several technical handbooks for NFPA including the Automatic Sprinkler Systems Handbook, NFPA Fire and Life Safety Inspection Manual, first edition of the NFPA Building Construction and Safety Code Handbook and he currently serves as an Associate Editor for the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook 20th Edition.  He has been active with numerous investigation projects for NFPA including the DuPont Plaza hotel fire, Meridian Plaza office fire, The Station nightclub and the Greenwood nursing home fire. He has managed much of NFPA’s effort in developing code analysis and subsequent changes following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.  He is an active member of The JC Committee on Healthcare Safety; Chairman of the Healthcare Interpretations Task Force; the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat; the UL Fire Council; and he serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the World Organization of Building Officials.

D2

Jerry Fuller, MSW, LCSW, Executive Director, Network 8, Inc.  Administers the CMS contract for the ESRD Network region that includes Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and has served as executive director for 14 of his 21 years with the company. Previous positions include renal social worker with a regional dialysis organization and foster care consultant with the Mississippi Department of Human Services. He serves on the board of trustees of the Mississippi Kidney Foundation.

Sheila McMaster, MSN, RN, CNN, Quality Improvement Coordinator, Network 8,Inc.  18+ years experience in all areas of ESRD including chronic outpatient dialysis, acute hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis training and staff education.  Currently QI Coordinator with Network 8 with responsibilities for overseeing QI activities in 300+ outpatient dialysis facilities.  Has been published in Nephrology Nursing Journal and has served as a literature reviewer for ANNA. Certified Nephrology Nurse and holds certification as Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with specialty focus in Nephrology.

NaTasha Avery, LMSW, Patient Services Coordinator, Network 8,Inc.  Currently the PSC with Network 8 with responsibilities for overseeing patient and facility concerns for 300+ dialysis units and patient and staff education regarding conflict management. Previous work experience as a renal social worker for an independent dialysis corporation. Has presented at several ESRD professional and patient meetings throughout the region. The Chair elect for the ESRD National Patient Services Coordinators workgroup and serves as a member of the professional advisory board for the Mississippi Kidney Foundation.

D3 Pete Feigal has battling clinical depression for thirty five years, MS for twenty and has lived to "tell the tale."
    He has spoken nationally over fourteen hundred times in the last eleven years for schools, colleges, prisons, corporations, churches, medical professionals and police forces around the nation. He is the cofounder of ‘Tilting At Windmills’, a theater and arts program for consumers. Pete has taught at the CDC, (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta, and was the first consumer ever to do Grand Rounds for the Mayo Clinic’s psychiatric section. He served for six years as the President of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)-Hennepin County (MPLS) affiliate, as is now their President Emeritus. He also served on NAMI-MN’s State Board, served on Mental Health Resource’s Board of Directors and People Incorporated’s Advisory Councils, and with Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church’s Mental Illness Task Force. He also works as an inspirational speaker and artist for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
    In 2002 he wrote and c o-starred in a series of national mental health public service announcement’s for the anti-stigma organization, Peace of Mind, featuring ‘West Wing’ star, Martin Sheen. Pete also writes monthly columns on mental health and disability issues for many publications.
    Pete has run workshops for the HQ’s of American Express, Northwest Airlines, Seagate, Lutheran Social Services, and many corporations, States and Counties around the nation. He has become the Midwest’s most active police trainer, working with the Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension organizing mental illness workshops for police, dispatchers, EMT’s, firemen and jail staff. He works with wounded soldiers through the VA system, and counseled some of the rescue workers from “Ground Zero” after 9/11.
    He has received the ”2008 Charlie Smith Award” from Access Press, “2004 Advocate of the Year Award” from the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs, the “2004 Judd Jacobson Award” from Minnesota’s Courage Center, the “2003 Blue Cross/Blue Shield Champion of Health Award,” “National Achievement Award 2002” from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, “2002 Consumer Advocate of the Year” Award f rom the MN-National Alliance For the Mentally Ill, “Advocate of the Year 2000” Award from the Minnesota Psychiatric Society, “Minnesota’s Disabled Artist of the Year, 2000” from Very Special Arts of Minnesota, “Unsung Hero 1999” from CityBusiness Newspaper, the “Jefferson Award” from the American Institute for Public Service, “Everyday Angel” from the Guild of Catholic Women, and was one of the “Eleven Who Care” volunteers from MPLS’s KARE 11 TV in 2000.  In 2006 Pete was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame, and in 2007 was chosen as Minnesota's "Aviation Artist of the Year."
    He is a native Minnesotan and has been, in his checkered past, a professional Shakespearian actor, an artist for Harley-Davidson, Jay Leno and the U.S. Air Force, and a motorcycle drag racer. It is often said, (well, mostly by Pete) that he is a peerless friend, neighbor and all around guy.


D4

Ernest Sykes, Jr. is a healthcare attorney and sole practitioner at The Sykes Law Office in the Nashville, Tennessee area.  His practice focuses on administrative law, with an emphasis on defending health care practitioners in licensure actions, and on regulatory compliance for health care companies and governmental organizations.  Mr. Sykes' decade-plus of practice experience includes complex civil litigation and all facets of administrative & regulatory law.  Prior to starting his law firm, Mr. Sykes spent six years as an Assistant General Counsel with the Tennessee Department of Health, where he prosecuted nurses and other health care professionals before their licensing boards, and where he served as advisory attorney to a wide array of regulatory agencies, including the Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities, the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators, and the Board of Nursing.   Mr. Sykes began his career with the Nashville law firm Howell & Fisher, where his law practice focused on medical malpractice defense and other types of professional malpractice cases.  Mr. Sykes earned his law degree as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee in his hometown of Knoxville, and he received his undergraduate degree from Duke University

D5

David R. Wright Associate Regional Administrator, Division of Survey and Certification Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-Dallas David entered CMS through the Presidential Management Internship program in June 1993.  He currently serves as the Associate Regional Administrator for the Division of Survey and Certification.  In this capacity, he is responsible for the professional and clinical staff charged with the certification and enforcement of over 9,000 long term and acute care Medicare-certified providers and suppliers in a five-state region.  David also served as the coordinator for the National H1N1 1135 Waiver Review Team, responsible for reviewing and approving requests from hospitals to operate under regulatory flexibilities to meet the needs of their communities during the H1N1 Pandemic.  David received his undergraduate degree in Political Science at Texas A&M University, and his Masters of Public Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mary Ellen Hennessy worked in hospital critical care for 6 years before joining the New York State Department of Health. Over the past 30 years her accomplishments have included creation, oversight and administration of multiple statewide reporting and surveillance programs for hospitals, long term care, home health care and public health providers. In 2002 she joined the New York State Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness Program as the Deputy Director, and moved into her current Division position in 2005. She has been actively involved with Public Health Preparedness, serves on the Emergency Preparedness Coordinating Council established by The Greater New York Hospital Association, and Regional planning councils. After the September 11 2001 events changed healthcare in New York, she has been the program lead for the development and implementation of the Health Emergency Response Data System (HERDS), the Department’s key method of data collection and communications with healthcare facilities preceding, during and after emergencies in New York State.

Polly A. Weaver. With over 20 years of regulatory experience, since 1995, Polly has been the Chief of Field Operations for the Division of Health Quality Assurance, Agency for Health Care Administration.  Responsibilities include management of the eight Agency for Health Care Administration field offices located throughout Florida.  These offices are responsible for the certification and survey functions and enforcement activities of the health care facilities that are licensed by this Agency.  It is the responsibility of these field offices to ensure these facilities are operating as required by state and federal regulations.  In addition, Polly currently oversee the staff training and quality assurance program as well as complaint administration activities.   Her clinical expertise is in laboratory medicine, and has worked as a Medical Technologist in the reference, hospital and physician office laboratory arenas. Polly Has a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from Stetson University, DeLand, Florida, awarded August 1979.