It’s been two years since CALTCM’s nascent Public Policy Committee put forth our “Nursing Home Safety Act.”  Two of our proposals were signed into law by the Governor of California last year.  One was related to financial transparency, which ultimately became SB 650, and the other was requiring nursing home medical directors to be certified, which became AB 749, authored by the Chair of the California Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care, Mr. Adrin Nazarian.  From conceptualization to today, it’s been a remarkable journey.  Last month, our President, Dr. Janice Hoffman and I had the opportunity to present Mr. Nazarian with a plaque, thanking him for his support and yeoman efforts.

There’s a lot to learn from this experience. The first is that a small dedicated group of individuals can actually bring about change.  I am so proud to be a member of CALTCM, and to chair our now robust Public Policy Committee. We want to consider this the first of many successful efforts to bring about change that can positively influence the quality of care delivered to vulnerable older adults along the long term care continuum.  

Being in the field of geriatrics and gerontology generally comes with the emotional skills of appreciating being part of a team.  With that collaborative propensity, most of us are conflict averse.  Getting a bill written, passed, signed and implemented requires the occasional suspension of that trait.  On the other hand, I believe that one of the reasons we were successful was that everyone we discussed our proposal with knew that we came from a place of wanting to “do the right thing” for residents of nursing homes.  As CALTCM takes on new public policy initiatives, that continues to be our greatest attribute. 

To be totally honest, there were a number of colleagues who initially felt that this initiative was overreaching.  I recently had the opportunity to interact with a significant number of California medical directors who are taking the CMD course because of the new law.  While there may be some critics out there, I haven’t found them yet. As I do with each CMD Synthesis Course, I learn things from the participants.  Some of them had been medical directors for over forty years!  We all learned new things and felt that AB 749 is already paying dividends.

If you would like to participate in our Public Policy Committee. If you have ideas for Policy in the future.  If you want to make a difference. Let us know. We welcome all CALTCM members in participating in bringing about the highest quality of care to those living along the long term care continuum.