We certainly don’t lack access to information these days. As healthcare professionals, we can attend national conferences, participate in virtual webinars, listen to podcasts, read journals, and with just a few clicks and a well-written AI prompt get access to information almost instantly. 

So you may be asking yourself, why attend a state chapter meeting?

For me – the answer to that question is that a great professional meeting offers us something more than information. It gives us the opportunity to learn together, wrestle with the challenges that are specific to our work and state regulations and practice needs, and connect with people who truly understand the world in which we practice.  And in a world that keeps accelerating exponentially on the technology side, we cannot forget about the value of the human to human connection side.  That is what I value about CALTCM’s Summit for Excellence.

Post-acute and long-term care is wonderfully interdisciplinary and incredibly complex. Clinical care intersects with regulations, operations, ethics, risk, quality, staffing, resident and family preferences, and the realities of providing care within a skilled nursing environment. And in California, of course, we have another layer: understanding what changing policies and regulations mean specifically for those of us practicing here.

The 2026 CALTCM Summit for Excellence, September 24–26 in San Diego, reflects that complexity and will hone in on the topics most meaningful to healthcare professionals today.  This year’s program tackles some of the biggest changes shaping healthcare right now, beginning with a keynote on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Implementation, Challenges, and Lessons Learned. And the general theme of this year’s session content is designed to help us think about what changes in healthcare actually mean in practice.

We’ll explore how to build a high-performing skilled nursing facility through interdisciplinary collaboration; strengthen clinical practice through bias awareness and cultural humility; navigate federal and California-specific updates; improve QAPI efforts; and stay current on emerging medical evidence and guidelines. Clinical sessions address topics including the geriatric kidney, psychotropic medication use, and new evidence relevant to the care of older adults.

And because some of our most valuable learning happens through discussion rather than lecture, the Summit once again includes CALTCM’s In-the-Trenches sessions. These smaller, interactive conversations give attendees the opportunity to dig into issues with faculty and colleagues, from using AI to solve real problems, to interdisciplinary leadership, culturally responsive communication, regulations, behavioral health, clinical updates, and career development.

This year also brings a dedicated Medicolegal Summit, using cases and interactive discussion to explore nursing home litigation, documentation, risk, and even what it means to serve as an expert witness. And an expanded library of on-demand education allows us to go deeper into additional topics including PTSD, infection prevention, new medications, LGBTQ+ care, and substance use disorders.

But perhaps the strongest argument for attending a state chapter meeting isn’t found on the agenda at all.  It is the person who will be sitting next to you.  CALTCM brings together physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, administrators, psychologists, and other professionals who care deeply about improving post-acute and long-term care. These are people who understand the challenges of this work because they are living them too. A conversation over coffee, a question asked during an In-the-Trenches session, or an introduction at the poster reception can sometimes be every bit as valuable as the formal education.  That kind of professional community matters - particularly in a field as challenging, rapidly changing, and deeply human as ours.

If you have attended a past CALTCM Summit, you can attest to leaving with more than new knowledge.  Attendees leave with new ideas, new connections, renewed energy, and a reminder of why this work matters.

I hope you’ll join us in San Diego this September. Come to learn what is changing. Come to talk about what is difficult. Come to share what is working. And perhaps most importantly, come spend a few days with a community of people who are working alongside you to make long-term care better.

We hope to see you at the 2026 CALTCM Summit for Excellence, September 24–26 at Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego.