Long-term care providers must take charge of their own future and become “catalysts of change” for a better life beyond the coronavirus public health crisis, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan declared during her group’s online annual meeting and expo in November.
“Every flaw and crack in our system has been exposed. The fractures are too great to [just] patch back together,” Sloan said. “While we clearly need to remain focused on today’s crisis, now is the time to consider what we may be. We need imagination now more than ever.”
Despite the horrors that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, Sloan said that operators should seize an opportunity to band together and create a better post-pandemic future.
“Our progress must be measured in actions taken, policies changed and lives lived,” she added. “Our objective is deep systems reform and we must be the ones to define success.”
That future could include such changes as developing a better system to pay for long-term services and supports in a fair and rational way, setting reimbursement rates that cover basic needs, and ensuring the industry workforce is adequately paid and that seniors have access to services that fit their needs, she said.
From the December 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
