Building Better Care: Improving the System for Delivering Health Care to Older Adults and Their Families

Building Better Care: Improving the System for Delivering Health Care To Older Adults and Their Families

A Special Forum Hosted by the Campaign for Better Care July 28, 2010 • National Press Club

Speaker Biographies

DEBRA L. NESS, MS President National Partnership for Women & Families

For over two decades, Debra Ness has been an ardent advocate for the principles of fairness and social justice. Drawing on an extensive background in health and public policy, Ness possesses a unique understanding of the issues that women and families face at home, in the workplace, and in the health care arena. Before assuming her current role as President, she served as Executive Vice President of the National Partnership for 13 years. Ness has played a leading role in positioning the organization as a powerful and effective advocate for today’s women and families.

Ness serves on the boards of some of the nation’s most influential organizations working to improve health care. She sits on the Boards of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the National Quality Forum (NQF), and recently completed serving on the Board of Trustees of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. She co-chairs the Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Group and sits on the Steering Committee of the AQA and on the Quality Alliance Steering Committee. Ness also serves on the board of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and on the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), co-chairing LCCR’s Health Task Force.

THE HONORABLE SHELDON WHITEHOUSE United States Senator

For more than 20 years, Sheldon Whitehouse has served the people of Rhode Island: championing health care reform, standing up for our environment, helping solve fiscal crises, and investigating public corruption. Now, his experience as a seasoned ______

1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 650 P 202.986.2600 E [email protected] Washington, DC 20009 F 202.986.2539 W www.CampaignforBetterCare.org

The Campaign for Better Care is led by the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst, and the National Health Law Program and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. prosecutor and policymaker is at work for Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate, where he is bringing new leadership to Congress and working to set our country on a different course. Whitehouse has been a leader in the fight to reform our broken health care system and worked to include language in health reform legislation to close the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole,” which leaves many seniors unable to afford their prescription drugs. He has also spearheaded the nationwide effort to expand the use of health information technology (HIT), such as electronic medical records, which lower costs and improve health care quality for patients. Whitehouse helped Rhode Island become a leader in this growing field throughout his career, and in 2010 he worked to secure $26 million in federal funding for the Rhode Island Quality Institute for the implementation of HIT.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Whitehouse served as a policy advisor and counsel in the Office of the Governor of Rhode Island and as the state’s Director of Business Regulation before being nominated by President Bill Clinton to be Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney in 1994. He was elected State Attorney General in 1998, a position in which he served from 1999-2003. On November 7, 2006, Rhode Islanders elected Whitehouse to the Senate, where he is a member of the Special Committee on Aging, the Budget Committee, the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. He chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts and the EPW Subcommittee on Oversight. He lives in Newport with his wife, Sandra, a marine biologist and environmental advocate, and their two children.

GAIL SHEEHY Best Selling Author and Caregiver Advocate

As the bestselling author of 16 books, including Passages, Gail Sheehy has rocked the culture and changed the way millions of women and men around the world look at the stages of their lives. In 2010 she takes on the most challenging and personal issue in her latest book: Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos Into Confidence. She tells the inspiring story of her own journey of 17 years caring for her husband and fills the book with stories of families who we can all relate to and their most creative strategies. Sheehy's revolutionary Passages (1976) remained on The New York Times bestseller list for more than three years and has been reprinted in 28 languages. A Library of Congress survey named Passages one of the 10 most-influential books of our time.

As a literary journalist, Sheehy was one of the original contributors to New York magazine. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair since 1984, she won the Washington Journalism Review Award for Best Magazine Writer in America for her in-depth character portraits of national and world leaders, including both Presidents Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein, and Mikhail Gorbachev. Sheehy is a seven-time recipient of the New York Newswomen's Club Front Page Award for distinguished journalism. One of the most popular speakers on the lecture circuit, Sheehy offers dynamic programs based on her groundbreaking

2 investigations and observations of the lives of men and women within different phases of their lives and how they can enjoy them to the fullest.

LOUIS G. COLBERT, MSW, LSW Family Caregiver Director, Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging (COSA)

Louis G. Colbert is the Director of the Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging (COSA) since March 2001. In this capacity he is responsible for administering a department of county government and an Area Agency on Aging that provides direct services and home and community based care to over 15,000 elderly residents of Delaware County. He also is the co-founder of the Center on Ethnic and Minority Aging (CEMA). CEMA was formed in 1995 to devote concentrated energy in the areas of research, consultation, and training for the benefit of ethnic and minority elders of color and their communities. Colbert’s past professional experiences have included working as the director of social services in a long term care facility, developing innovative programs for senior community centers, teaching gerontology courses at Lincoln and Widener Universities, and presenting numerous workshops at conferences, such as the American Society on Aging, National Council on Aging, and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged.

In addition to his professional work, Colbert also is a family caregiver for his elderly mother in Pennsylvania.

JENNIFER C. JAFF, JD Attorney and Founder of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc.

Jennifer C. Jaff is an attorney and founder of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc., a tax exempt organization that provides free information, advice and advocacy services to patients with chronic illnesses. Advocacy for Patients provides free services to patients nationwide in areas including health and disability insurance, Social Security disability, employment discrimination, educational equity, and resource location. Jaff is the author of Know Your Rights: A Handbook for Patients with Chronic Illness, which is in its third edition, and Friday Tired, a book about her experience as a patient and patient advocate.

Jaff graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984, after earning membership in Phi Beta Kappa and numerous other awards at her college graduation. At Georgetown, Jaff was a staff member of the Georgetown Law Journal, where she published her first of over a dozen law review articles on issues ranging from health care fraud to women’s rights.

JOANN DONNELLAN President, JD MEDIA, LLC Family Caregiver

Joann Donnellan is the President of JD MEDIA, LLC, a boutique media and public relations consulting firm in Washington, D.C. The firm provides media relations strategy and outreach, cause marketing, multi-media advocacy campaign development, and event management services to non-profit and corporate clients. Donnellan has 20 years of experience as a creative media relations strategist, public affairs campaign director, television producer and assignment editor. JD MEDIA’s client work includes the Ad Council, Bipartisan Policy Center, University of Miami, National Rehabilitation Hospital, Brookings Institution, UNAIDS, Malaria No More, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Enough Project, National Academies of Practice, and the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program.

Prior to founding JD MEDIA, Donnellan was the traveling press secretary for the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, co- chaired by former Senator Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala. Before joining the Commission, Donnellan was the Director of Media Relations and spokesperson for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. She was also the architect of a national campaign that established the AMBER Alert program across the nation to save abducted children. In addition to her professional work, Donnellan is also a family caregiver for both of her parents.

EMILY SPITZER, JD Executive Director National Health Law Program (NHeLP)

Emily Spitzer is the Executive Director of the National Health Law Program, a public interest law firm that works to secure health rights for vulnerable populations. Previously, she served as the director of the District of Columbia Bar Foundation, where she brought together the D.C. Bar, the legal services community, private law firms, and the courts to create the D.C Access to Justice Commission.

Spitzer has held numerous staff and board positions with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, where as Vice President for Research, she revamped the grant- making process so that the funded research was patient-focused. Earlier in her legal career, Spitzer was a staff attorney and acting legal director for the NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund. She holds degrees from Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center.

4 JONATHAN RAUCH Contributing Editor, The Atlantic Guest Scholar at Brookings Institution

Jonathan Rauch, a senior writer and columnist for National Journal magazine in Washington and a contributing editor of The Atlantic, is the author of several books and many articles on public policy, culture, and economics. In the April 2010 edition of The Atlantic, Rauch wrote an article about his struggle to care for his elderly father entitled, Letting Go of My Father. He is also a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, a leading Washington think-tank. He is winner of the 2005 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary and the 2010 National Headliner Award for magazine columns.

Rauch was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated in 1982 from Yale University. He went on to become a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina before moving to Washington in 1984. From 1984-89 he covered fiscal and economic policy for National Journal. In 1990 he spent six months in Japan as a fellow of the Japan Society Leadership Program, and in 1996 he was awarded the Premio Napoli alla Stampa Estera for his coverage, in The Economist, of the European Parliament. He has also won two second-place prizes (2000 and 2001) in the National Headliner Awards. His articles appear in The Best Magazine Writing 2005 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004 and 2007. He has appeared as a guest on many television and radio programs.

DAVID B. REUBEN, MD Director, Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology (MPGMG) Chief, Division of Geriatrics, UCLA Center for Health Sciences

David B. Reuben, M.D. is Director, Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology (MPGMG) and Chief, Division of Geriatrics at UCLA Center for Health Sciences. He is the Archstone Foundation Chair and Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is also director of the UCLA Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. Dr. Reuben sustains professional interests in clinical care, education, research, and administrative aspects of geriatrics. He maintains a clinical primary care practice of frail, older persons and attends on inpatient and geriatric psychiatry units at UCLA. He has won seven awards for excellence in teaching. Dr. Reuben's current research interests include redesigning the office visit to improve healthcare quality and measurement of how older adults function. His bibliography includes over 180 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals, 29 books, and numerous chapters.

In 2000, Dr. Reuben received the Dennis H. Jahnigen Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to education in the field of geriatrics, and in 2008, he received the Joseph T. Freeman Award by the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Reuben was part of the

5 team that received the 2008 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Research - Joint Commission and National Quality Forum (NQF), for Assessing Care of the Vulnerable Elderly (ACOVE). He is a past President of the American Geriatrics Society and the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP). Dr. Reuben is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and sits on its Executive Committee. He is lead author of the widely distributed book, Geriatrics at Your Fingertips. Dr. Reuben produced Freda Sandrich: Center Stage, a short documentary that was a finalist for a FREDDIE award. His play about decision-making at the end of life, Reprieves, had its first reading in Los Angeles in 2007 and has had two subsequent commissioned readings, by the California Healthcare Foundation in 2008 and by the Friends of the Semel Institute in 2009. His subsequent plays focus on Lyndon Johnson and the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and on vaccines and autism. He is currently writing a comedy.

CARLA GATES, RN, MHS Director of Care Management Providence Hospital

Carla Gates is the Director of Care Management at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. A Registered Nurse since 1992, Carla has over 15 years of experience working in care management and care coordination. She was one of the first six nurses to work in the Guided Care program at Providence Hospital.

Gates received her MHS in Health Care Finance and Management from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomsburg School of Public Health.

ROBYN L. GOLDEN, MA, LSW Director, Older Adult Programs Rush University Center

Robyn Golden serves as the Director of Older Adult Programs at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where she also holds academic appointments in the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Health Systems Management. She is responsible for the expansion of services and oversees health and aging, mental health and transitional care programs. Golden has worked in the field of aging for more than 25 years. She has been actively involved in service provision, program development, education, research and public policy aimed at developing innovative initiatives and systems integration to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their families.

In 2003-04, Golden was the John Heinz Senate Fellow based in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, Golden worked at Council for Jewish Elderly for 18 years, serving for much of that time as their Director of Clinical Service. Golden is adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service

6 Administration. In addition, she is the immediate past chair of American Society on Aging and is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Golden is a frequent speaker for both professional and consumer audiences. Golden has her Masters degree from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and Bachelors degree from Miami University.

RENÉE MARKUS HODIN, JD Project Director, Integrated Care Advocacy Project Community Catalyst

As Director of the Integrated Care Advocacy Project, Renée Markus Hodin leads efforts to ensure that the voices of our most vulnerable populations are well represented in state and federal efforts to redesign the U.S. health care system. Hodin also serves as the Director of Community Catalyst Legal Action, an effort to challenge unlawful practices of private health care entities which hurt health care consumers.

Hodin’s expertise extends to other areas of health care, including hospital free care and community benefits and health care conversions. Before joining Community Catalyst, she served as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Litigation Department of the Vermont Attorney General's Office. She holds degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Maryland School of Law.

PETER V. LEE, JD Director of Delivery System Reform Office of Health Reform, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Peter Lee, JD, is the Director of Delivery System Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Health Reform. He was formerly the Executive Director for National Health Policy of the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), overseeing the efforts of PBGH to shape national and state policies to reinforce purchasers’ efforts to improve the affordability and accessibility of high quality health care.

Lee served as the Chief Executive Officer of PBGH from 2000 to 2008. Before joining PBGH, Lee was the Executive Director of the Center for Health Care Rights. There he oversaw the Center's direct service, research and advocacy efforts seeking to ensure that consumers are represented at every level of the health care system. Previously, Lee was an attorney with the Los Angeles firm of Tuttle & Taylor. In the 1980s, he worked on health care issues in Washington, D.C., where he was the Director of Programs for the National AIDS Network. He received his law degree from the University of Southern California and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.