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NAHC and NHPCO Announce Transition Board of Directors

For Immediate Release
December 21, 2023

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) jointly announced today that they have developed a proposed slate of Transition Board of Directors and officers for 2024. The Transition Board will oversee the transition to a new, consolidated organization pursuant to its ratification by both associations’ Boards of Directors in an agreement to combine which is contemplated in early 2024. The as-of-yet to be named organization will combine the strengths of NAHC and NHPCO, creating a better and more powerful advocate for the entire care-at-home community. This effort has been led by a joint Steering Committee, comprised of member and staff leaders from NAHC and NHPCO, which has been working collaboratively towards the shared goal of enhanced collaboration to drive industry impact, member value and quality patient outcomes.

The proposed Transition Board was selected collaboratively by the boards of NAHC and NHPCO and represents the full breadth of the patient-centered healthcare sector providing care in homes and communities nationwide, with wide-ranging expertise, demographic and geographic diversity, varied organizational tax statuses, and other criteria. The Transition Board includes equal representation from NAHC and NHPCO — directors with deep experience in home health, hospice, palliative care, personal care services, home care, and private duty. The board also includes business partners, representatives from state associations and at-large members. The board and officers will be ratified when the Definitive Agreements are signed in early 2024.

The proposed Transition Board is as follows:

      • Ken Albert, R.N., Esq., Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice, NAHC, Transition Board Chair
      • David Causby, Gentiva, NAHC
      • Trisha Crissman, MA, CommonSpirit Health at Home, NHPCO
      • Melinda Gruber, PhD, MBA, CNA, Corewell Health, NHPCO, Transition Board Vice Chair
      • Demetress Harrell, MA, LBSW, DAPA, Hospice in the Pines, NHPCO
      • Susan D. Lloyd, MSN, RN, Delaware Hospice, Inc., NHPCO
      • Tarrah Lowry, Trustbridge / Empath, NHPCO
      • Christine McMichael, MA, Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts, current chair of Council of States, NHPCO
      • Mark Morse, Enclara Pharmacia, NHPCO
      • Mary Myers, Retired Johns Hopkins, NAHC
      • John Olajide, Axxess, NAHC
      • Bob Parker, DNP, RN, CENP, CHPN, CHP, Kindful Health, NHPCO
      • Susan Ponder-Stansel, Alivia Care, Inc., NAHC
      • Sara Ratcliffe, Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council, current chair of Forum of States, NAHC
      • Lynne Sexten, FACHE, Agrace, NHPCO, Transition Board Secretary
      • William Simione, SimiTree, NAHC, Transition Board Treasurer
      • Jennifer Sheets, NAHC
      • Beth Slepian, Granite VNA, NAHC
      • Dave Totaro, BAYADA Home Health Care, NAHC
      • Nick Westfall, VITAS Healthcare, NHPCO

Melinda Gruber, proposed Vice Chair of the Transition Board, said, “Across the continuum of serious illness care, providers are looking to the future, working to ensure we can continue to provide high-quality, patient-centered care even as patient needs and payment models shift. The association representing providers should be similarly future-focused. This proposed Transition Board is the right group of people at the right time to take NHPCO and NAHC into the future, to continue providing value for our current and future members.”

Ken Albert, proposed Chair of the Transition Board, said, “With extraordinary opportunity comes the challenge of significant obligation. This proposed Transition Board is made up of experienced veterans of the care at home community, who possess the vision to understand both the opportunity and obligation to build an even stronger future for our sectors of the American health care delivery system. Fulfilling our pledge to return the home to the center of American health care will require a new organization with the expanded expertise of both NAHC and NHPCO. I am very confident that this talented group of leaders is up for the challenges ahead, and that our collective focus will remain on the needs of our members as they endeavor to meet the demands of providing high-quality healthcare.”

For more information, news, and updates on the collaboration, including recordings of the all-member Town Halls, please visit the collaboration update pages on the NAHC and NHPCO websites.