Griffin elected RIHCA chair

DEBORAH GRIFFIN was recently elected to serve a two-year term as chair of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, the state’s largest trade association for skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities. Additionally, Griffin was chosen by her peers as the 2016 RIHCA Administrator of the Year for her work with the Hattie Ide Chaffee Home, where she has served as administrator since 2003.

What, in your opinion, is the makeup of a great administrator?

A great administrator is an individual who possesses strong core values and lives by the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would want done to you.” They have the ability to make important decisions on their feet quickly and confidently. They possess strong leadership abilities and a strong work ethic.

How has the health care industry changed since you began in the ’90s?

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In the early ’90s, nursing homes were used predominantly for long-term care. Short-stay residents receiving post-acute rehabilitation or recuperation were nearly nonexistent. Now they are dealing with a variety of complex medical conditions and have become the transitional step from hospital to home for thousands of Rhode Islanders each year.

You have just been elected chair of the RIHCA. What issues are of most concern to your members right now?

It is, and has been, adequate funding. Most people do not realize that Medicare and Medicaid pay for the bulk of skilled nursing care. Medicaid, for several years now, has not kept pace with the actual cost of care. We need to have an adequate, reliable funding source in order to be able to provide good outcomes and quality service.

If there was one major change you could make during your term as chair, what would it be?

Long-term care insurance is truly a solution and “win-win” scenario for everyone involved with our profession – providers and patients alike. Skilled nursing providers would have a more reliable source of funding, and the state budgets would not be drained by the growing population of elderly in need of our services. •

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