AAPACN is dedicated to supporting post-acute care nurses provide quality care.

Board of Directors

AAPACN Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for the governance and strategic vision of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN). In accordance with AAPACN’s Board Policy Manual, the Board will govern lawfully, observing Policy Governance principles, with an emphasis on (1) outward vision rather than internal preoccupation, (2) encouragement of diversity in viewpoints, (3) strategic leadership more than administrative detail, (4) clear distinction of board and chief executive officer roles, (5) collective rather than individual decisions, (6) future rather than past or present, and (7) proactivity rather reactivity.

The AAPACN Board of Directors and Tracey Moorhead, CEO and President, at the AAPACN 2024 Conference.

Meet the dedicated post-acute care professionals who serve on the AAPACN Board and who help drive our mission of supporting the professional development, empowerment, and success of our members.

Maureen McCarthy, RN, BS, RAC-MT, QCP-MT, DNS-MT, RAC-MTA
Chair

President, Celtic Consulting, LLC, CEO, MDSRescue, LLC, and CEO/Founder, Care Transitions, LLP | Torrington, CT

Nationally recognized as an industry leader in clinical reimbursement for long-term care, Maureen has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years with experience as an MDS coordinator, director of nursing, rehab director, and Medicare biller. In addition to the AAPACN Board of Directors, Maureen is the Chair for the Expert Advisory Panel. Maureen also serves on the Clinical Practice Committee and Reimbursement committee for the American Health Care Association, former President for the Association of Long Term Care Financial Managers, Medicare and MDS 3.0 advisor for several state affiliates, and an advisor to the J13 Medicare contractor National Government Services Provider Advisory Group. She is also an editorial advisor for HCPro. Maureen received the ACHCA 2018 Education Award. Her publications have been in leading industry journals such as PPS Alert, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, and Skilled Nursing News and authored several books

Janet K. Feldkamp, JD, BSN, RN, CHC
Vice Chair

Retired Partner, Benesch Attorneys at Law | Columbus, OH

Janet recently retired after practicing at Benesch Law for over 33 years. She focused her law practice in the area of healthcare law, including long-term care survey and certification, state and federal regulation, physician and nurse practice, and fraud and abuse involving hospitals, suppliers, insurers, and physicians. Janet continues to retain an active licenses as a registered nurse and as an attorney. During her tenure at Benesch Law, she gave more than 500 presentations on health law and related topics, particularly in the area of long-term care. Janet was awarded her Juris Doctorate from Saint Louis University School of Law and her BSN from the University of Missouri. She is the past president of the American Association of Nurse Attorneys and continues to be active on several healthcare-related boards.

Colleen Oakley, OTR/L, NHA, RAC-CT
Treasurer

Senior Director of Operations, Rehab America | Franklin, TN

Colleen is the Senior Director of Operations at Rehab America. She is an occupational therapist with over 27 years of healthcare experience including pediatrics, home health, outpatient, acute care, and LTPAC but considers geriatrics and long-term care her passion. Colleen received her Nursing Home Administrator license in 2010 and her RAC-CT certification in 2020. With expertise in operations, clinical reimbursement, and people development, she has great analytical skills and is passionate about clinical care that results in outstanding outcomes. Colleen has worked with teams to identify areas of opportunity and develop strategies for process improvement, enhanced MDS coding, and reimbursement optimization. She has headed up numerous initiatives that structure and standardized processes for better efficiency and effectiveness.

Adrienne Ellison, MA-CCC/SLP, RAC-CT
Secretary

Regional Vice President, Broad River Rehabilitation | Mocksville, NC

Adrienne has dedicated 27 years of experience to the skilled nursing industry. She holds a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and started her career as a clinician in skilled nursing facilities. Adrienne has held many leadership roles within the SNF setting, including rehabilitation director, area manager, and senior director of operations. In her current role of regional vice president for Broad River Rehabilitation, she supports skilled nursing facilities in several states and works with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the quality provision of therapy care to all of the residents in the communities she serves. Adrienne also holds a RAC-CT, which she obtained in 2017; and specializes in improving access to quality therapy services while maximizing reimbursement.

Elizabeth Florczak, MS, RN, DNS-CT

Chief Clinical Officer, Generations Healthcare Network | Lincolnwood, IL 

Beth has over 30 years of experience spanning the healthcare continuum. She started as a nurse technician and has worked in a number of settings including critical care, medical surgical, home care, hospice, and post-acute care. She has held roles including staff nurse, nurse educator, director of nursing, vice president of professional clinical development, and vice president of quality. In her current role as COO, Beth leads a team of consultants to provide support to high acuity skilled nursing facilities in multiple states. She is a contributor to several professional publications and has served on the board of directors of Telligen, the Illinois Catholic Health Care Association, and the Professional and Technical Advisory Panel for Joint Commission. In addition to serving on the AAPACN Board of Directors, she is a member of the DNS Expert Advisory Panel.

Rosanna Benbow, RN, CCM, ICC, IP, DNS-CT, QCP, RAC-CTA

Regional Director, Proactive LTC Consulting | Marion, IN

Rosie has over 26 years serving the elderly in post-acute care. She is a certified case manager as well as an interact certified champion. Rosie also holds AAPACN certifications including DNS-CT, QCP, and RAC-CTA. Beginning as a CNA, Rosie has extensive experience in clinical reimbursement in roles such as director of nursing, MDS coordinator, case mix auditor, clinical IT specialist and MDS/reimbursement consultant. While focusing on MDS and case management, Rosie has been highly involved in ACO partnerships, policy development, Interact 3.0 implementation, and QAPI program development.

Liz Barlow, RN, CRRN, RAC-CT, DNS-CT, QCP

Vice President of Marketing, Synchrony Health Services |  Louisville, KY

Liz is a certified rehab registered nurse who has worked in the SNF industry for over 30 years, devoting much of that time to working with rehab therapy services. She has worked in various roles including case manager, marketing, senior director of quality, and vice president of clinical services. Her passion is education, and she has spent much of her career teaching and training other healthcare professionals. In her current role, she is responsible for the overall marketing brand of Synchrony Health Services which includes Synchrony Rehab, Synchrony Pharmacy, Synchrony Lab, and Synchrony Rx@HOME. Her clinical background helps to drive a person-centered care approach through the company’s lines of business. In addition to the AAPACN Board, Liz also served on the AAPACN Expert Advisory Panel and is active as an Alliance member of The Thrive Center, a non-profit connecting innovation to seniors for a better quality of life and healthy aging.

 

Scott Heichel, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, IPCO, QCP, ICC

Director of Clinical Reimbursement, LeaderStat | Powell, OH

Scott is the director of clinical reimbursement for LeaderStat and brings over 25 years of healthcare experience and is recognized for his expertise in the RAI process and clinical reimbursement. Scott’s consulting work includes performing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement reviews and educational programs for skilled nursing facilities and multi-facility operators. Scott has experience in and has testified as an expert witness in a large Medicare dispute case and has also assisted in Corporate Integrity Audits and corporate compliance reviews. Scott is a member of AAPACN's Expert Advisory Panel and is an AAPACN Master Teacher for the RAC-CT certification. He also serves as board president for OANAC (Ohio Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators).

Denise Egan, RN, BSN, MS, APRN-BC

Clinical Manager, South Shore VNA | Boston, MA

Denise has over 50 years of long-term care experience, starting her career as a nurses' aide and progressed to a board certified nurse practitioner. Her nursing roles included staff nurse, charge nurse, manager, and assistant director of nursing. Denise has also practiced in home health, hospice, and as a certified surveyor for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Prior to becoming a surveyor, Denise worked for MassHealth, investigating fraud and abuse claims for the state's Medicaid program.  Denise became a geriatric nurse practitioner in order to provide care and services to our senior population. Her next focus is to educate long-term care staff regarding Trauma-Informed Care. Denise is hopeful that her years of experience in long-term care will be helpful in educating staff in best practices for providing the optimum care for seniors.

Robin Hillier, CPA, LNHA, RAC-CTA, RAC-MT

President, RLH Consulting | Long Grove, IL

Throughout her career, Robin has been involved in all aspects of facility operations, including ownership roles. She is currently the President of RLH Consulting, which provides operational and reimbursement consulting to providers of skilled nursing, assisted living and intellectual or developmental disabilities. She is a nationally recognized expert on payment system design, quality measurement and the Resident Assessment Instrument, and was actively involved in the design of the Patient Driven Payment Model implemented Oct. 1, 2019. Robin is Past Chair of both the Ohio Health Care Association (OHCA) and its Educational Foundation (EFOHCA), and has served on the OHCA Board of Directors since 1998. She served on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and continues to serve on the Reimbursement Cabinet. She also serves on the AAPACN Expert Advisory Panel. She was a recipient of the 2018 AANAC Contributor of the Year award, the 2015 AHCA Joe Warner Patient Advocacy award, and the 2004 OHCA President’s award. 

Jackie Pappalardi, RN, BSN

Senior Director, Grants Management and Member Services, New York State Health Facilities Association - New York Center for Assisted Living | Albany, NY

Jackie has over 40 years of experience in the public and private healthcare delivery system with demonstrated leadership competence in regulatory oversight, lobbying, and corporate leadership. With a clinical background as a registered nurse, Jackie has been a strong advocate for ensuring patients, residents, and clients receive quality health care through access to effective and competent programs. Her vast experiences working across the healthcare continuum with staff, facility, government, and community leaders have shaped her positive approach to the value of enhancing local, state, and national partnerships to achieve regulatory compliance and accreditation, to develop and implement emergency management programs and to build strong quality improvement practices with providers. In her current role, she works with nursing home and assisted living providers to ensure their readiness to changes in state and federal regulations, develops action plans demonstrating standards of quality improvement and fosters the growth of strong collaborative partnerships. Jackie served as President of the Junior League of Albany and is an active member of the Professional Advisory Committee for Long Term Care Services for St Peter’s Health Partners, part of Trinity Health, Albany NY.

Danielle Pierotti, PhD, RN, CENP

Clinical Associate Professor and Director Undergraduate Studies, School of Nursing, Idaho State University | Pocatello, ID

Dr. Pierotti is an executive nurse leader and educator. She currently serves over 250 undergraduate BSN students in traditional, accelerated, and completion pathways at four campuses across the state of Idaho. Her diverse leadership background spans acute care, ambulatory, home-based settings, and numerous national leadership roles. With expertise in healthcare quality and professional practice and known for building collaborative outcomes-focused teams, she strives to merge theory and practice into a cohesive whole.  

Holly Chaffee, MSN, BSN, RN
At-large Member

President and CEO, Care Central VNA and Hospice, Inc. | Enfield, CT

Holly has over 30 years of home care experience holding every position advancing to CEO. She has worked in both for profit and non-profit agencies. Holly is a seasoned innovator and change agent. She has extensive business, strategy, operational, clinical, technology, and merger experience in home care, hospice, private duty, assisted living, and adult day care. Holly has worked within ACO’s, health systems, and continuums of care implementing preferred provider agreements, new models of care as well as a variety of risk-based contracts. Recently, she rolled out an AI documentation project with field clinicians in home care. She has implemented projects in her consulting practice from start up to execution of operational changes required for financial stability. Holly has served as the board chair for both the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and the Visiting Nurse Association of New England where she remains an active board member. She is also active in the North Central Chamber of commerce and serves on their Compact Committee.