Nick Garofoli

Head of Business Development, US
  • 113-E. Improving Dementia Care with AI-Powered Pain Assessment

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    113-E. Improving Dementia Care with AI-Powered Pain Assessment

    Pain is often underrecognized and undertreated in older adults with dementia, many of whom cannot reliably self-report their discomfort. This communication barrier leads caregivers to rely on subjective observations, resulting in inconsistent assessments and missed opportunities for intervention. This session will explore how AI-powered pain assessment tools combine automated facial recognition with structured digital checklists to accurately and consistently identify pain-related behaviors in nonverbal individuals. Presenters will demonstrate how to use these tools to improve clinical decision-making and reduce falls, frailty, and inappropriate drug use. Join this session to discover how technology and human care can work together to ensure a pain-free future for older adults.

Margaret Gibson

Vice President, Sales
National Church Residences
Columbus, OH
  • 85-H. Primary Care Partnerships: How They Work, Why They Matter

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    85-H. Primary Care Partnerships: How They Work, Why They Matter

    Is your senior living organization aiming to improve residents’ health outcomes but unsure how to proceed? This session will offer a practical solution: establish a partnership with an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and a primary care medical group to deliver enhanced clinical services to residents. Presenters will describe how their multisite organization’s primary care team partnered with an ACO to establish a Medicare Shared Savings Program. You’ll learn about the partnership’s operational and financial benefits, including better care, fewer avoidable hospitalizations, longer resident stays, and lower turnover. Discover how these partnerships work, why they matter, and the steps providers can take to implement them effectively.

Jessica Gier

VP of Clinical Operations and Reimbursement
Saint Therese
Minneapolis, MN
  • 91-L. Want to Engage Your Teams? Write a Living Strategic Plan

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    91-L. Want to Engage Your Teams? Write a Living Strategic Plan

    Do team members’ eyes glaze over when you mention your organization’s strategic plan? Or is the plan a living document that guides their day-to-day work? If you’re experiencing the first scenario but hoping for the second, this session is for you. Presenters will introduce you to EOS, a strategic planning model designed for weekly use and quarterly updates. Follow a multisite organization’s journey to implement EOS by defining its mission, vision, and values, addressing barriers to progress, and measuring weekly performance. You’ll learn to distill your strategic plan into a one-page document, use data to make decisions, and involve every team member in achieving organizational goals.

Ryan Glatt, MS, CPT, NBC-HWC

Senior Brain Health Coach & FitBrain Director
Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Foundation
Santa Monica, CA
  • 111-C. Combining Physical and Cognitive Training for Brain Health

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    111-C. Combining Physical and Cognitive Training for Brain Health

    Cognitive health is a key predictor of independence, quality of life, and long-term care use among older adults. Yet many senior living communities still rely on passive brain-health approaches that lack measurable outcomes. This session will present results from a recent study showing that older adults who combined physical movement with cognitive processing in a single, interactive intervention achieved significant cognitive gains. Presenters will review the study’s findings, which suggest that even low-frequency, consistent training can yield measurable benefits. They’ll also offer tips for integrating cognitive-motor training into your wellness programs, reimbursement models, and population health strategies.

Daniel Godfrey

Partner
RLPS Architects
Lancaster, PA
  • 55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    Independent living occupancy has surpassed 90% nationally, even as inventory growth has reached record lows. With demand projected to accelerate, life plan communities must ask a critical question: If the market is ready for growth, why aren’t we? This session will help you become more comfortable with organizational growth. Presenters will guide you in assessing when to grow, when to wait, and which indicators matter most. They’ll share step-by-step processes to build alignment on growth across your organization and show you how to reduce uncertainty and accelerate progress. Learn to differentiate between healthy risk awareness and counterproductive risk avoidance, and get ready to take meaningful action to grow your organization.

Bethany Goff

Director of EverTrue Answers
EverTrue
Saint Louis, MO
  • 36-A. Building In-Home Services through Acquisition and Innovation

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    36-A. Building In-Home Services through Acquisition and Innovation

    Many providers of aging services are interested in new ways to deliver high-quality support in the home, especially for middle-market consumers. This session will explore how one multisite sponsor of affordable housing and life plan communities expanded its at-home services through a strategic mix of acquisitions, program innovation, and affiliations with home and community-based service providers. Presenters will also highlight two new programs they designed to serve life plan community residents and the broader community: a concierge care navigation and coaching service, and an at-home support program for older adults with incomes just below traditional private-pay thresholds. Gain concrete ideas for building or expanding scalable in-home services to serve current residents and the price-sensitive middle market.

Georgia Goodman

Director, Medicaid
LeadingAge
Washington, DC
  • 95-C. Program Integrity: Get Ready for Ongoing Scrutiny

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    95-C. Program Integrity: Get Ready for Ongoing Scrutiny

    Federal oversight of programs funded by Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, and other programs has intensified in recent years as regulators and policymakers sharpen their focus on program integrity in home and community-based settings. This session will provide an overview of evolving federal compliance expectations and how they shape state expectations. Presenters will offer insights into emerging compliance themes across agencies, the operational implications of policy and enforcement trends, and proactive measures to strengthen your compliance infrastructure. You’ll leave with strategies to enhance internal controls, align training and governance practices, and build a culture of accountability that can withstand evolving federal and state oversight.

Andrew Gorton

V.P. of Operations
Rockwood Retirement Communities
Spokane, WA
  • 38-B. Capital-Efficient Pathways to Meet Needs and Advance Mission

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    38-B. Capital-Efficient Pathways to Meet Needs and Advance Mission

    Nonprofit providers of aging services must scale their organizations to serve an older population that continues to grow each year. But how can growth be achieved when land options are limited, and expansion appears cost-prohibitive? This session will showcase a group of single-site and multisite organizations exploring capital-efficient pathways to meet local needs and advance their missions. Presenters will provide an inside look at how these organizations developed new campuses, implemented phased expansions, engaged in adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and established satellite communities. Learn how successful organizations use disciplined planning and evaluation to identify opportunities and mitigate risk. Get the guidance you need to achieve sustainable growth and capital-efficient expansion in constrained markets.

Angela Green Urbaczewski

VP, Customer Advocacy & Growth
K4Connect
Morrisville, NC
  • 135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    Senior living organizations are navigating a workforce environment marked by staffing shortages, rapid onboarding, rising recruitment costs, and shifting expectations among new and seasoned team members. This session will explore how thoughtful experience design and strategic technology use can reshape the employee experience and foster lasting commitment. Presenters will share workforce-strengthening strategies that adapt customer-experience methods to the aging services workplace. They’ll outline the advantages of treating employees as “internal customers” by offering internships, mentoring programs, community-building initiatives, data-driven coaching tools, and streamlined career pathways. You’ll learn practical steps to reduce turnover and make workforce investments more predictable and measurable, even with resource constraints.

Angela Green Urbaczewski

Chief Sales & Marketing Officer
Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC)
Harrisonburg, VA
  • 135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    Senior living organizations are navigating a workforce environment marked by staffing shortages, rapid onboarding, rising recruitment costs, and shifting expectations among new and seasoned team members. This session will explore how thoughtful experience design and strategic technology use can reshape the employee experience and foster lasting commitment. Presenters will share workforce-strengthening strategies that adapt customer-experience methods to the aging services workplace. They’ll outline the advantages of treating employees as “internal customers” by offering internships, mentoring programs, community-building initiatives, data-driven coaching tools, and streamlined career pathways. You’ll learn practical steps to reduce turnover and make workforce investments more predictable and measurable, even with resource constraints.

Melinda Gren

VP Performance and Operations, HCBS
Goodwin Living
Alexandria, VA
  • 83-G. Improve Your Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Score

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    83-G. Improve Your Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Score

    Ask home health providers what keeps them up at night, and many will cite the risk of a negative score under the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which adjusts Medicare payments based on quality performance. This session may ease their concerns. A home health provider and consultant will share how they turned a negative HHVBP score and financial penalty into a positive payment adjustment. They’ll show you how to interpret HHVBP scorecards, review data sources, and design and implement an improvement strategy. They’ll also offer tips for aligning key operational areas to improve HHVBP measurement outcomes.

Polly Gretzinger

Executive Director of Campus Operations
Bay Area Lutheran Homes, Inc.
Green Bay, WI
  • 49-H. Beyond the Continuum: Serving a Broader Spectrum of Older Adults

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    49-H. Beyond the Continuum: Serving a Broader Spectrum of Older Adults

    Leading nonprofit senior housing providers are expanding their missions to serve a broader spectrum of older adults with diverse lifestyles and affordability needs. During this session, you’ll meet representatives from one organization that built an active adult development one mile from its existing full-continuum campus, and from another that integrated low- to middle-income housing into its broader development strategy. You’ll take away tips for designing and financing a range of projects that fall outside the traditional continuum while complementing existing campus offerings. Here’s your chance to reflect on your growth and consider new projects that could strengthen your market position and advance your mission.