Senior Living Vol. 5, Issue 1 Winter 2024

Winter 2024 Volume 5, Issue 1

Senior Living

From Skyward Strikes to Life at Village on the Green The Journey of Stan Goldstein

2024 Legislative Agenda Preview

A Regional Presence: LeadingAge Southeast

Oak Hammock Resident Shares Love for Books

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Contents

WINTER 2024 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1

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Cover Story Skyward Strikes to Life at Village on the Green 13 From The Journey of Stan Goldstein

By Nick Fortuna

Features Presence: LeadingAge Southeast 7 AByRegional LeadingAge Southeast Staff the Written Word 10 Celebrating Oak Hammock Resident Janet Janke Shares Her

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Love for Books at the CCRC and Beyond

By Nick Fortuna Preview 16 Legislative

By LeadingAge Southeast Staff Act: The Psychologist, Mom, 19 Balancing and Performer Extraordinaire

By Nick Van Der Linden, Senior Director of Operations, LeadingAge Southeast

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Departments 6 Board Chair’s Message

Support Our Advertisers

Mission Amplification: A Strong Regional Association

By Garry Hennis, Board Chair, LeadingAge Southeast

22 Advertiser Index

About the cover U.S. Air Force Capt. Elijah Supper, 77th Fighter Squadron pilot, shows the capabilities of an F-16 CJ Fighting Falcon to Stan Goldstein, Wild Weasels Society General Secretary, at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina on February 3, 2012.

Read more on page 13.

LeadingAge Southeast 1812 Riggins Road, Suite 1 Tallahassee, FL 32308 (850) 671-3700 www.LeadingAgeSoutheast.org LeadingAge Southeast Executive Staff President & CEO Steve Bahmer sbahmer@LeadingAgeSoutheast.org

Senior Director of Operations Nick Van Der Linden nvanderlinden@LeadingAgeSoutheast.org Vice President of Advocacy Susan C. Langston slangston@LeadingAgeSoutheast.org LeadingAge Southeast Officers Garry Hennis, Chair Teresa Scott, Chair-Elect D. Bruce Jones, Immediate Past Chair Janet Stringfellow, Secretary Steve Kramer, Treasurer

›

Senior Living magazine serves as a LeadingAge Southeast member resource that supports the LeadingAge promise: to advocate, educate, and serve aging services professionals.

Christopher Tomlin, Affordable Housing Chair Brooke McLean, ALF/HCBS Chair Scott Cairns, CCRC Chair Mauri Mizrahi, Nursing Home Public Policy Chair Publication Team

Managing Editor Nick Van Der Linden Senior Director of Operations, LeadingAge Southeast For advertising inquiries, please contact Katie White at kwhite@thewymancompany.com or (352) 388-7031.

Senior Living is the official publication of LeadingAge Southeast. All rights reserved.

Contents of this publication may not be reproduced without permission from LeadingAge Southeast.

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Message from the Board Chair

Mission Amplification: A Strong Regional Association

W

ith great pleasure and a profound sense of purpose, I welcome you to the latest issue of our association’s Senior Living magazine.

First and foremost, this issue marks another milestone for our association, as it is the first issue that includes our newest members in Louisiana and Mississippi. In May of 2023, LeadingAge Florida merged with LeadingAge Alabama as part of our strategic growth initiative and to support an even greater number of high-quality senior living providers.

In October of 2023, our Board of Trustees continued to support our strategic growth initiative by supporting the merger with LeadingAge Gulf States, which included Louisiana and Mississippi.

To create a cohesive, inclusive regional association, the Board voted to rebrand our association to reflect the scope and influence of our now-larger association. As a result, the four states became LeadingAge Southeast at the beginning of this year.

As your Board Chair, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you—our dedicated members, passionate caregivers, innovative leaders, and compassionate advocates for your continued support of our association. Your unwavering commitment to enhancing the lives of older adults is what makes our organization truly exceptional.

Together, we are a community of passionate leaders who strive forward with purpose and excellence, and I am honored to serve as your Chair.

In the pages ahead, you will find stories that celebrate the older adults we are privileged to serve. You will read about Janet Janke, a resident at Oak Hammock whose love for books and reading has inspired residents in the greater Gainesville area, and Lt. Colonel Stan Goldstein (retd.), who flew 100 missions as a Wild Weasel over North Vietnam. Another article also gives us a glimpse into the life of Dr. Elaine Hankin, a retired psychologist who, among many other achievements, built a practice that was acquired by the University of Pennsylvania and Friends Hospital.

We will also expand on the details of our merger with Louisiana and Mississippi, our association’s new name and brand, and what the legislative landscape will look like in Florida this year.

The challenges we face are significant, but so is our resolve. As we continue to navigate a rapidly changing landscape, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to promoting quality of life, person-centered care, and the highest standards of service.

I encourage you to use this magazine as a platform for sharing your insights, resident stories, and dreams for the future of senior living. Your voices are not only valued; they are essential in guiding our mission.

With warm regards,

As your Board Chair, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you—our dedicated members, passionate caregivers, innovative leaders, and compassionate advocates for your continued support of our association.

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Garry Hennis, Board Chair, LeadingAge Southeast

A Regional Presence:

LeadingAge Southeast

By LeadingAge Southeast Staff

I

n December, LeadingAge Florida announced the completion of a second merger in 2023, this time with LeadingAge Gulf States, bringing the organizations together to serve senior living providers across Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The new regional association will operate under a new brand – LeadingAge Southeast.

The combination of the senior living associations in parts of the southeast is designed to enable providers in all states to capitalize on the scope of LeadingAge Florida’s advocacy, education, communications, networking, and group purchasing that have been the staples of LeadingAge Florida’s service to members in the Sunshine State.

“Over the last couple of years, the LeadingAge Florida Board of Trustees has considered several ways for our association to support the work of senior living providers both inside and outside of Florida,” said Steve Bahmer, President and CEO of LeadingAge Southeast. “That exploration

included creative ways to recruit new members and to think more broadly about extending our geographic reach.”

For six decades, LeadingAge Southeast focused on serving high-quality senior living providers through effective advocacy, forward-looking education, communications across multiple platforms, group purchasing, networking, and much more. With that experience, and the scale of nearly 250 members serving nearly 80,000 residents, the association had positioned itself to be helpful to providers beyond its state borders.

And for senior living providers in Louisiana and Mississippi, the timing was right.

“We share the same values and the same dedication to serving our members,” said Karen Contrenchis, LeadingAge Southeast State Director for Louisiana and Mississippi. “So, we knew we had alignment with LeadingAge Florida, which created a perfect opportunity to combine the talents and resources of the two associations to serve members even more effectively.”

Following LeadingAge Florida’s merger with LeadingAge Alabama in the spring of 2023, other states began to inquire whether a similar arrangement might benefit their members. Informal conversations about the possibility of combining the associations started early in the summer. They included Bahmer presenting to the LeadingAge Gulf States Board of Trustees and their members at their annual meeting in New Orleans in August.

Following a detailed due diligence process and discussions with the LeadingAge Gulf States Board, the LeadingAge Florida Board voted to merge the LeadingAge Gulf States into a growing organization that will continue to be headquartered in Tallahassee and served by the LeadingAge Florida staff.

“The merger of our two associations represents an important opportunity to continue our strategy of mission amplification and to extend our service to them and the older adults they serve,” said Garry Hennis, S E N I O R L I V I N G • S U M M E R 2023

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COO of Westminster Communities of Florida and Chair of the LeadingAge Southeast Board of Trustees. “Senior living providers are pursuing affiliations to help providers continue to serve older adults through greater scale and resources, and associations are pursuing similar strategies for the same reasons.”

As the strategy has moved forward, detailed plans have evolved as well. Initially, the structure of the merged association, which already included Alabama, contemplated each state retaining its local identity because of the brand value each state has developed over time.

However, with four states now operating as one organization, it became essential that each state was part of a single, cohesive, inclusive organization. As a result, in October, the LeadingAge Florida Board of Trustees voted to rebrand the now-larger association as LeadingAge Southeast – an identity that reflects the new, stronger regional association.

“Each association has worked hard to elevate our brands and our reputations in our respective states,” Bahmer said, “and we wanted to be sensitive to that. At the same time, it’s critical that members feel as though they belong to a single association that represents them all. And it was critical that our team in Tallahassee and New Orleans understood that we are a single team, serving a single association, across four states.”

“The new brand, LeadingAge Southeast, does all of that perfectly,” he said.

It was also critical that members in Louisiana and Mississippi had a voice in the governance of the newly merged association. A seat on the LeadingAge Southeast Board of Trustees was important for that reason alone, but also because the combined association will deal with issues and opportunities specific to both states, and insight at the Board level into the local nuances of those issues and opportunities will be essential.

In July, Christopher Tomlin, President and CEO of Methodist Homes of Alabama and Northwest Florida, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was elected as the first Alabama member to serve on the Board of Trustees. In 2024, a member from either Louisiana or Mississippi will be elected as the first member from either state to serve on the Board of LeadingAge Southeast.

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The Glen, located in Shreveport, Louisiana, is a vibrant Life Plan Community that provides older adults a place to live an active, full life with access to everything they need.

“We are eager to serve members in Louisiana and Mississippi, and we look forward to having their essential, strong voices at the table on the Board of Trustees,” Bahmer said.

Months before the completion of the merger, many more introductions were necessary. Integrating the two associations began with a detailed due diligence process, a visit to Tallahassee from the CEO of LeadingAge Gulf States – who joins the Tallahassee team from New Orleans, and Zoom meetings that included Louisiana and Mississippi members, the LeadingAge Florida staff, and members of the LeadingAge Florida Board.

“We wanted to create an opportunity to introduce ourselves to each other, to get to know our new members a bit better, and to introduce them to the incredible staff who will be serving them,” Bahmer said. “We also thought it was important to show the Board’s commitment to a successful merger by having them join us in that first discussion as well.”

In the near term, the plan for the merged associations is to scrub and integrate membership data to provide a clear picture of the communities, staff, and residents to be served in both new states and to provide a better understanding of the unique needs of each community. Karen Contrenchis, the

St. Catherine’s Village, an all-inclusive CCRC located in Madison, Mississippi, offers 160 acres of beautiful surroundings, countless activities, and amenities.

Karen Contrenchis (third from left) has joined the LeadingAge Southeast staff to provide additional support in the region.

former LeadingAge Gulf States CEO and now a member of the regional team, will provide local advocacy and communications support, as well as crucial local emergency support.

That first step opened the door to the new members receiving the LeadingLink newsletter, as well as customized alerts,

education opportunities, networking opportunities based on their preferences, and invitations to key LeadingAge Southeast events, including the Annual Convention & Exposition.

“We got started right away delivering information and resources to our members in Louisiana and Mississippi,” Bahmer said,

“but we also needed to spend some time getting to know the members, the states, and the issues they face that are unique to their states. Advocacy is one of the primary ways we serve our members, and we’re fortunate to have Karen Contrenchis joining our team to continue offering her legislative and regulatory expertise in support of members there.”

As LeadingAge Southeast Chair Garry Hennis pointed out, the senior living landscape is changing rapidly, but the landscape in the southeast is changing as well. Multiple news reports in recent months have focused on the Gulf Coast’s increasing profile as a retirement destination. With its mild southern winters, Gulf Coast beaches, and relatively low cost of living, the greater southeast is emerging as a retirement alternative to Florida.

“A growing population of older adults means a greater need for a robust portfolio of high-quality retirement options,” Bahmer said. “Supporting those options and ensuring these older adults have the services and supports they need has been our legacy in Florida, and it will be our singular focus as LeadingAge Southeast as well.”

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Celebrating the Written Word Oak Hammock Resident Janet Janke Shares Her Love for Books at the CCRC and Beyond

By Nick Fortuna

T

wo decades after retiring as an elementary school teacher, Oak Hammock resident Janet Janke is still encouraging people to read, organizing book drives, and volunteering her time to read to others. A lifelong bibliophile, Janke believes “books can take you wherever you want to go when you can’t leave where you are,” making every day a new adventure.

Janke, 85, and her late husband, Jim, were among the first residents to move into Oak Hammock at the University of Florida when the Gainesville CCRC opened in 2004,

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and right from the start, she made an impact. She quickly became chair of the library committee and has held that role ever since, working to build up the CCRC’s robust book collection, increase access to books throughout the facility, donate used books to worthy causes, and fundraise to buy books for schoolchildren.

Oak Hammock began collecting library books even before construction began, and when the CCRC opened, the library committee used its limited funds to buy more books, Janke said. But within a few months, some

of those same titles began showing up in library donation bins as residents purchased books and finished reading them.

“People here are still buying books, so we haven’t had to purchase a book in 19 years, and our library is overflowing,” she said.

Over the years, Oak Hammock’s library has grown to fill three rooms, giving residents a wide selection of reading material and quiet places to enjoy it. Many donations come from residents who have passed away or moved out, while others come from current residents who “have been readers all

immerses herself in a sea of books at the Oak ➤ Janke Hammock Library, where she is a frequent volunteer.

their lives,” Janke said. She leads a team of about 25 volunteers who sort through donated books, look for duplicates in the collection, and then either add them to the library’s shelves or set them aside to be donated.

“The people on the committee are all hard workers,” Janke said. “They make it easy. I just have to coordinate it all.”

Every Book Deserves a Home

To Janke, a book is a terrible thing to waste, so donations that don’t make it into Oak Hammock’s library eventually turn up elsewhere.

Many are donated to Friends of the Library, a volunteer-run nonprofit in Gainesville that supports the Alachua County Library District through biannual book sales.

Oak Hammock also donates books to the Helping Hands Clinic of Gainesville and to the Cedar Key Public Library, Janke said. The clinic offers health care to poor and/or homeless Gainesville residents, and donations provide reading material for its approximately 140 volunteers and 12,000 patients. The Cedar Key library has used donations to restock its shelves since 2016, when a hurricane caused water damage resulting in the loss of many books.

In the past, Oak Hammock’s library committee also has donated books to local jails and prisons, Janke said.

A teacher for more than 30 years, Janke finds creative ways to promote reading. Last October, Oak Hammock hosted a “trunk-ortreat” Halloween event in its parking lot for neighborhood kids and employees’ children.

The event gave kids a chance to get candy and meet the CCRC’s residents while remaining outdoors as COVID-19 lingered.

Ahead of the event, Janke organized a fundraiser asking residents to kick in $10 apiece, and the strong response allowed her to purchase approximately 300 books, enough for the trick-or-treaters and every first- and secondgrader in nearby Idylwild Elementary School.

Book drives supported by the five book clubs at Oak Hammock also have benefited the ACORN Clinic, a nonprofit providing dental care to low-income residents of north-central Florida, and the UF Main Street Clinic, which is located on the east side of Gainesville, home to a largely underserved patient population.

“I help to organize that, but it’s the support of the people here that makes it possible, and it tells you just how important books are to the residents here,” Janke said.

Reading on the Fly

When the Category 5 Hurricane Ian struck Florida in September of 2022, some Oak Hammock employees brought their children to work due to concerns about flooding and storm damage. In addition, residents of a CCRC on Florida’s Gulf Coast were relocated to Oak Hammock to escape flooding. Having their children onsite allowed Oak Hammock’s medical professionals and other staffers to spend more time with residents during a tumultuous time.

To entertain the kids, Janke toted a pile of books to the CCRC’s assisted-living section and read to the children for several hours each day. Those impromptu sessions reminded her of the days before the pandemic, when she would organize a group of Oak Hammock residents to make monthly visits to the local elementary school and read to students.

“Any chance I get to read to children, that’s fun for me,” Janke said. “When you’ve been a teacher all your life, it just comes naturally, and when you’re retired, you do what you have fun doing.”

With COVID-19 seemingly in retreat, Janke has been volunteering at a local elementary school once a week, helping students with their math and science lessons and aiding the teacher however she can. In May, she was looking forward to a visit from several of the school’s top readers, who would get to eat lunch in the CCRC’s dining room.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to do this since COVID-19, and I think it’s a great experience for the kids and the residents,” Janke said. “I think every CCRC is probably close to a school, and we can support them as volunteers in many ways.”

Born a Buckeye

A native of Cleveland, Janke and her late husband, Jim, went to different high schools but met on a train ride to Texas for a Luther League convention, a gathering of young Lutherans. Not only did they hit it off, but they learned that they each planned to attend Capital University, a private Lutheran school in Bexley, Ohio. They were inseparable from that day forward.

Jim Janke went to seminary to become a Lutheran pastor, a career that would take the couple to Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Janet restarted her teaching career at a new school each time, eventually teaching every grade from kindergarten through sixth.

In time, her husband would retire due to asthma, and the couple, sick of the cold weather up north, would relocate to Florida, where Janke would teach for another 20 years.

Working in Belle Glade, a low-income city in Palm Beach County, Janke said she encouraged students to read through the Reading is Fundamental program, which has distributed more than 422 million books nationwide since its inception in 1966.

Janke shares the joy of books, sparking excitement and curiosity in the hearts of the next generation.

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“I loved teaching and working with the kids,” Janke said. “Teaching in so many different states and so many different grade levels, it was always interesting and challenging. But my focus even then was getting books into the hands of children, and that’s what I have continued to do in retirement here at Oak Hammock.”

Just the Right Setting

When it came time for Janke to retire, she and her husband knew just the place. Having lived near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., they recognized the importance of a strong local healthcare center, and the UF Health system in Gainesville fit the bill. They also had lived near the University of Wisconsin and wanted to be connected to another vibrant, intellectually stimulating college town.

At the time, the couple had a son attending UF, and Jim Janke heard an advertisement for Oak Hammock. “This was before they even had any brochures that you could take home,” Janet said, “but he went to the presentation, came home, and said that’s where we’re going, and it was a wonderful decision.”

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HCPCS 1/2 page 7.5 x 4.875 no bleed

As Jim’s health declined, he spent five separate stints in Oak Hammock’s Health Pavilion, which offers assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. He passed away six years ago. Janet said she was grateful to have been able to visit him daily since the CCRC provides different levels of medical care under one roof.

“This has been a wonderful place,” Janke said. “There are a lot of amenities here, and the Health Pavilion is here if we need it, but the key to this CCRC is the wonderful people who live here.”

Janke remains active in her church and helps to coordinate its fundraising program for students in Haiti. Through that program, she’s visited Port-au-Prince three times to provide teacher training.

In addition to Oak Hammock’s library committee, Janke is active in the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights. Oak Hammock’s chapter recently had a banquet to celebrate its 10th anniversary, and it routinely hosts political candidates for question-and-answer sessions.

The chapter recently held a presentation on books banned from Florida’s public

Extending the gift of knowledge by donating books brings Janke joy.

schools, a sore subject for a lifelong educator like Janke, who said students should be exposed to a diversity of ideas.

In May, Janke said she was looking forward to traveling with a friend at Oak Hammock who also is a widow, and she was planning to see her three sons and four granddaughters. But most of the time, you can find her volunteering at Oak Hammock’s library or in the local community, always with a book in hand.

“I’m grateful to still be able to volunteer,” she said. “I think you often end up getting more out of it than the people you’re helping, so it’s a good thing to get involved.”

U.S. Air Force Capt. Elijah Supper, 77th Fighter Squadron pilot, shows the capabilities of an F-16 CJ Fighting Falcon to Stan Goldstein, Wild Weasels Society General Secretary, at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, on February 3, 2012.

From Skyward Strikes to Life at Village on the Green The Journey of Stan Goldstein

By Nick Fortuna

A

t 89, Stan Goldstein plans to celebrate a milestone birthday next July, but reaching age 90 is nothing compared to the thrill, pride, and sense of accomplishment that came when he hit an even bigger round number for the U.S. Air Force almost six decades ago.

Goldstein, a resident of Village on the Green in Longwood, said he’s still being recognized for the courage he showed in Vietnam, where he and fellow Air Force Maj. John Revak completed 100 combat missions.

Members of the famed Wild Weasels, Goldstein and Revak forged their friendship while outrunning surface-to-air missiles and relying upon each other to survive. Not surprisingly, they remain close to this day, and Goldstein, who never saw a problem he didn’t want to solve,

has carried his exacting military standards into retirement. Just ask the folks at Village on the Green.

Goldstein and his wife, Jo, moved to the continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in 2011, and though he has few complaints, he’s not shy about sharing his opinions. Shortly after arriving at Village on the Green, he began attending meetings of its Residents Council, and he’s been an active member for the past 12 years, missing only a few meetings during that time.

Goldstein played a key role in getting the Residents Council to meet each month instead of only 10 months a year, and in a nod to the summer uniforms he wore in the Air Force, he got the council to loosen its dress code so that jackets and ties were no longer required.

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Stan explains the involvement of the Wild Weasels during the Vietnam War during a 50th celebration of the end of the Vietnam War at the Air Force Association in Washington, DC.

comfort in knowing that should anything happen to him, Jo will always get the care she needs. He said the friendships they’ve made with fellow residents and staff members have been especially rewarding, providing the couple with a strong sense of community.

“Everyone here is so friendly that you form friendships almost instantaneously,” he said. “It’s like you’re inheriting a big family.”

Destined to Fly

Goldstein with his F-105.

He’s also helped to write and review the CCRC’s bylaws, develop its marketing materials and organize a program teaching residents how to use smartphones, computers and tablets. He even organized gambling pools for the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby, giving residents a chance to win a few bucks.

“I’ve served on numerous committees, including finance and culinary,” Goldstein said. “I’m always examining how things are done and trying to make this place better. I believe in rules as long as the rules make sense. If they don’t, then I try to let them know as politely as I can what things I think need changing.”

Goldstein said he’s proud to serve on the board of the BredeWilkins Scholarship Fund, established by Village on the Green charter residents in 1988. The fund, part of the Central Florida Foundation, is sustained by residents’ donations and has awarded millions of dollars in scholarships to high-school students working as diningroom servers and other employees at Village on the Green.

For the past 11 years, Goldstein has organized Memorial Day and Veterans Day services and parades at the CCRC, and he collected donations to install a memorial bench under a tree on the property to honor Village on the Green residents who served in the military.

For Goldstein and his wife of 47 years, a former speech therapist, moving to Village on the Green was a wise decision, and he takes 14

Born in the Bronx in 1934, Goldstein said he knew he wanted to be a fighter pilot at age 8, when he saw the John Wayne film “Flying Tigers,” about the volunteer group of Americans who fought the Japanese in China before the United States entered World War II. At the time, Goldstein couldn’t have known that his own career would be more death-defying than anything put on film.

Goldstein was in the Air Force ROTC while attending New York University and earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. He would later get a master’s degree from the University of Missouri while being trained to fly. All that analytical instruction came in handy when Goldstein was tasked with determining the proper staffing levels for various departments at Air Force bases.

A life-changing moment came in October 1967, when Goldstein was told that he would become a Wild Weasel. As recounted in Dan Hampton’s book “The Hunter Killers,” which features Goldstein and Revak on its cover, the Weasels flew some of the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam War, serving as targets for surface-to-air missiles.

Each F-105 Thunderchief jet fighter would have a pilot, called a nose gunner, and an electronic warfare officer situated in the back of the plane. Revak was a nose gunner, and EWOs like Goldstein were jokingly referred to as the pilots’ trained circus bears, so as a Jewish kid from New York, Goldstein naturally got the nickname Kosher Bear.

The Weasels would position themselves between the Air Force fighters and bombers flying overhead and the surface-to-air missile installations of the North Vietnamese. The bears in the back of the planes would search the sky for missiles streaking toward them and relay that information to the nose gunners.

“You would see the missile coming at you, and it was as large as a telephone pole,” Goldstein said.

The pilot would position the approaching missile at either 10 o’clock or 2 o’clock relative to the plane, and at precisely the right moment, he would put the plane into a nosedive, with the missile

Stan poses with the builder of a model of his F-105 Wild Weasel Fighter and the River Rat Museum Director.

in hot pursuit. After rapidly losing altitude, the nose gunner would abruptly pull up, and the missile, unable to maneuver as deftly as the plane, would crash into the ground.

From there, the Weasels would return to their flight position, try to identify missile installations to take out and await the next missile attack. The incredibly risky assignments meant that the Weasels would sustain heavy losses.

In fact, when the first Weasels learned exactly what their role would be, one of them blurted out, “You gotta be shitting me!” That phrase would become the Weasels’ motto, with the acronym YGBSM still adorning the insignia patches sewn onto their shirts and uniforms.

Goldstein said knowing that Revak and the squadron were depending on him to perform kept his fear in check.

“You wanted them to shoot at you so they wouldn’t shoot at anyone else,” he said. “I looked at it as a very binary event: You’re either going to get home or you’re not. My big concern wasn’t being shot down and dying but becoming a POW. To me, those were the true heroes of the war – the guys who were captured and tortured all those years.

“Your job wasn’t necessarily to survive but to make sure the other guys survived and got back to the bar.”

Mission No. 100

Goldstein and Revak had just completed their 99th mission when President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam would cease, an apparent nudge toward the negotiating table.

The flying team eventually notched their 100th mission on Nov. 25, 1968, during a failed attempt to rescue the crew of a downed reconnaissance flight, who fell captive to the North Vietnamese. The mission left Goldstein and Revak with mixed emotions about reaching their lofty milestone, but when their plane touched down, it was time for the whole squadron to celebrate.

Hoses from a firetruck doused the crew, and a bottle of champagne kicked off a big party that lasted hours, Goldstein said, adding that he still proudly wears the shirt featuring his patch for surviving 100 missions.

“Everyone coveted a 100-mission patch,” he said.

After Vietnam, Goldstein became an electronic warfare instructor and helped to train Israeli aircrews. He also participated in the Yom

Stan poses for a photo as he presents an Air Force Cadet with the Air Warrior Courage Foundation educational grant at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Kippur War in 1973 by collecting and sending back captured Egyptian surface-to-air missiles. He eventually retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1983.

Goldstein then marketed signals-collection receivers and other aviation black boxes to the Department of Defense and private-sector companies before retiring for good in 1994.

These days, Goldstein enjoys playing golf near Village on the Green and serving on the Residents Council, but he’s just as likely to be found off campus. He’s served on the boards of the Red River Valley Pilots Association, the Society of Wild Weasels and the Air Warrior Courage Foundation, a charity serving active-duty members of the military, veterans and their families. Each of those organizations has honored Goldstein for contributing to its mission.

Goldstein attends local and regional meetings of those organizations and enjoys sharing his wartime experiences with veterans and young people. The aircraft he flew in with Revak, named the Crown 7, still holds a place in military history as well. A painting of the aircraft entitled “Big Brass Ones,” by Keith Ferris, is part of a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

A large digital representation of that painting also is being featured at the River Rats Museum at Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, Ky., which just opened in October. The museum features a permanent exhibit dedicated to the Wild Weasels, with model replicas of the Crown 7 available in addition to the life-sized digital copy of the painting.

Goldstein said he’s grateful for the recognition, but he’s happiest when he’s solving problems for others, especially through the Air Warrior Courage Foundation.

“My great pleasure is being involved in trying to help people and trying to make things better tomorrow than they were today,” he said.

And if residents at Village on the Green ever want to hear some white-knuckle war stories, Goldstein has plenty to share. Given the perilous nature of his Air Force service, it’s remarkable that he’s still around to tell them.

“God takes care of fools and drunks, and that’s why I’m here,” Goldstein said with a laugh, quoting an old saying among fighter pilots.

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Representative Persons-Mulicka speaks to Florida House Representatives during the 2023 Legislative Session.

LeadingAge Southeast Advocates for Industry Priorities in 2024 Legislative Session

By LeadingAge Southeast Staff

A

fter a 2023 Florida legislative session which resulted in the passage of LeadingAge Southeast’s key priority – a CCRC modernization bill – the association will focus its efforts on insurance, funding, and workforce issues during the 2024 session.

The Florida Legislature convened for the 2024 Regular Session on January 9, and the session is scheduled to end on March 8. The 16

leaders of both chambers signaled late in 2023 that healthcare issues and initiatives would be among their key priorities.

Linking Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s Live Local Act from the 2023 Session, the Senate will advance the Live Healthy Act which focuses on bolstering the healthcare workforce by expanding the state’s nursing student loan forgiveness programs, as well as providing state investments in career and technical training programs for healthcare professionals.

Although the Live Healthy Act doesn’t specifically focus on senior living workforce needs, workforce solutions are nevertheless a key priority for LeadingAge Southeast.

“Our members are telling us that although things are improving in terms of workforce, they still face challenges throughout their organizations, including clinical staff, dining, housekeeping, grounds, you name it,” said LeadingAge Southeast President and CEO Steve Bahmer. “We’ve met with President Passidomo to discuss workforce and other challenges, and we appreciate her leadership in bringing focus to this issue during the 2024 session.”

According to the results of a 2023 member survey, more than 60% of respondents cited all of the following workforce-related barriers as challenges they face: lack of interested candidates, lack of qualified employees, employee retention, rising wages, and increased rates charged by staffing agencies.

Meanwhile, CMS continues to consider federal staffing requirements that would only exacerbate the challenges members currently face. LeadingAge Southeast has long recognized that quality staffing drives quality long-term care outcomes, and the association has always been supportive of accountability and transparency initiatives.

However, the minimum staffing standards recently proposed by CMS will have unintended consequences that adversely affect the quality of care provided to older adults.

“The reality is that over 80% of Florida’s nearly 700 nursing homes will not meet the minimum staffing hours per day as proposed,” Bahmer said. “With the current shortfall of nurses and the outlook worsening in the future, this proposal is simply not realistic. The education system cannot meet the current demands. The added demand that this rule creates will dramatically increase scarcity, with ripple effects throughout the entire healthcare system.”

LeadingAge Southeast pushed back on CMS through written comments last Fall, and will continue to work with the Florida Legislature to find solutions that help reduce workforce pressures for members across all levels of service and care.

On the House side, Speaker Paul Renner created the House Select Committee on Health Innovation in September. The committee, chaired by Representative Kaylee Tuck (R-Sebring), is charged with addressing issues relating to access and affordability in health care.

Both chambers will also focus on healthcare provider price transparency as well as initiatives targeting access to care.

In addition to workforce and healthcare access issues, property insurance will continue to be a priority for many legislators. However, House and Senate leadership have noted that they have already passed meaningful reforms which they expect will reduce premiums, and that no major property-related legislation is set to be passed this year.

Meanwhile, LeadingAge Southeast members continue to report property and general and professional liability insurance rates spiking, in some cases doubling, even as coverages are often reduced.

Florida Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka (second from left) was the House bill sponsor for LeadingAge Southeast’s (then Florida) flagship CCRC legislation. She was recognized by the association as Legislator of the Year for the significant role she played in passing the legislation.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, (R-Naples), is spearheading efforts to boost healthcare provider numbers statewide.

“This is not a looming crisis,” said LeadingAge Southeast Vice President of Advocacy Susan Langston. “This crisis is here, and it is putting enormous pressure on senior living providers, many of whom are struggling to cover increases of 100 percent or more in their premiums. In most cases, portions of those costs have to be passed on to older adults on fixed incomes.”

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That means higher costs for seniors and the very types of affordability and access issues legislators are trying to resolve.

As a result, LeadingAge Southeast is working with private insurers and brokers, as well as with legislators, to try to identify opportunities to help mitigate the impact of growth in property premiums.

One of those solutions may be through Medicaid. Because of that premium growth, LeadingAge Southeast is advocating for additional Medicaid funding for the insurance component of the Medicaid reimbursement rate.

“We’re asking legislators to appropriate additional, recurring funding to help support providers in dealing with the insurance crisis,” Langston said. “If additional Medicaid dollars are not allocated, there will be a significant delay between today’s pricing pressures and when Medicaid rates ultimately reflect these increased costs. Providers simply cannot afford that type of delay.”

Florida’s already record budget will almost certainly continue to grow. Tax and other state revenues continue to exceed official revenue estimates, which are being driven largely by increased economic activity, strong tourism numbers, and hurricane recovery spending.

The Medicaid budget, however, which grew significantly during the pandemic, will be impacted by the post-pandemic reduction in Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage and the Medicaid eligibility redetermination process currently underway.

Still, LeadingAge Southeast is asking legislators to help fill the funding gaps left by the full transition to a prospective payment system (PPS) for Medicaid in 2023. Even as the Legislature has appropriated significant additional Medicaid funding for nursing homes, the system remains underfunded relative to costs because of workforce shortages, COVID and inflationary pressures.

“Even with the additional funding for Medicaid rate increases, some providers didn’t see increases and actually experienced rate reductions due to the transition to PPS,” Bahmer said. “The result of inadequate funding combined with increasing costs is becoming clear as high-quality nursing homes close or reduce the number of available nursing home beds.”

In 2022 and 2023, the number of nursing homes that changed ownership significantly outpaced other recent years. In fact, 177 nursing homes – or 25 percent of the nursing homes in Florida – changed hands in the past two years, signaling a shake-up in the nursing home space that is picking up momentum.

“There is a significant challenge coming in terms of access to high-quality nursing care,” Langston said. “We’re going to continue to work with legislators to help them understand the impacts of inflation and underfunding on the options older adults will ultimately have available when they need nursing care.”

For the latest on the 2024 Florida Legislative Session, join LeadingAge Southeast’s weekly legislative briefing call each Friday during the session. Contact Susan Langston at slangston@ leadingagesoutheast.org for more information, with questions about legislative or regulatory issues, and to get involved in our advocacy efforts.

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Balancing Act:

The Psychologist, Mom, and Performer Extraordinaire

By Nick Van Der Linden, Senior Director of Operations, LeadingAge Southeast

I

n the heart of a bygone era, Elaine Hankin embraced her role as a loving wife and devoted mother, finding fulfillment in the joy of nurturing her two children and supporting her husband’s burgeoning

career. Their home was a sanctuary of love and laughter, and one where she cherished every moment spent creating a warm and nurturing environment for her family.

Her days were once a symphony of aprons and domestic duties, the quintessential picture of a devoted wife and mother.

“I grew up in a small town between Wilkes Barre and Scranton in Pennsylvania, and

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Elaine working on new music for an upcoming concert with the Voices of Naples.

Elaine with her daughters Susan (top right) and Elyse at home in a Philadelphia suburb.

I met my husband Abbe (pronounced Aubbie), who was a big city boy from Philadelphia, at Penn State,” Hankin said. “We got married when I was 19. I completed one year of college, and he had just graduated.”

Their bond was a symphony of love and collaboration, with each note played in perfect synchrony, and Abbe found unwavering encouragement and support from Elaine as he built his career.

“We had a very, very good marriage,” Hankin said. “His career required us to move around a lot, including Puerto Rico for three years with our two young daughters. For all those years I was a very good corporate wife. I had little dinner parties—I didn’t wear pearls and high heels, but I was a good 50s wife,” she added with a smiling tone of voice.

Living in Puerto Rico was a rewarding experience—one that exposed the family to a new culture, helped them learn a new language, and allowed for personal growth.

“It was a lot of fun,” Hankin said. “I loved my neighbors, our kids thrived, and we have many great memories of taking the kids to El Yunque rainforest and stopping along the road to get a rolled up leaf with acerola berries in it for them to eat on the ride. We had pig roasts, and I enjoyed the Asalto Navideño Christmas tradition where carolers came to your house to sing songs and enjoy refreshments late into the night. The experience as a whole taught me to relax a little more and take things a little less seriously, which was very good for me.”

20

Hankin said that putting your husband’s career first was common during that time because the earning potential was higher. But Elaine and Abbe’s love was nurtured by a deep respect for one another’s individuality, and a driving force behind their shared successes. Together, they proved that in a harmonious marriage, the sum is truly greater than its parts, where love and support are the foundations upon which dreams are built.

Hankin returned to college at the age of 35 to complete her undergraduate education before earning her doctorate in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from Bryn Mawr College when she was 46 years old.

“I fulfilled my responsibilities as a wife and a mother, and I knew my husband was going to be very supportive of me taking my turn— and he certainly was,” Hankin said. “He returned the favor to me ten-fold. He stood with me at one o’clock in the morning at the Kinko copy center when I was doing my dissertation, so I could copy the questionnaires. And I will tell you, I am so grateful that I had the kind of marriage that I had, where we were equal partners.”

After graduating, and now officially Dr. Hankin, she began her work through an internship where she not only learned how to be a good psychologist, but also how to run an effective practice.

“I learned a lot from those partners,” Hankin said. “They actually opened an office for me and later on I bought the practice from them, and then my office grew and my practice grew. That’s how I started.”

As a psychologist, her therapeutic style was eclectic, exploring various approaches and personalizing each session to ensure that her clients got the most out of their time with her.

As a mother, Dr. Hankin also recognized the importance of a worklife balance, and extended her philosophy to her employees. She understood that they, too, had personal lives and responsibilities, including children, and so she offered them the autonomy to job-share.

In costume for a Shakespearean play at Norris Theatre in Naples, Fla.

Enjoying some “togetherness” with some special friends at the Arlington.

Among her many academic accolades, including Phi Betta Kappa and President’s Scholar at Temple University, her work as a psychologist got her recognized in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who Among Women, and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care.

An Exciting New Chapter

Elaine (far right) shares a casual moment with her husband, daughters and their families.

This innovative approach not only benefited her team but also enhanced the quality of care provided to their clients.

Her practice continued to grow and drew the interest of the University of Pennsylvania and Friends Hospital after they formed the Penn-Friends network of outpatient psychology practices.

“Even though my practice grew quite large, I insisted that the quality of the work that we did was always top notch, regardless of whether a person was ‘fee for service’ or an HMO client,” Hankin said. “It was quite a compliment when the University of Pennsylvania and Friends Hospital reached out and asked if they could buy my practice, especially since mine was the only one they

chose to acquire.”

Dr. Hankin would sell her practice and open up a new one, this time keeping it much smaller.

“I am a psychologist,” Hankin said. “I don’t just work at psychology, it’s who I am as a person. I’m so interested in people and human dynamics and interactions, so it’s really the perfect job for me. I loved getting up every morning and doing the work that I loved, but I did not want the practice to grow like it did before. I wanted to stay a solo practitioner and I did not want to hire any other staff to manage. So I ran a waiting list and I saw only a certain number of patients and would not allow it to get any bigger.”

Dr. Hankin and Abbe left Philadelphia and moved to a community near Naples called Verona Walk where she continued her practice. After Abbe’s passing, Dr. Hankin retired at the age of 84 and knew it was time for a fresh start.

“When I made the decision, along with my daughter, that it was time for me to give up the anxiety and stress and pressure of dealing with a four bedroom home, which I loved very much, I made a list of about four or five life plan communities,” Hankin said. “From the minute I walked in at the Arlington the vibes were absolutely right. The greenery, the flowers, it’s beautifully cared for, it’s beautifully appointed, and the staff and programs are absolutely amazing.”

In addition to being a mom, wife and established psychologist, Dr. Hankin is also a performer extraordinaire. Her interest in music and theater began at the age of ten and included high school and college musicals, the Little Theater of Wilkes-Barre, choirs and choruses, including the chorus of Delaware Valley Opera Company in Philadelphia.

“When you’re a therapist you keep giving, giving, and giving, so you have to put something back in,” Hankin said. “You have to replenish the wellspring in some way and

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Elaine and Abbe renewing their vows shipboard on their 60th anniversary.

keep your creativity going. And that’s how I do it. I do it through music and theater, which have always been a love of mine and a big part of who I am.”

Since moving to Naples she has performed onstage in Shakespeare at the Nor-

ris Center and in the Naples Players Community Theater, as well as work backstage as a dresser on “Fiddler” and “Anything Goes.” She has continued to take classes at the Sugden Theater in acting and voice.

She also sang with the Opera Naples Chorus, the Bach Ensemble, and as a soloist with the Troubadours.

Hankin said her new home at the Arlington has provided her with the ideal setting for an active lifestyle.

“I’m very goal-oriented,” Hankin said.

“I like to be learning something or doing something that has a product at the end, whether that is learning a new skill or music, or memorizing parts in a play with a production at the end of it. I like to have that kind of stress, and that was missing.

My days could be about wondering ‘What lecture I should go to?’ ‘What should I wear to dinner?’ ‘And who should I call to have dinner with, and what should I order?’ But now I am very busy again, and I’m liking every minute of it. I sing with Voices of Naples, I sing with a doo-wop band, and I’m also one of the “Chicks” here at the Arlington with a group called the “Bald

Eagle and the Chicks.” So I’m doing those musical things and I’m enjoying that very much. I feel at home here because I’ve made a number of women friends that I feel really connected with. It’s like a sorority house because the women here understand each other. We understand the loss, the sadness and the grief that we’ve all gone through and come out the other side. These women support each other and I really value that.”

In the symphony of her life, Dr. Hankin harmonized the many facets of her identity into a beautiful, multifaceted composition. As a psychologist, she delved into the depths of the human mind and spirit, providing solace and healing to those in need. As a wife and mother, she nurtured the hearts and minds of her children, guiding them with love and wisdom. And as a performer, she has graced many stages with the same passion and grace that defined her every endeavor. In Dr. Elaine Hankin’s life, the various roles have blended seamlessly, creating a melodious masterpiece that defines the beauty of living life to the fullest.

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