Early in her nursing career she stumbled upon LTC “quite by accident” and fell in love with the rewarding work of serving seniors. She has worked directly in Skilled and Assisted Living facilities as Director of Nursing, Healthcare Administrator and many other roles. Long before CMS required QAPI Debbie became a student of continuous quality improvement methods – with a firm belief that anything can be improved by understanding systems and applying proven methods leading to sustained improvement in care and life for residents. Debbie has been in the role of VP of Operations for two prominent for-profit senior care companies in Oregon. Most recently she was the Chief Healthcare Officer for 18 years at Pacific Retirement Services overseeing healthcare in CCRCs in 7 states. She has been an adjunct professor at Southern Oregon University, authored memory care programs, written and taught C.N.A. certification programs and has fought to highlight the unique and honored role of nurses who have chosen Gerontological nursing as their specialty. Desiring to continue the pursuit of excellence in long term care she now provides consultative services to senior care settings and organizations.