Post-acute ancillary care providers – and the residents they serve – should consider themselves lucky to have Peter Clendenin in their corner. Aside from leading the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care and bringing 30 years of long-term care lobbying experience to the table, he has a knack for challenging government officials regarding the impact ancillary care and services has on residents.

At age 17, while working as a certified nursing aide for a nursing home in Madisonville, OH, Joan Warden-Saunders told a nurse she noticed a resident looking "a little funny." The nurse ignored her. The resident died later that day. That experience left a lasting, haunting impression.

William Thomas may pride himself on living a simple life and promoting a more simplified approach to eldercare. But make no mistake — he's one complex character.

One might think that heading a 600-resident not-for-profit continuing care retirement community and actively serving on a slew of legislative and governmental affairs committees on aging would be enough for anyone. Piling any more on the proverbial professional plate would seem like an exercise in futility. But for Peggy Mullan, who in January became chair of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the new role is a much-welcomed next step in a career that's spanned more than three decades.

Resident security technology is improving, thanks to scalable wandering systems that piggyback onto existing platforms.

It would certainly seem that Kindred Healthcare is living up to its name. The word "kindred," which is synonymous with family, is a good fit for a company that has not only opened its arms to tens of thousands of employees and residents, but also to a range of business opportunities.

Susan Allen Burton's professional life has taken many interesting and unexpected turns. Maybe that's why she wasn't entirely surprised to find herself back with the group she says she had grown to love — the American College of Health Care Administrators — 25 years after she played an active role in it. Well-versed in Asian culture and a devotee of belly dancing, she said the opportunity to lead the college was one she simply couldn't pass up. Burton served as ACHCA's director of membership, marketing and publications for seven years in the 1980s.

Some professionals make a name for themselves by bounding onto the scene and becoming a prominent and perpetual blip on the industry radar screen.

Paul Klaassen has never been one to be easily dissuaded. Tell him something can't be done and he'll likely challenge that assumption with a thought-provoking discussion that ultimately begs the question, "Why not?"

At a time when the healthcare real estate investment trust was on the brink of bankruptcy, leading many industry executives to contemplate their next career move, Debra Cafaro made a leap all right. She rolled up her sleeves and eagerly jumped into the REIT business. Left behind was a successful 13-year career as a finance, real estate and corporate transactions attorney.