Healthcare executive Tracey Moorhead is the new president and CEO of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN), American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordination (AANAC) and the American Association of Directors of Nursing Services (AADNS).

Moorhead was most recently the president and CEO of ElevatingHOME and the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, resigning in April. Before that, she was the head of the Care Continuum Alliance, a population health management industry organization.

“What drew me to this position is the opportunity to advance quality improvement in the post-acute care sector,” she told McKnight’s. “I’ve been working in the home health sector and been focused on quality improvement and best practices. This was a similar opportunity to help post-acute care nurses.”

The appointment reflects a slight shift for the organizations, with Moorhead planning to remain in Washington, D.C., with frequent visits to the home offices in Denver.

“Positioning me in the D.C. area is only going to be beneficial for the organization,” Moorhead said. “In recent years, the great majority of the work has been in at the regulatory level, and our work on the regulatory side will be one of our key focuses.”

Moorhead also said challenges include the desire to “entice, recruit and retain nurses in the post-acute care space,” especially as nursing demographics change. She also said new payment models are impacting facilities at the community level.

“We want to ensure our nurses are familiar with and responsive to the new payment models,” she said.

The AAPACN board of directors sought a leader with experience in nonprofit organizations, as well as strategic initiatives and educational and training programming, the board’s leader noted.

“As fast as the healthcare environment is changing, we know that AAPACN needs to keep pace to ensure that the nurses and organizations we represent are always prepared to provide the best possible care for our nation’s elders,” said Stephanie Kessler, RAC-CT, CHP, chairwoman of the AAPACN board of directors. “Tracey’s dedication to the field and expertise in change management make her a great fit for our organization, and we’re excited to watch AAPACN grow under her leadership.”

Earlier in her career, Moorhead worked for five years as the executive director of the Alliance to Improve Medicare. An Ohio native, she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at George Washington University.