PA Governor Rendell Appoints John Michael Hall to Serve as Acting Secretary of Aging

In January 2007, Governor Rendell appointed Hall to lead Pennsylvania's Office of Long Term Living, which operates under the departments of Aging and Public Welfare.

"Mike Hall has demonstrated tremendous leadership while directing the Office of Long Term Living and his new role as secretary of Aging is a perfect extension of that great work," Governor Rendell said. "Mike will build upon our continuing efforts to ensure that Pennsylvania's system of services to older adults remains effective and strong while meeting the changing needs and desires of the citizens we serve."

As secretary of Aging, Hall will oversee the provision of Lottery-funded services and benefits to older Pennsylvanians, which include the PACE/PACENET prescription programs, family caregiving, transportation, home and community based services, Alzheimer's programs, health and wellness education, senior community centers and nutrition programs, adult day services and protective services for older people at risk of abuse or neglect. Many of the services are provided through the state's 52 Area Agencies on Aging.

Hall is a nationally renowned expert in long term care and helped lead efforts in other states to rebalance their long term care systems. He was recruited by Governor Rendell to develop innovations to reduce reliance on nursing facilities, and to makePennsylvania a national leader in home and community based services to support seniors and people with disabilities to live independently, and have control over their services.

Hall is successfully leading an effort to strategically coordinate and unify all long term living services across Aging and Public Welfare, which was recently officially established through an executive board resolution. Hall is committed to placing an emphasis on high quality customer service and increased consumer control.

Highlights of Hall's accomplishments inPennsylvania include:

    --  Helped to pass Act 56, establishing assisted living as a licensed
        service in Pennsylvania.  He is currently overseeing the effort to
        complete the regulatory process so that Pennsylvanians can take full
        advantage of this growing long term living service, and know what they
        are purchasing.
    --  Spearheaded ongoing effort to build a system to integrate the Medicare
        and Medicaid payment systems to improve care for older citizens
    --  Successfully promoted Pennsylvania's unprecedented effort to
        equalize funding increases across all systems of long term living,
        including community and facility-based care.
    --  Oversaw development of a highly successful nursing home transition
        program, moving nearly 2,500 people since March 2007.  Pennsylvania is a
        national leader in providing support to people who wish to relocate to
        the community from nursing homes.
    --  Established a first-of-its-kind training institute for assuring highly
        qualified staff working in the long term living system.
    --  Created a quality assurance bureau to assure efficient and effective use
        of tax dollars which support Pennsylvanians with disabilities and
        seniors.
    --  Expansion of home and community based services by growing the program
        approximately 10 percent since he began.

Before joining the Rendell administration, Hall served as deputy commissioner for health, integrated access and strategy in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Hall also held a number of executive-level positions in the Vermont Agency of Human Services and Vermont's Department of Aging and Disabilities.

He also has substantial legal experience, having worked at Vermont Legal Aid Inc. from 1982 to 1996, serving as state ombudsman, and director of the Elderly Law Unit.

Hall is a Master's graduate and fellow from the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics. He received his J.D. from the Washington University of St. Louis School of Law and a B.A. in political science and economics from Blackburn College inIllinois.

Hall's appointment is effective Nov. 1. He will succeed Nora Dowd Eisenhower, who resigned to return to the private sector.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, visit http://www.aging.state.pa.us.

The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit: www.governor.state.pa.us.

CONTACT:

Chuck Ardo

717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

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