GPNYC Press Mentions

2024

Illinois woman leading voting awareness campaign for long-term care residents

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in every area of public life, including voting

Resident advocates aim to protect voting rights in nursing homes ahead of contentious election

With just three months left before Election Day, patient advocates are pushing long-term care facilities to make sure their residents are both registered to vote and able to cast their ballots.

Carrie Leljedal, a family caregiver-turned-advocate, has launched #LTCVotes, a national campaign to encourage nursing home participation nationwide. She plans to request the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reissue guidance originally sent in October 2020 that affirmed residents’ right to vote.

Carrie Leljedal, McKnight's Guest Column: An alternative view on anti-staffing mandate legislation

“Infinity and beyond” may be a rallying cry for Buzz Lightyear, yet when it comes to staffing and the welfare of the elderly and disabled in nursing homes. the system in our country is going backward. House Bill H.R. 7513, the Protecting America’s Seniors’ Access to Care Act, currently in Congress, represents a misguided legislative effort that, if enacted, would worsen the already challenging circumstances faced by our most vulnerable citizens.

H.R. 7513 effectively obstructs future initiatives aimed at establishing minimum staffing requirements in nursing homes nationwide. Consequently, already inadequate levels of care could plummet further, exposing residents to heightened risks that have their families rightfully alarmed. The bill explicitly prohibits the enforcement of any state minimum standards and impedes the implementation of federal minimum staffing requirements by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Advocates call for ACA-backed demonstration projects in nursing home sector

Patient advocates and nursing home operators intent on shifting the traditional approach to skilled nursing care should seize on a call for demonstration projects included in the Affordable Care Act, two experts said during a national webinar Tuesday.

“If Congress would like to [invest in innovation], and we hope they will, we need your help to get them to do it,” long-term care policy analyst Anne Montgomery said during a webinar on the future of nursing homes. “It could be attached to the legislative authority … in … the Affordable Care Act. … It hasn’t yet been used for its intended purpose of transforming the nursing home system.”

Moving nursing home staff in as residents has life-changing potential: experts

Leslie Pedtke spent more than two decades as administrator of an Illinois nursing home, where she first asked staff to undertake an experiment in empathy in the early 2010s. Her team members were invited to move in for days-long stretches, adopt a diagnosis commonly seen in the facility and then go through all of the care processes and challenges real residents faced.

2023

Gray Panthers featured on Sidedoor podcast "Wrinkled Radicals" from the Smithsonian Institution

When Maggie Kuhn was forced to retire from the job she loved at age 65, her colleagues gave her a sewing machine as a parting gift. Outraged, she shut the sewing machine in a closet and, instead, stitched together the first-ever movement against ageism in the U.S. The Gray Panthers would galvanize gray haired citizenry and youth alike to challenge the way Americans think about aging.

Creating unity for positive change in nursing homes, Michelle Arnot's Guest Column in McKnight's

McKnight's Long-Term Care News

In an effort to be a catalyst for positive change — change that comes through unified approaches and balanced discourse — Gray Panthers NYC (GPNYC) is committed to bringing people and organizations together to break out of the group think of the status quo that appears to be keeping us at odds with each other and therefore unable to find common ground.

Nursing home coalition advances plans to fix long-term care on 3 fronts

McKnight's Long-Term Care News

Highlighted were plans for a new pilot for a nurse aide apprenticeship program, tools to strengthen resident councils, and meetings to raise awareness of facility renovation needs. The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition was formed in the wake of a 2022 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that industry leaders described as a wake-up call.

Nursing home coalition advances plans to fix long-term care on 3 fronts

McKnight's Long-Term Care News

A national long-term care coalition gave an update Tuesday on their action plans to address the fundamental issues facing the LTC sector. The event was hosted by Gray Panthers NYC as part of the Transformation Tuesday series. A full recording of the webinar can be found here.

Creating unity for positive change in nursing homes

McKnight's Long-Term Care News

In an effort to be a catalyst for positive change — change that comes through unified approaches and balanced discourse — Gray Panthers NYC (GPNYC) is committed to bringing people and organizations together to break out of the group think of the status quo that appears to be keeping us at odds with each other and therefore unable to find common ground.

Quality Of Life For The Aging LGBTQ+ Population

Queerful

As the population gets older, organizations are moving to fit their needs. In New York, a group called Gray Panthers NYC is dedicated to improving quality of life for older people, including LGBTQ+ seniors. Queerful spoke with their president, Jack Kupferman, about some of the issues queer seniors face.

DISCUSS TRANSFORMING NURSING HOMES

I On Politics, Queens Gazette, March 08, 2023

On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Assembly Member Ron Kim and the Gray Panthers, led by their president Jack Kupferman, Vice President Michelle Arnot, and Rachel Bennett, founder of The Nursing Home Card Project, met with Senator Ron Wyden to discuss nursing home transformation. They were joined by Joanne Rader of the Live Oak Project.

The Killing of Seniors in New York is Rising

February 20, 2023, The Independent

In New York, the elderly folks are frightened about the consistent increase in crime against seniors. Some have become unwilling to return to senior centers, others have signed up for defense classes hoping to be able to defend themselves. While many have insulated themselves to avoid being attacked.

“This is everybody’s worst nightmare,” said Jack Kupferman, 67, president of Gray Panthers NYC, an organization that grew out of a movement to fight ageism.

Jack Kupferman & Gray Panthers NYC Commentary on 74-Year-Old NY Resident's Murder

Thank you to Maria Cramer and the New York Times for focusing on these horrific events. “This is everybody’s worst nightmare,” said Jack Kupferman, president of the Gray Panthers NYC.