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Board of Directors
2010
- Donna Calame, Esq., President
Prior to becoming founding Executive Director of the San Francisco IHSS Public Authority in 1996, Donna Calame worked on prison and health care reform as well as being a Public Defender for several years on the East Coast. Her move to San Francisco in 1984 led to her becoming a senior staff attorney at the California Law Center on Long Term Care. She has been working for improved and expanded IHSS, personal assistance services and home and community-based care since then. In 2003, she was elected the first President of the California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS (CAPA) and now serves as Chair of its Public Policy Committee as well as serving on other CAPA committees. In 2010, she began to serve on the national board of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, having previously been on the board of the Direct Care Alliance, which is associated with PHI. She also serves on the Mayor’s Long Term Care Coordinating Council in San Francisco and is currently President of the CANHR board.
- Darlene Yee-Melichar, Ed. D. CHES, Vice President
Professor and Coordinator of SF State's Gerontology Program. She received her B.A. in Biology from Barnard College; M.S. in Gerontology from the College of New Rochelle; and M.S. and Ed.D. in Health Education from Columbia University. She received post-doctoral training in Computer Management Systems at Columbia University; and Certified Health Education Specialist by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing. She is a Fellow of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE); Gerontological Society of America (GSA); AAHPERD's Research Consortium; and Full Member of Sigma Xi, the national research society. She has received many awards for her teaching excellence and service contributions to the campus, community and profession. She has been active in work with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); NIH Advisory Committee for Research on Women's Health (ACRWH) and Research Enhancement Awards Program (REAP); DHHS Minority Women's Health Panel of Experts; etc. Her research interests in healthy aging, long-term care administration, and minority women's health are reflected in 2 books, 90 journal articles, book chapters, book reviews, technical reports; and numerous professional and scholarly presentations.
- Rick McCracken, Treasurer
A co-founder of CAHNR, he has been working with nonprofit organizations throughout the Bay Area for the last 30 years. He has served in the capacity of executive director and development director for a number of organizations. He has also trained nonprofit organizations throughout the country on topics from board development to strategic planning. Rick currently is the Executive Director of Beyond Emancipation which provides services to former foster youth that help them live independently.
- Gregory Wilcox, Esq., Secretary
A private attorney in Berkeley, specializes in elder law, public benefits planning, and special needs trusts. In addition to being a member of the CANHR Board of Directors, he has long served as a member of CANHR’s Lawyer Referral Service Advisory Committee. He is a faculty member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) Certification Review Program (for certification of attorneys as Certified Elder Law Attorneys); board member and past President of the Northern California Chapter of NAELA; past board member of NAELA’s Board of Directors; and vice chair and past chair of the Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) Elder Law, Conservatorships, and Guardianships Committee.
Mr. Wilcox lectures frequently for CANHR, NAELA, ACBA, Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), and other lawyer groups, and has published numerous articles on elder law, public benefits, and special needs planning for CANHR’s Legal Network News and other periodicals. He is a co-author of two books published by CEB, California Elder Law Resources, Benefits and Planning and Special Needs Trusts: Planning, Drafting, and Administration. Degrees: BA, Haverford College (1968); Master of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (1971); JD, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley (1976). Professional designations: Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation (1995); Spirit of CEB Award (2008); Accredited Attorney, Department of Veterans Affairs (2009).
- Joan Abrams, MA, MPA
Associate Director of the federally funded Northern California Geriatric Education Center and Campus Planner for the state funded Academic Geriatric Resource Center, both based in the Geriatrics Division at UCSF. The goal of these programs is to improve the quality of health care for older adults by providing interdisciplinary education and training in geriatrics for health professions students, faculty and community providers. For 11 years prior to coming to UCSF in 2007 she held a variety of management positions in long term care in the SF Bay Area, including Executive Director in both assisted living and dementia care facilities, as well as positions in skilled nursing and at On Lok. Before moving to San Francisco from New Jersey in 1995, Joan worked in New York City government, including the Community Assistance Unit in the Office of the Mayor, and with the American Journal of Public Health. In addition to CANHR, she is also currently on the board of the California Council for Geriatrics and Gerontology, which promotes quality of life for older adults through enhancing workforce education and public policy advocacy. Joan previously served on the board of Senior Access, a community non-profit organization that provides adult day health services in Marin County. She earned her Masters in Public Administration (concentration in Health Policy and Management) from Columbia University and has a BA from SUNY Buffalo.
- Timothy Millar, CFP
A Certified Financial Planner, owner of Millar Financial (a Registered Investment Advisor), and Branch Manager of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., in Fremont, California. Tim has been assisting clients with investment, estate, public benefit and financial planning issues for since 1986.
Tim graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and completed an MBA in Personal Financial Planning at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Tim is a Past President of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Alzheimer's Association and a former board member of the National Alzheimer's Association in Chicago. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a non-profit organization working to improve the lives of nursing home patients, and serves on the organization’s Lawyer Referral Service Advisory Committee. In 2009 Tim was selected as a CANHR Advocate of the Year for his work on legislation combating senior financial abuse and supporting health care funding alternatives for seniors facing catastrophic illness.
For over 20 years Tim has been a frequent lecturer and trainer for continuing education programs on Medi-Cal and Long Term Care designed for attorneys and accountants. Tim writes extensively on a variety of financial issues, and authors chapters on the rules and pitfalls of Long Term Care Insurance and Reverse Mortgages for the Continuing Education of the Bar program sponsored by the California State Bar and the University of California.
Originally from Southern California, Tim has spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay area. He and his family currently reside in Fremont, California.
- Jody Spiegel, Esq.
Director of the Nursing Home Advocacy Project of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, a public interest law firm providing free legal services to low-income residents of Los Angeles County. She received her B.A. degree from Wellesley College in 1982, and her J.D. degree from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1985. Ms. Spiegel specializes in the laws governing long-term care facilities, including
nursing homes and residential care facilities. At Bet Tzedek, Ms. Spiegel counsels, advises, and litigates on behalf of facility residents and their families. She develops and promotes policies to improve the quality of care and quality of life for disabled and older adults through legal and legislative advocacy, community partnerships, and
education. She also is a frequent lecturer to community and professional organizations, and the author of several consumer guides on long-term care laws and practices. Ms. Spiegel is on the Board of Directors of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, and the Assisted Living Consumer Alliance. She also is a member of the WISE & Healthy Aging Advisory Council.
- Patricia L. McGinnis, Director
Co-founder and Executive Director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a statewide consumer advocacy organization formed in 1983. A former teacher, Ms. McGinnis received her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1977. She has been involved with long term care reform issues for over 30 years and has written and lectured extensively on issues such as long term care, financial planning, elder abuse, residents' rights, family councils and the use of restraints in nursing homes. Ms. McGinnis is also on the faculty in San Francisco State University's Gerontology Program.
Ms. McGinnis was named a Gerbode Fellow at the U.C. Berkeley School of Social Welfare in 1991 and was awarded the first annual America's Award by the America's Award Foundation in 1990. Ms. McGinnis and California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform have received numerous awards and recognitions for their nursing home advocacy work over the years including the California Works! Award in 1988, the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform's Advocacy Award in 1998, the National Senior Citizens Law Center Advocacy Award in 1999, the San Francisco Senior Centers’ annual Senior Advocate Award in 2001 and the Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly 2001 National Armand Marquiset award.
Page Last Modified:
August 27, 2010
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