As both a Licensed Assisted Living Administrator and a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I strongly oppose the proposal to replace the current national examination for Assisted Living Administrators with a state examination based on Virginia’s regulations.

Quality of care in assisted living should be of utmost importance to all of us in the field. The Administrator is the key leader in establishing and maintaining quality and safety in an assisted living facility.

In 2006, the Department of Social Services reported that residents in assisted living facilities in Virginia have one of the highest levels of care needs in the country.

It therefore seems only appropriate that the Commonwealth act as a leader in establishing a level of competency of Administrators which is consistent with the residents needs.

The current national exam establishes an entry level knowledge base which measures competency of a candidate. It is from this knowledge base that the administrator is able to read, understand and implement the spirit as well as the letter of the state regulations.  A state examination based on the regulations would have to be changed whenever the regulations changed or a technical advisory was issued. During the proper regulatory phases of the proposed assisted living facility licensure requirements, the merits of two exams as well as which type of exam i.e. national versus state were thoroughly discussed by a broad range of constituents. The final decision of the majority of constituents in the Commonwealth of Virginia was to implement a single national examination. I strongly suggest that we help facilitate the process.

Edward Owen, LALA / LNHA

Administrator

Masonic Home of Virginia