Holiday Greetings from Chris Laxton

This holiday season, please take a minute to reflect on the important work you do every day in post-acute and long-term care, caring for a vulnerable and frail population.

Hi I’m Chris Laxton, Executive Director of AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Many of our members tell us that they came to PALTC because they were interested in practicing clinically complex medicine, but also because working in this field gives them a chance to form meaningful, healing relationships – to get to know their patients and their families. It gives them a chance to hear from patients about their histories, likes and dislikes, and form a connection unheard of in most other fields of medicine.

The holiday season is a good reminder that we are all in this together and that we need each other’s support. To work together to think of innovative and flexible ways of providing high quality care to our nation’s frail elders. Whether you work in the field or have a loved one living in a PALTC facility, please take a few minutes out of your day to thank a colleague and to wish a resident a happy holiday.

Please also consider supporting the current and future PALTC workforce by making a donation to the Foundation for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine at www.paltcfoundation.org. The Foundation is working hard to address the workforce shortage in PALTC, to encourage research within the field, to support important Society programs, and to recognize the outstanding achievements of those who continue to raise the quality of life for PALTC patients and residents.

This holiday season, I’m thankful to be part of a field with some of the hardest working and most compassionate people I’ve met in my career, and I’m looking forward to continuing to serve on your team on 2017. Here’s wishing you and yours a happy holidays and a healthy, joyful New Year.