Standing Up for Seniors: John Watson Wins Advocacy Award

john watson award 1JOHN WATSON, Chief Financial Officer at The Cedars, received a special Advocacy Award from Leading Age on April 14 for his work on Maine’s Commission to Study Long Term Care (LTC) Facilities.

John has been a leader in the statewide movement to change the ways our state pays for nursing home care for years, and his distinguished service on the Commission reflects his commitment to good finance—and fairness.

“The Commission found Maine underfunds nursing homes by $40 million dollars each year, ” John says. “This forces nursing homes to carve out funds from Medicare or private pay to provide acceptable care for their residents. If they can’t, they close.”

These closures disproportionately affect Maine’s rural communities—and leave seniors in those communities without options. Maine’s strict medical eligibility requirements restrict access to home nursing, leaving seniors and their families to shoulder the burdens of aging in place. “The State of Maine needs to stop relying on nursing homes to meet our obligation to rural and low-income elders,” John explains. “Everyone needs access to quality long term care.”

Leading Age, a large nationwide coalition of aging services providers, agrees. “John’s dedicated work toward making way for a more transparent and equitable State reimbursement system and his unrelenting focus on improving access to the highest quality services possible is why Leading Age Maine and New Hampshire is proud to show the appreciation of its members with this Special Advocacy Award,” Denise Vachon, Leading Age Board of Directors and Executive Director of Park Danforth, declared at the award ceremony.

The Cedars thanks the LTC Commission for its service and congratulates John Watson on his well deserved recognition by Leading Age.