[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2161-E2162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING MARGARET M. (PEGGY) MULLAN'S OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP OF THE 
        AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF HOMES AND SERVICES FOR THE AGING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. SHADEGG

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 17, 2007

  Mr. SHADEGG. Madam Speaker, I'd like to take this opportunity to 
recognize an outstanding leader in the field of long-term care and 
aging services. Margaret M. (Peggy) Mullan is the outgoing chair of the 
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), and I 
congratulate her on what has been accomplished during her 2-year term.
  AAHSA members help millions of individuals and their families every 
day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to 
providing the services that people need, when they need them, in the 
place they call home. Its 5,700 member organizations, many of which 
have served their communities for generations, offer the continuum of 
aging services: adult day services, home health, community services, 
senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care retirement 
communities and nursing homes. AAHSA's commitment is to create the 
future of aging services through quality people can trust.
  During the 2 years that Peggy Mullan led AAHSA, she worked tirelessly 
to transform aging services, and her leadership has moved the field 
forward in a number of ways. Under her stewardship, AAHSA has created 
the Long-Term Care Solutions Project, an innovative plan to revise the 
financing of aging services. In addition, she placed major emphasis on 
diversity as part of her leadership agenda, achieving substantive, 
enduring, and diverse leadership development among our members. She 
presided over the inauguration of the Advancing Excellence in Nursing 
Homes campaign, a coalition of long-term care providers, caregivers, 
medical and quality improvement experts, government agencies, consumers 
and other stakeholders dedicated to reinvigorating efforts to improve 
the quality of care and quality of life for those living or 
recuperating in America's nursing homes. She positioned AAHSA as a 
leader in achieving the goals of the National Commission for Quality 
Long-term Care, a non-partisan, independent body charged with improving 
long-term care in America. The commission is working to develop 
solutions to the challenges of better financing for long-term care, 
ensuring consumer choice, attracting and retaining qualified 
caregivers, and making useful information on long-term care options 
available to consumers.
  Peggy Mullan is a true leader in the field of aging services. In 
addition to chairing AAHSA, she is the executive director of the not-
for-profit Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix, where over 600 elders live in 
apartments, assisted living, and a skilled nursing center. Hundreds of 
other elders from the surrounding community receive rehabilitation and 
education at Beatitudes. At Beatitudes, she has been instrumental in 
developing a seamlessly integrated system of services to meet the 
changing needs of residents as they age, a model for the way aging 
services should be provided to

[[Page E2162]]

America's elders. Prior to her work at Beatitudes, Peggy had a 
leadership role with Volunteers of America. She has chaired the Arizona 
Association of Homes for the Aging, and has served on Arizona 
governor's committees and task forces on the nursing shortage, long-
term care, Alzheimer's residential care, and assisted living. She also 
has been a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging.
  Although Peggy Mullan is stepping down as AAHSA's chair, her service 
to our country's elder population will continue. I urge my colleagues 
to join me in congratulating her on her leadership and I look forward 
to continuing to work with her to create a healthy, ethical, and 
affordable system of long-term care and aging services for America's 
elders.

                          ____________________