Age-Friendly Care in Nursing Homes

Emily Zagorski Butler, DO, CMD, FACP, is a geriatric medicine physician who practices as a medical director and provides outpatient dementia care at the Lehigh Valley Health Network/ Jefferson Health’s Fleming Memory Center in Allentown, PA. She completed her internal medicine resident in 2021 at Tower Health Reading Hospital in Reading, PA and her Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at the University of Maryland/ Baltimore VAMC in 2022. Dr. Butler has interest in medical directorship of nursing facilities at both a state and national level. She serves on the Workforce Development committee for the Post Acute and Long Term Medical Society and the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Post Acute and Long Term Care Association in order to educate providers about the joys of working in long term care. She enjoys working with residents and fellows, with special teaching focuses on polypharmacy, delirium prevention strategies and memory support. Additionally, she has interest in quality improvement especially in the nursing home. 

Thomas Lawrence, MD, CMD, is a geriatric medicine specialist with a career focus on practicing in the long-term care setting. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine and has served as medical director of 12 nursing facilities in Pennsylvania. Dr. Lawrence is currently the system medical director of geriatric medicine and long-term care for the Main Line Health System, a four-hospital health system in suburban Philadelphia. Dr. Lawrence is a past president of the Pennsylvania Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine and is a member of the Board of the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. 

Nicholas Maston, MD, is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and works for Jefferson Health in the Division of Geriatric Medicine as a geriatrician and clinician-educator. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Thomas Jefferson University Department of Family & Community Medicine and is the Program Director for Jefferson’s Geriatric Medicine fellowship program. He additionally serves as the associate medical director for The Hill at Whitemarsh, a CCRC in Lafayette Hill, PA. His clinical and educational interests include exploring transitional care spaces, such as the process of discharge from hospital to nursing facility, with an emphasis on the role of humanism in medicine, particularly with respect to teaching effective feedback strategies, communication skills, and fostering a sense of connection to the work that we do.

Nicole Osevala, MD, is an Internal and Geriatric Medicine physician at Penn State Health, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center where she is the Interim Chief of Geriatric Medicine and Medical Director for the Penn State Health Post-Acute Care Service. In her clinical roles, Dr. Osevala cares for older adults in a local nursing home as well as providing geriatric medicine consultation for geriatric trauma patients at Hershey Medical Center. Administratively, Dr. Osevala has championed the creation of a post-acute care network for Penn State Health patients with the goal to improve care transitions, quality of care in nursing homes and ultimately improve outcomes for this vulnerable population. In the hospital, Dr. Osevala launched the inpatient geriatric consult service in 2020, and has convened stakeholders in March 2021 to embark upon the goal of becoming an Age Friendly Health System at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Osevala has led the South Central’s Regional Response Health Collaborative Program, known as RRHCP, the Regional Congregate Care Assistance Team known as RCAT, and currently leads the Resiliency, Infrastructures, Supports and Empowerment (RISE) program which supports 90 nursing homes and 150 personal care homes across 13 counties in South Central PA in Covid-19 outbreak response, staff education, emergency management preparation and community building to create a sustainable response to crises in long term care.

Danielle Snyderman, MD, CMD, is a distinguished health care provider specializing in geriatric medicine and family medicine. With over 20 years of experience, she graduated from Howard University College of Medicine in 2003 and has been affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Snyderman is known for her expertise in treating the unique health needs of the elderly, including chronic diseases, nutritional problems, skin ailments, cognitive loss, memory impairment, adverse effects of medications, immobility, and balance issues. She is also recognized for her contributions to improving and teaching about Transitions of Care, resident education in long-term care, and advance care planning.