AHCA/NCAL names quality award recipient

Ed McMahon, PhD, has been named as this year’s recipient of the Mary K. Ousley Champion of Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). He formally will receive the award at AHCA/NCAL’s 2014 annual meeting, slated for Oct. 5 to 8 in Washington, DC.

AHCA presents the Ousley Award, formerly called the Friend of Quality Award, to an individual or organization that has been deemed to have made a significant national contribution to advancing quality performance in long-term care. With a career spanning more than 30 years, McMahon’s contributions on a national level include developing innovative Alzheimer’s care models that have been replicated throughout the country. As vice president of quality for Sunrise Senior Living, he has led nearly 300 centers nationwide through the principles of quality assurance and performance improvement, otherwise known as QAPI. He has participated in more than 15 research projects, involving multiple universities, with a focus on improving quality of life, quality of care and quality outcomes for those with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

McMahon is an AHCA Quality Cabinet member and chairman of the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program Board of Overseers, while also participating as a volunteer examiner since the program’s inception. In addition, he was a member of the committee that developed the National Quality Award Program, which has contributed to the quality improvement efforts of thousands of award recipients since 1996.

“Ed’s dedication and passion for quality has benefited the long-term and post-acute care profession in profound ways,” says Mary Ousley, the award namesake, who is a licensed nursing home administrator and nurse as well as leader of the AHCA Quality Cabinet. “He’s a role model, a quality ambassador, a teacher and a leader of positive change. I’m so proud Ed is receiving this well-deserved recognition.”

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