Florida Health Care Association | 5
one of the long-term care providers or that
of an assisted living center. There are also
associate members comprised by the com-
panies typically engaged in servicing these
care centers, whether it is as a manufacturer
of medical equipment or by way of proving
services involving everything from dental
care to physical and occupational therapy
and more, essentially all that encompasses at-
tending to the needs of the frail and elderly
in care facilities. As members represent the
plethora of professional backgrounds from
so many disciplines of healthcare, the admin-
istration of FHCA benefits from engaging
leadership from a governing board of direc-
tors and personnel whose knowledge and ex-
perience is similarly extensive. The extent of
that is especially embodied in the example of
one executive, LuMarie Polivka-West. As the
FHCA’s Senior Director of Policy & Pro-
gram Development, she has spent her entire
career working in healthcare. From serving
as Florida’s former Medicaid Policy Chief
to directing the licensure requirements that
governs providers, Polivka-West took on the
role with FHCA after 20 years of working
for the state.
Understanding state requirements
is critical because, as Polivka-West asserts,
“
nursing homes are the most heavily regulat-
ed operations of the healthcare continuum…
there’s strong oversight from state agencies.”
Part of the focus of FHCA is ensuring
that their members are not only adequately
licensed and trained, but also completely
complicit in terms of fulfilling expectations
of the state and the patients they serve. In
this capacity, FHCA is engaged in all mat-
ters that affect the industry. When new leg-
islation is drafted germane to this corridor
of healthcare, the FHCA is there providing