We are happy to announce that Dionne Lovett, AAA director at Coastal Regional Commission in Georgia, has been selected as a 2015 Practice Change Leader. The Practice Change Leaders for Aging and Health is a national program to develop, support, and expand the influence of organizational leaders who are committed to achieving transformative improvements in care for older adults. The Practice Change Leaders program is jointly supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A. Hartford Foundation.

Dionne and the rest of her team at Coastal Regional Commission were first trained in Bridge in 2012. They have since gained hospital support for their work after running a successful Bridge pilot showing their impact on improving care for older adults, and are now implementing Bridge with 2 partner hospitals. Additionally, as President of the Georgia Association for Area Agencies on Aging, she inspired other Georgia Area Agencies on Aging to develop their own care transitions programs and to become trained in Bridge. Because of her leadership, six Area Agencies on Aging are now developing their own the Bridge Model transitional care programs across the state of Georgia.

Dionne has shown great leadership potential in all of her work with the Bridge Model, and participating in the Practice Change Leaders program will support her in furthering her leadership impact and in expanding their Bridge programming to more partner hospitals and older adults in the area.

Congratulations, Dionne!