It was my pleasure and honor to introduce Joseph G. Ouslander, MD the recipient of the CALTCM 2015 Leadership Award. Dr Ouslander has been one of the pillars of Geriatrics in the US for the last 30 years. I had the privilege of working with Joe while at UCLA . We co-directed the two campuses of the Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA) in Reseda and have collaborated on many clinical and scholarly projects at the JHA and the Borun Center for Gerontological Research.

Dr. Ouslander is an internationally recognized geriatrician. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.  He has experience as a professor at UCLA School of Medicine, where he spent 15 years developing clinical, educational and research programs. From 1996 to 2007, he served as Director of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Emory university in Atlanta, Georgia.  From 1999 to 2000, Dr Ouslander served as president of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and as its Board Chair from 2000-2001. He has served in the editorial leadership of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) for 20 years, currently as its Executive Editor.  Dr.Ouslander received the 2012 Nascher/Manning Award from AGS for his distinguished career and lifelong achievements in clinical geriatrics.  

Among Dr. Ouslander's many achievements and contributions in the field of geriatric medicine and care are "taking urinary incontinence out of the closet" and making it a manageable geriatric syndrome, creation and dissemination of Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers (INTERACT), a quality improvement program that assists long term care facilities and programs in improving care, and reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and their related complications and costs.  An independent committee appointed by the CALTCM Board of Directors reviewed Dr. Ouslander’s qualifications, and as one of the reviewers for the Leadership Award stated, Dr. Ouslander’s exceptional Leadership is characterized by creation of solutions to significant problems and positive impacts on them overall quality of long term care, made him worthy of the CALTCM Leadership Award.

Dr. Ouslander delivered a lecture on his latest achievements. I am pleased to offer all of you who were unable to attend in person the opportunity to enjoy Joe’s brilliant lecture from the comfort of your living room or office.  

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