FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 18, 2011
Contact: Lisa Gelhaus, (202) 898-2825, cell (202) 578-2323, lgelhaus@ncal.org
Las Vegas, Nev. – Opening the Fifth Annual NCAL Day, former New York Fire Department Battalion Chief Richard Picciotto inspired nearly 200 attendees with his first-person account of how he emerged from a collapsed North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Attendees responded with a standing ovation.

Speaking at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Picciotto’s talk underscored the elements involved in great leadership—leadership being the theme of one of two education tracks offered to NCAL Day attendees. Emphasizing NCAL Day’s other theme, Quality, Dave Kyllo, NCAL executive director, described the results of two new reports: NCAL’s “2011 Performance Measures Survey” and the “2010 Employee Vacancy Retention and Turnover Survey (VRT).”

“The results of these reports are impressive and give us the data to tell the story about quality resident services to policymakers and consumers alike,” Kyllo told attendees. The 2011 Performance Measure survey showed that 89 percent of survey respondents measured resident and family satisfaction and held resident councils. Nearly 100 percent conducted criminal background checks. The Performance Measures Survey was open to NCAL members only. About 25 percent of NCAL’s membership participated, a 9 percentage point increase from the 2010 report.

NCAL’s VRT showed that 59 percent of all assisted living employees remained working at the same community. Comparison of assisted living staff statistics that were generated from the 2009 and 2010 surveys shows a significant increase in staff retention across all job categories and a decrease in staff turnover. The VRT was open to any assisted living provider. Approximately 600 assisted living communities participated in the 2010 report—about the same as last year.

Motivational speaker Ross Shafer, author of “Nobody Removed Your Cheese,” was the special closing keynote speaker. Shafer kept attendees laughing with his insights on staying creative while working in an unstable economic environment.

“NCAL is proud to host the Fifth Annual NCAL Day as part of our continuing tradition of providing substantive education to today’s assisted living professional,” said Kyllo in conclusion.