Seventy-five years ago, Alabama’s nursing home leaders created an association with one clear mission: to  improve care for older adults and strengthen the profession dedicated to serving them.  

Seventy-five years later, that mission is still as important as it was in the beginning.  

As the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) celebrates its 75th anniversary, we aren’t simply  reflecting on the past – but looking forward to the future of providing skilled care for Alabamians.  

Every Alabama family will be touched by the need for long term care at some point in their lives —  whether for a parent, grandparent, spouse, sibling, friend, or even themselves.  

Today’s long term care communities have advanced greatly since the association’s founding in 1951.  Residents are living longer, often with more complex medical needs. Skilled nursing and assisted living  providers now deliver medically advanced, personalized and sophisticated clinical care, rehabilitation  services, memory care, and support systems that Alabama families can rely on in some of life’s most  challenging moments.  

Yet despite all the advances in medicine and technology, the heart of long term care has never changed.  It is the people.  

Each year, Alabama’s skilled nursing facilities serve more than 58,000 residents, employing nearly 31,000  direct-care professionals.  

For 75 years, ANHA has worked to support the professionals who make those moments possible. As we  celebrate this milestone, we remain committed to advocating for quality care, strengthening the  workforce, and ensuring older adults and individuals with disabilities receive the dignity, compassion, and  respect they deserve.  

They are the certified nursing assistants who know exactly how a resident likes their morning coffee. They are the nurses who comfort families during life’s most difficult moments. They are the therapists who  celebrate a resident’s first steps after surgery. They are the dietary staff, housekeepers, activity  professionals, maintenance teams, social workers, administrators, and countless others whose work often  happens quietly but makes like comfortable for those in our care.  

The demand for long term care will only grow as Alabama’s population continues to age. Meeting that  demand will require continued investment in workforce development, education, innovation, and  partnerships that help recruit and retain the next generation of our state’s healthcare professionals.  

We’re already making progress through collaborations with Alabama’s community colleges,  apprenticeship programs, and other workforce initiatives designed to strengthen the caregiving pipeline.  

We are committed to continuing those efforts.  

In addition to workforce contributions, Alabama’s skilled nursing facilities operate in every county of the  state, thus proving that we are not only an essential part of Alabama’s healthcare system, but also of our  state and local economies.  

Anniversaries are an opportunity to honor the past. Our responsibility, however, is to build the future.  

We must continue investing in caregivers, supporting providers, and preparing for the needs of an aging  population. The next 75 years of long term care in Alabama will be even stronger than the first.  

For three quarters of a century, caring and commitment have defined our profession. My commitment is  to ensure that they will continue to define its future.  

The Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) is a Montgomery-based trade association representing licensed skilled nursing facilities and assisted living centers across Alabama. More information is available at anha.org.