John F. Derr

John F. Derr is vice president of the American Health Care Association (AHCA)/National Center for Assisted Living, which represents the majority of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the United States. Mr. Derr is the chairman of the Long-Term Living Work Group, which was established under ex-speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation, to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services a report from the long-term care stakeholders on the electronic health record information technology initiative. His is a board director of the National Association for the Support of Long-Term Care and Chairman of the IT Committee. In 2005, he was appointed by the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to the Geriatric and Gerontology Advisory Committee. He is on the Medical Records Institute Continuity of Care Record Steering Committee and on his third term on the Dean's Professional Advisory Board at Purdue School of Pharmacy. Mr. Derr also has more than 40 years of executive healthcare experience, holding top executive positions with Squibb, Searle, Siemens, MediSpan, Kyocera, and National Medical Enterprises. He is a 1958 graduate of the Purdue University School of Pharmacy and also holds a 1972 Executive Certificate from the Indiana University Graduate School of Business. He was a Purdue Old Master and in 2003 received the Tony Way Award for outstanding service in the support of long-term care. Mr. Derr has published professional articles and is a published novelist; his novel on international pharmaceutical espionage is titled Devil Tree. As of January 1, 2006, Mr. Derr will become The Foundation for the Advancement of Elder and Disabled Care's first executive director.