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About NCCNHR

NCCNHR was formed in 1975 as the National Citizen's Coalition for Nursing Home Reform because of public concern about substandard care in nursing homes. NCCNHR is the outgrowth of work first achieved by advocates working for Ralph Nader and later for the National Gray Panthers. Elma Holder, NCCNHR Founder, was working with The Long-Term Care Action Project of the Gray Panthers when she organized a group meeting of advocates from across the country to attend a nursing home industry conference in Washington, DC. At that meeting, representatives of 12 citizen action groups spoke collectively to the industry about the need for serious reform in nursing home conditions. The consumer attendees were inspired to develop a platform of common concerns and motivated to form a new organization to represent the consumer voice at the national level. Most of the original members had witnessed and endured personal experiences with substandard nursing home conditions.

View NCCNHR's brochure here.

NCCNHR's current 20-member board, which includes residents of nursing homes, represents the grassroots membership of concerned advocates of quality long term care nationwide. The board is elected by consumer-controlled member groups and meets four times a year to establish policies and to help direct financing and programming issues.

The solid base for NCCNHR is its 200 member groups with a growing individual membership of more than 1,000. Members and subscribers to NCCNHR's information resources from 42 states comprise a diverse and caring coalition of local citizen action groups, state and local long-term care ombudsmen, legal services programs, religious organizations, professional groups, nursing home employees' unions, concerned providers, national organizations and growing numbers of family and resident councils.

NCCNHR provides information and leadership on federal and state regulatory and legislative policy development and models and strategies to improve care and life for residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Ongoing work addresses issues such as:

• Inadequate staffing in nursing homes, particularly all levels of nursing staff;
• Poor working conditions, salaries and benefits for long-term care workers;
• Maintenance of residents' rights and empowerment of residents;
• Support for family members and development of family councils;
• Resources for and support to Citizen Advocacy Groups (CAGs);
• Development and support for the long-term care ombudsman program;
• Minimizing the use of physical and chemical restraints;
• The high cost of poor care, such as pressure sores, dehydration, incontinence, and contracture of residents' muscles and 
• Accountability to taxpayers for nursing home expenditures and failure to fulfill government contracts.

Elma Holder, NCCNHR Founder

In 1975, Elma Holder founded NCCNHR and served as NCCNHR’s Executive Director from its incorporation in 1978 to 1995, working in a staff and advisory capacity until retirement in 2002. She then returned to Oklahoma to become one of her mother’s family caregivers.

After completing studies in the public health program at the University of Oklahoma in 1968, Elma served as the Gerontology Consultant to the OK State Department of Health, working with the Medicare program and the nursing home survey agency. After advanced studies at the USC Summer Gerontology Institute, she moved to Washington, DC, where she served the National Council on Aging as health consultant. In 1975, NCCNHR was the outgrowth of Holder’s work with two public interest organizations: Ralph Nader’s Retired Professional Action Group (1971-'73) and the National Gray Panthers (Philadelphia, 1973-'76).

Elma's first exposure to nursing homes was personal: overseeing the care of an elderly grandfather. During her work in Washington, DC, she was in regular contact with residents of nursing homes who became active in NCCNHR, as well as personal friends experiencing nursing home care.  She initiated the Campaign for Quality Care while at NCCNHR and was actively involved in shepherding public advocacy to help achieve the 1987 National Nursing Home Reform Law.  Elma served twice as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. Among other awards, in 1998 Contemporary Long Term Care selected Elma as one of “20 Who Make a Difference.“ In 1999, she was awarded the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Gustave Leinhard Award, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for outstanding achievement in improving health care. For her life’s work, Elma was awarded the Chairman’s Medal from the Heinz Family Foundation in 2006. In the fall, 2008, she began work as a volunteer ombudsman in Oklahoma.