Virginia Beach, Va – Chief Medical Officer, Danny Felty, MD, FAAFP, CMD, was recently elected to serve on the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine’s National Board of Directors and State Presidents’ Council (AMDA).
Recently, AMDA profiled Dr. Felty in a member spotlight shared with more than 50,000 members around the nation:
New Board Member’s Passion for PALTC Drives His Volunteerism
When post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) gets a hold on people, it doesn’t let go. Just ask Danny Felty, MD, FAAFP, CMD, a new state presidents council representative on the AMDA Board of Directors. He was a family physician in private practice for several years when he started working in a nursing home. “I went to an AMDA Annual Conference, and the rest is history,” Dr. Felty says.
Today, Dr. Felty is chief medical officer of Legacy Care, LLC, and medical director at several facilities in Virginia. An AMDA member and House of Delegates representative since 2010, he also is active in the Virginia Society for PALTC Medicine and currently serves as president.
Dr. Felty received his Certified Medical Director (CMD) certification in 2010. He says that and his AMDA membership have been indispensable. “I use the best practices and tools such as the clinical practice guidelines every day. These not only help me to be a good medical director but also an asset for our hospitals and other partners.”
His volunteer work with AMDA and the Virginia state chapter are a labor of love for Dr. Felty, and he is especially passionate about working on transitions of care issues. “It is important for all of us to have a level of expertise about the specifics of clinical care for patients and the longitudinal care pathways they go through,” he says. “This is especially personal to me because I have parents in their ‘80s. I want a smooth transition of care for them at every level. To make that possible, we need to engage with hospitals, facilities, and our interdisciplinary care teams.” He stresses the importance of being engaged, present leaders. “At many meetings, you may be the only person in the room who has the key to solutions. We need to take advantage of that to ensure the best possible care and outcomes for our residents.” He adds, “We have a real opportunity to make a positive impact.”
As a leader in AMDA, his state chapter, and his organization, Dr. Felty is committed to teamwork. “This is key to have an awareness around our ‘careforce’ initiatives. We know that a comprehensive care team, which includes everyone from the CMO and administrator to the maintenance and kitchen staff, makes a difference,” he says. Just as a chair needs four legs to stand, he notes, a team needs all of its players to make advances in care transitions and to address care gaps. He notes, “We have a saying—If you focus on the best care, everything will take care of itself.”
Coming out of the pandemic, leadership has never been more important. Dr. Felty says, “We can do one of three things in life: maintain the status quo, lean in, or lean out. When something is important, you have to lean in. That’s how teams are formed and how we work together to innovate and make positive changes.”
Like so many of his colleagues, Dr. Felty thinks of AMDA as family. “It’s felt that way since the first annual conference I attended. And coming back together after two years of virtual meetings was like a homecoming,” he says.
Learn More from AMDA: https://bit.ly/3EnoufC
Legacy Care’s medical group delivers patient care in healthcare systems, inpatient rehabilitation centers, post-acute care facilities and assisted living communities that are located across the country. We are leaders in transitional healthcare, delivering patient-centered solutions. Our compassionate physicians and advanced care practitioners are dedicated to positive patient outcomes.