Heidi Simpson Announces her Retirement from LeadingAge Minnesota

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Libbie Chapuran

After almost 44 years with LeadingAge Minnesota, Heidi Simpson has announced she will be retiring this year effective Aug. 1. While she will be deeply missed, we are also excited for Heidi and her family as they embark on this new journey!

Heidi’s career began when we were the Conference on Geriatric Care—an organization under the Minnesota Hospital Association with 125 nursing home members. Today, she develops education for almost 1,500 members across the full continuum of older adult services. One thing that hasn’t changed over Heidi’s tenure is her commitment to LeadingAge Minnesota.

In her retirement letter, Heidi noted, “LeadingAge Minnesota is a unique and rare organization stalwartly devoted to serving its members. Striving for excellence is a hallmark of what we do. That in and of itself is highly motivating and rewarding. It has been a true privilege and an honor to do this ‘holy work’ in the hopes that it has made a positive difference in the lives of our members and those they serve.”

Heidi has led our efforts to develop timely, relevant, and high-quality education for our members for over four decades. During that time, she accomplished so much, all in service to the members she holds in such high regard. Heidi developed essential training to help members navigate through significant changes like OBRA 87. She created a first-in-the-nation dementia care certificate program—in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association—to build professional capacity for those who serve persons with dementia. She embraced technology and applied her adult education knowledge to the creation of effective webinars and more recently virtual conferences. While some may wind down their work as they approach retirement, in the past year Heidi designed, developed, and implemented our first ever licensure program to educate Licensed Assisted Living Directors under new licensure requirements.

Typical of Heidi’s dedication to her work, she originally planned to retire in 2020 but with the onset of COVID-19 and assisted living licensure, she put her plans on hold to make sure members had the educational resources needed to weather these challenges. Heidi is now ready and excited to start a new chapter—one filled with more time spent with family and friends, travel adventures, new learning opportunities and some volunteer work.

While we will never be able to fill Heidi’s shoes, plans are underway to ensure a smooth transition so we can continue Heidi’s legacy of excellence in education on behalf of our members. For information on LeadingAge Minnesota’s Director of Education position, or to apply, click here.

Please join us in thanking Heidi for her incredible dedication and accomplishments and wishing her the very best in all that lies ahead!