Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Women of Distinction honorees daily from July 1 to Aug. 13. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.

Ruth Katz has been a force in the world of healthcare and long-term care for almost 35 years since she started working at the US Department of Health and Human Services. She was a long-time associate deputy assistant secretary at HHS, where she spearheaded national strategies in home- and community-based care and led a project to rejuvenate a multimillion dollar research center.

Katz joined LeadingAge as senior vice president for policy and advocacy in 2018, lending her considerable expertise to the prominent nonprofit association. Only a couple of years after building her team and developing new advocacy programs, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and forced even more adaptation. Katz responded in stride, setting up daily update webinars to keep the association’s members in the know and connected with the resources they needed to navigate the changing tides of the pandemic era. Those webinars continue in a twice-weekly format, now focused on broader policy issues. 

In February, Katz took on a new role as president and CEO of the Association of Jewish Aging Services. This new leadership role promises to be another opportunity for Katz to positively affect the lives of the country’s elderly population and those who serve them.

“Ruth is a tireless advocate for older adults and the people and organizations who serve them. She is endlessly creative and endlessly energetic, and her mind never stops working,” her nominator said. “LeadingAge members talk about Ruth as ‘the voice of calm who got us through the darkest hours’ and mention, over and over, the positive messages and encouragement that Ruth provided.” 

More about Katz: 

  • Katz oversaw HHS’s early implementation of the Affordable Care Act and was instrumental in programs addressing disability, mental health and opioid use needs. 
  • At LeadingAge, she organized member visits to Congress and the sending of more than 16,000 letters to lawmakers.
  • Under her watch, more than 600 policy update calls took place at LeadingAge, keeping members and others informed about the latest news in the sector.

The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Healthcare Services Group was the Platinum sponsor of this year’s McKnight’s Women of Distinction Awards and Forum. PointClickCare was the Gold sponsor, and PharMerica was the Silver sponsor. Other sponsors included Curana Health, DirecTV for Business, Easyshifts, Hireology, Reliant Rehabilitation, ShiftKey and Sentrics.

Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2024 and previous years.