122 Business View Magazine - April 2016
ent appointment, he served as the head of Florida’s
Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA) As-
sisted Living Unit, responsible for the licensure of as-
sisted living facilities throughout the Sunshine State.
“So I had knowledge about what assisted living is, and
what it will be in the future, as well as a lot of knowl-
edge about the regulations that were affecting them,
currently,” he says.
Haston had also served AHCA as a prosecutor against
non-compliant assisted living facilities, nursing homes,
hospitals, clinical laboratories, and home health agen-
cies. “The licensee is required to adhere to certain
statutes and regulations. And if you’re not providing
certain services or you’re falling below minimum stan-
dards for those services, the Agency issues adminis-
trative complaints and takes legal action to impose
fines and penalties that can include a suspension,
moratorium, or revocation of the license.” Although
these tools were used, the Agency’s chief goal is regu-
latory compliance.
According to Haston, FALA’s mission, since its begin-
ning, has always been the same, “which is promoting
excellence, in education, advocacy, standards, and
consumer awareness.” He does, however, have one
cavil concerning the Association’s less than perfect
adherence to its mission statement. “I think over the
years, we fell behind on consumer awareness,” he ad-
mits. “And since I’ve come on board, that has been
one of my goals: to increase consumer awareness
about what assisted living is, what assisted living is
not, and how to locate the most appropriate assisted
living for a person’s loved ones.”
Haston laments what he believes to be the general
consumer’s misunderstanding of the difference be-
tween assisted living and a nursing home. “I think a
lot of families still have that old mentality of ‘Mom’s
going to be in a wheelchair in a corner,’ when, in my
opinion Mom will live longer or Dad will live longer in
an active and vibrant facility with people of the same
age participating in activities, daily. As humans, we
tend to want fellowship; to be around others and to not
be secluded, especially when a life-long partner dies,
and the senior survivor is alone at home. You see that
quite often. In an assisted living facility they form new
friendships, new relationships, and the social being is
recreated. This truly helps seniors to move forward in
their golden years.”
In addition to the many meetings, events, trade
shows, and health fairs that FALA holds or participates
