Long-Term Care Webinar Series

Deb Burdsall is a long-term care infection preventionist who has worked in nursing since 1974. She started as a nurse’s aide, and has worked as a staff nurse, nursing supervisor, interim director of healthcare services, MDS/care plan coordinator, wound nurse, quality assurance coordinator, and clinical inservice coordinator. Deb has worked in acute care in both medical oncology and telemetry at a large academic medical center.

Deb is board certified in infection prevention and control (CIC), long term care infection prevention and control (LTC-CIP), and ANCC certified in gerontological nursing. She is a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

Deb is a grantee with Hektoen Institute and The Illinois Department of Public Health working with congregate care settings in Illinois. She works to find evidence-based, cost-effective infection prevention strategies for long term care. She co-authored the APIC Infection Prevention in Long Term Care and is an author for the Multisociety guidance for infection prevention and control in nursing homes. Deb has been on working groups for other APIC toolkits and documents, including the APIC LTC-CIP Review Course, APIC/IPAC Ethical Infection Prevention and Control (EIPAC) Decision Making Framework, and the AADNS/APIC Implementing the Use of Enhanced Barrier Precautions in Skilled LTC Nursing Facilities.

Emily Bouzek has more over 25 years of dedicated experience as a registered nurse and has focused her career on improving the quality of care for the elderly through infection control and prevention. She holds a master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis on infection control and obtained her board certification in infection control in 2019, demonstrating her commitment to excellence and expertise in this critical area. Emily’s passion for geriatrics and infection control drives her work, and she takes pride in advocating for the well-being of elderly populations. She actively volunteers on various committees and boards at both local and national levels, leveraging her experience to bring awareness to the importance of compassionate, specialized care for the aging community.

Joan Hebden received her baccalaureate and master’s degrees from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She is currently the President of IPC Consulting Group LLC, a Maryland-based company providing infection prevention consultation in acute and non-acute healthcare settings and is an IPC consultant for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. She served as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for 28 years at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. An accomplished practitioner, Ms. Hebden is an invited speaker at national epidemiology conferences, participates in research to identify best practices for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and has multiple publications in medical and infection control journals. She is certified in infection prevention and control through the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, is an active member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiologists of America (SHEA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), serves as a board member and reviewer for the American Journal of Infection Control and is a fellow of APIC and SHEA. She was the recipient of the 2018 SHEA Advanced Practice IP award.

Laura Anne Velasco is the Director of Infection Prevention and Employee Health at ScionHealth, where she leads infection prevention strategy and compliance for more than 90 hospitals nationwide. With over 20 years of experience in acute care, long-term care, and outpatient settings, she is board-certified in infection control and recognized for her expertise in reducing healthcare-associated infections, strengthening regulatory readiness, and advancing workforce safety. Laura also serves on the APIC Practice Guidance Committee, contributing to the development of national infection prevention standards.

Marko Predic is the Senior Director of Infection Prevention for the Orlando Health System. In his role, he provides guidance to teams at twenty facilities throughout Florida and in Alabama. Marko's current and past experiences also include system roles supporting long-term care facilities, free-standing behavioral health facilities, and various outpatient settings in several states. Marko has a B.S. in microbiology and cell sciences and an M.S. in epidemiology, both from the University of Florida. His interests include emerging disease response along with leveraging technology to improve and promote the capabilities of infection preventionists.