On Nov. 19, teams of management and labor representatives from area nursing homes attended the inaugural conference of the Quality Care Committee, co-sponsored by the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC) and 1199 SEIU. The conference—the first of five scheduled over the next 16 months to facilitate collaborative work in understanding and seeking to enhance the work environment in continuing care facilities—drew more than 330 CEOs, administrators, and frontline workers. The focus of the conference was the history and evolution of the long term care system, both nationally and locally. Through a series of interactive sessions, participants from 30 different organizations identified the major changes affecting the delivery of long term care services over the last several decades, and worked together to develop a joint vision for care at their organizations.Upcoming conferences will address a range of topics including culture change, staffing issues, and care models. The final conference will focus on generating recommendations for positive change both within organizations and at the policy level. The Quality Care Committee is the product of a commitment reached between management and labor during the last contract negotiations to focus jointly on meeting the challenges that both sides face in providing quality jobs for workers and quality care for residents.