By DAISY WASHINGTON / Community Columnist

“It’s not the years you live, it’s the life in your years,” said Memphis, Tennessee native Ann Lynn.

Medical technologist by trade, she received her degree in chemistry and medical technology from Auburn University in 1976.

Of her experience working in a hospital lab, Lynn said, “It was like a puzzle, figuring things out, you had to get the information right – a lot depends on you.”

She enjoyed an exciting and successful career as a sales representative with two major U.S. pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer (previously Park-Davis) and Glaxo Pharmaceuticals.

As a physician liaison at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, she worked as a “go-between” for the doctors and the facility.

“It was my best job, I met great people, there was not a lot of pressure with the job,” Lynn, 63, said.

Currently employed as a health care account executive with A Place for Mom, Lynn serves as a resource for placement of individuals needing care.

A Place for Mom is a nationwide information service about senior living options including  independent living, home care agencies, adult family homes, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Since its beginning in 2000, it has assisted nearly 800,000 families in finding care and housing for their loved ones.

It is partnered with 20,000 properties nationwide and in Canada.

For the past three years, Lynn has been a volunteer with Partnering to Improve Care Coordination.

PICC is a committee of the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation.

AQAF is a non-profit consulting firm that provides quality improvement, utilization and quality review services to the health care provider market.

The Foundation has successfully worked to improve the quality of health care in Alabama.

As part of PICC’s primary goal to prevent hospital readmissions through community engagement, it networks with area churches (through the Parish Nurse) to track members who have been hospitalized.

In addition, through community engagement resources such as senior living options, COPD, Health Fairs, etc. are made available to the public.

Parish nurses distribute end-of-life packets which contain information on Power of Attorney, living wills and a list of terms and definitions and documents needed for end-of-life planning.

Lynn learned about AQAF and PICC through her peers and other contacts from hospitals.

The chairman of her PICC committee Community Health recruited her to join.

“I got involved because the goals of PICC meshed perfectly with the A Place for Mom values and initiatives. The more we can educate families about disease states, resources and available services, the better it is for their loved ones who need assistance,” Lynn said.

In addition to assisting with special community projects such as distributing gift food bags to the elderly, Lynn serves as station manager and secretary of PICC.

“We truly make a difference in patients’ lives. We are able to provide guidance, education and health information so the seniors may lead a safe, happy and healthy life,” Lynn said. She and her husband of 22 years, David, resides in Calera.

They have a son and daughter and two grandchildren. Lynn became a member of RSVP in 2017. She has logged 197 volunteer hours.