Her extensive experience conducting, directing, and translating research into action has led to critical policy changes.

Dr. Reinhard currently serves as the Board Chair of RWJBarnabas Health and is a Visiting Professor at the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. Dr. Reinhard previously served as Senior Vice President of AARP’s Public Policy Institute (PPI), the focal point for policy research and analysis in health, long-term care, and economics at the federal, state, and international levels, where she led the PPI’s Family Caregiving Initiatives. She is the former Chief Strategist of AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America, a national resource center supported by AARP, the AARP Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where she co-led the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, advancing scope-of-practice modernization, nurses on boards, and state action coalitions that strengthened nursing’s capacity to improve health, resulting in twenty-seven states and D.C. to now allow nurse practitioners to provide care to the full extent of their training and education. Her steadfast advocacy on behalf of the profession, including her strong influence in implementing landmark nurse delegation practices for those requiring long-term services and supports, have led to systems and policy changes with an immeasurable impact on the nation’s health.
Dr. Reinhard’s work reframed caregiving as a major public health and patient safety issue, generating evidence that continues to guide practice, policy, and caregiver support across the nation. She helped advance Caregiver Advise, Record, and Enable (CARE Act) legislation, now adopted in most states and territories, requiring hospitals to identify family caregivers, involve them in discharge planning, and provide needed instruction. Her work has helped shift national attention from institutional dependence toward person-centered, community-based options.

Dr. Reinhard also served as Deputy Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Health. In that role, she served three governors and was responsible for licensing, regulation, financing, and quality oversight of hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based care. She also created and secured funding for the Community Choice Counseling program to help people transition from nursing homes to their homes and communities, which is still in effect today. Additionally, Dr. Reinhard created and implemented the Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving program, which meets the needs of older people and their family caregivers who are above Medicaid financial eligibility but unable to afford care to stay in their homes. This program serves over 1,750 individuals a year and has an annual budget of $17 million. As the first nurse to serve as Board Chair of RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest academic health system, Dr. Reinhard is leading the Board’s efforts to modernize system-wide governance roles, quality of care, family caregiver engagement, and behavioral health initiatives.

Dr. Reinhard earned a PhD in Sociology from Rutgers University, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Cincinnati, and a BSN from the College of New Jersey. Dr. Reinhard was inducted as Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1995.