Margaret Chamberlain Champions Resident-Centered Long-Term Care

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Nursing homes have been a part of Margaret Chamberlain’s life for as long as she can remember. The child of a social worker on the administrative team of a nursing home, Chamberlain spent much of her youth in nursing homes.

“I used to get dropped off there after school and hang out in the nursing home,” says Chamberlain, general counsel of Majestic Care and Bluegrass Consulting Group.

While she was hanging out in nursing homes, Chamberlain dreamed of becoming a psychologist. She realized that dream by earning a degree in psychology from Knox College in Illinois and taking a job as a social worker in a nursing home. “It was the one thing I could do with my degree at that point,” Chamberlain says.

She assiduously committed the names and diagnoses of all her residents to memory while monitoring their psychosocial health and providing them with social support. “I was fortunate to work for a progressive administrator for the time, who believed strongly in the interdisciplinary approach. If someone had a pressure ulcer, it was not just a nursing issue; it was a social work and dietary issue. Everyone was involved in it,” Chamberlain says. “I loved nursing homes. I loved my residents, and I loved the business. It was a natural fit.”

“There’s a lot more give and take [in-house] than when you’re outside counsel telling people what to do. It’s hard, but I like it.”

Margaret Chamberlain

Chamberlain’s path shifted when she enrolled in Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. Her intent was to use the law degree to work in nursing home operations. During an externship, she sought out a Cooley alumna specializing in long-term care law, a branch of law with which Chamberlain was unfamiliar but drawn to, given her upbringing. “I met with her and walked out with a job,” she says. “I never intended to practice law, but that’s what I ended up doing.”

For the next twenty-five years, Chamberlain specialized in postacute care and gained experience in regulatory issues. “I’ve done licensing work, federal and state administrative appeals work . . . I know the regulations backwards and forwards because that’s what I’ve done my entire career,” Chamberlain says.

She came to Majestic in September 2023. “I’m excited about taking everything I’ve learned over the past twenty-five plus years and seeing where we can go with it,” she says.

But there have been some growing pains. “This is my first rodeo when it comes to being in-house and working with a team. I’m used to being external counsel, where I would get called to help fix a problem. I’d come in and say, ‘This is how it’s done,’ and that was it,” says Chamberlain.   

In-house, she’s learning to be more accommodating. Functioning as external counsel left her with a blind spot to the internal consequences of legal direction. Where once she was the authority giving instructions and being the “obstacle,” now she tries to develop workarounds, remains cognizant of the obstacles others encounter, and balances the interests of Majestic’s stakeholders. In the past, she created policies that were never questioned. As general counsel, she considers the ramifications her advice will have on operations, HR, and compliance.

“I have to deal with all the stakeholders,” Chamberlain says. “There’s a lot more give and take than when you’re outside counsel telling people what to do. It’s hard, but I like it.”

Whether in private practice or in-house, the care and well-being of her residents have always been Chamberlain’s top priority, even as a defense attorney. “Residents will always come first to me. It’s a passion of mine,” Chamberlain says. She preaches risk management and endeavors to be proactive rather than reactive. “It’s better for regulatory reasons, lawsuits, and, most importantly, the residents. In the end, it’s better for everyone,” she explains.

Chamberlain describes her leadership style as collaborative. She openly acknowledges that she does not possess all the answers and is not a subject matter expert on all aspects of nursing care. She still asks plenty of questions.

“I’m not going to pretend to know something I don’t know, because that’s dangerous,” Chamberlain says. “If I don’t know something, I will tell you. But I’ll try to find the answer.”

She praises Majestic’s leadership for encouraging employees to operate outside their comfortable silos, resulting in a stronger, more comprehensive approach to problems. “You have to be willing to work with each other and consider everyone else’s interests,” Chamberlain says. “You’ll end up with something way better than if everyone is trying to do their own thing.”  

Over the course of her career, Chamberlain has learned that stagnation prevents growth, especially in long-term care. She advises those entering the long-term care profession to play well with others but also to be mavericks. “It sounds like they are opposite of each other, but you can have two things that are true at the same time,” Chamberlain says.

Most of all, those willing to learn and evolve are an asset to their residents. “You have to have humility, and by that, I mean being open to learning and open to suggestions and open to other people,” she says. “At Majestic Care, we say we lead with love, and that is a great foundation.”

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