White Plains attorney to chair aging services group

Mary Beth Morrissey, a White Plains health care attorney and researcher, will be the new chairwoman of the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services, an advocacy group that focuses on aging-in-place and end-of-life initiatives.

The group looks to bring together government officials, business professionals and volunteer agencies, as well as fundraise and underwrite programs for the elderly, including programs run by the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services.

Mary Beth Morrissey. Photo by Tom Stoelker

“Government simply cannot do it alone,” Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said in a statement Monday. “Public-private partnerships are absolutely essential.”

Morrissey has been affiliated with the group for three years. She is a member of several palliative care groups, including the New York State Southern Region Collaborative for Palliative Care, which she founded and leads as president.

In 2013, she helped spearhead a post-graduate certificate on palliative care at Fordham University. There are roughly 191,000 seniors living in Westchester County and that number is expected to grow by as much as 63,000 in the coming years, according to the partnership.