I was going to pass on this topic but it really bothers me.  As a former
Assistant ACLA I have very strong feelings about this, in addition to the
reading and the dialogue and meeting attendance and the other things mentioned
by others - applicants (unless they're in remote areas) have Leader's
recommendations!  The entire process is very much a mentorship program.  The
Leader nurtures the applicant and is involved in the application process.
Noone comes in off the street and says "Hey I think I'll be a Leader today",
perhaps the hospital would like to offer the same services for physical
therapy, after all why pay good money to someone (who is) trained to provide
the services when they can hire an aide?  Wouldn't the services be the same?
Or maybe they could extend it to most jobs done by nurses? (Oops they're
already doing that!)
Dori in NNJ