Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2023 Women of Distinction honorees daily from July 5 to Aug. 15. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.
Nystrom is a seasoned home care professional with degrees in both nursing and law. She joined the home care field in 1995 as an administrative assistant at Health Resources Home Care and became president of New England Home Care in 2000. Since 2018, she has served as a leader in the mission-driven growth of the multi-state home health provider Elara Caring, where she is president of skilled home health.
Nystrom joined Dallas-based Elara Caring as president of behavioral health. In that role, she designed a specialized service line dedicated to helping individuals with chronic behavioral health conditions, and she formed a team of behavioral health nursing leaders with field-based expertise and the passion to expand care to those most vulnerable, wherever they called home.
Nystrom has been an active member of the Connecticut Association for Home Care since 2001. She has held membership and leadership positions.
Nystrom was appointed by the director of the Connecticut Department of Social Services to serve as the home healthcare representative to the state’s Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council in 2010. In 2014, Nystrom was honored with CAHH’s Judith Hriceniak Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership. It recognizes nursing leaders who are visionary role models.
In 2020, Nystrom assumed the additional role of president of Elara’s skilled home care service line, maintaining a dual leadership role throughout the early days of the COVID pandemic. Under her leadership, both divisions improved their operational and financial performance while continuing to attract and retain caregivers.
In addition to her many years of employment in the home health arena, Nystrom has long served as a passionate home health and mental health and wellness volunteer, leader and advocate.
In 2022, she created the Elara Caring “We Definitely Care” model of patient engagement, which works to ensure that every patient and patient family touchpoint with Elara reflects the provider’s commitment to caring.
The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. PointClickCare is the Diamond sponsor of this year’s program. PharMerica is the Silver sponsor. Additional sponsors include American HealthTech, Healthcare Services Group, Omnicare, Sentrics and ShiftKey.
Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2023 and previous years.
