Since the program began in 2019, some 252 women in the fields of skilled nursing, senior living and home care have been honored across multiple award categories.

Eligible for recognition are women working as direct care providers, managers, executives, corporate executives and owners in independent living, assisted living, memory care and life plan communities. That’s in addition to those working in those capacities in skilled nursing facilities and in home care, home health, hospice and palliative care. 

Women who serve the fields indirectly — for instance as association staff members, academicians or thought leaders — also are eligible for recognition. Individuals working for vendor companies serving the industry are not eligible.

The nomination categories:

• Hall of Honor: Candidates should be senior-level professionals in the C-suite or at a level equivalent to vice president or higher and should have made a significant impact on their organization or the industry.
• Veteran VIP: Candidates should have more than 15 years of experience making an impact in long-term care and should be at a level lower than vice president or its equivalent. Whether as a community/facility administrator or executive director; or as a director of nursing, health/wellness or activities; or through some other position, they must have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the senior living and care industry through their accomplishments.
• Rising Star: Candidates must be 40 or younger or have fewer than 15 years of experience in the profession. Also, they must have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the senior living and care industry. Those achievements/accomplishments may include, for example, managing a project, developing a campaign or contributing to the field via research or thought leadership.
• Spirit Award: This award recognizes inspiring caregiving and service provision efforts. Eligibility is open to women who have demonstrated acts of bravery, courage, perseverance, dedication, determination — or other noble gestures.

Nominators for the Rising Star, Veteran VIP and Hall of Honor categories should be prepared to share detailed qualitative and quantitative information about nominees’ work histories, exceptional achievements and contributions or service, and anything else the judging panel should consider.

Nominators for the Spirit Award should be prepared to detail the actions that qualify the potential honoree for the recognition. Nominations for the Spirit Award will be accepted at no charge.

A Lifetime Achievement Award winner also will be named.

Nominations for the Rising Star, Veteran VIP and Hall of Honor categories (described below) that are submitted by Jan. 5 will have an $89 entry fee. Nominations submitted between Jan. 6 and 12 will cost $20 more.

The program, now in its sixth year, is coordinated by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care.

All honorees will be celebrated at an in-person event on Tuesday, May 14, in Chicago that also will recognize inductees from previous years. Some information about the event, which also will include educational sessions, is available now at mcknightswomenofdistinction.com. Additional details will be announced at a later date.

For more information about the awards, or to submit a nomination for them, visit mcknightswomenofdistinction.com.

Questions should be directed to Amanda Hassler, director of events for Haymarket Media, the parent company of McKnight’s, at amanda.hassler@haymarketmedia.com.

Read about previous award winners here. See lists of previous classes of honorees here and here.

Sponsors of the 2024 awards program include Curana Health, DirecTV for Business, Healthcare Services Group, PharMerica and Priority Life Care.

Since the program began in 2019, 252 outstanding women in the fields of skilled nursing, senior living and home care have been honored across multiple award categories.

“The Women of Distinction awards are a highlight of the year — not just for the honorees, but for all of us at McKnight’s,” said John O’Connor, vice president and editorial director over the three McKnight’s brands. “We enjoy sharing the accomplishments of the dedicated, passionate, hardworking women in long-term care and facilitating the wide appreciation they deserve. But to be considered for recognition, they first must be nominated, and now is the time to do that.”

Eligible for recognition in the sector’s prestigious competition are women working as direct care providers, managers, executives, corporate executives and owners in independent living, assisted living, memory care and life plan communities, as well as those working in those capacities in skilled nursing facilities and in home care, home health, hospice and palliative care. 

Women who serve the fields indirectly — for instance as association staff members, academicians or thought leaders — also are eligible for recognition. Individuals working for vendor companies serving the industry are not eligible.

The nomination categories are:

• Hall of Honor: Candidates should be senior-level professionals in the C-suite or at a level equivalent to vice president or higher and should have made a significant impact on their organization or the industry.
• Veteran VIP: Candidates should have more than 15 years of experience making an impact in long-term care and should be at a level lower than vice president or its equivalent. Whether as a community/facility administrator or executive director; or as a director of nursing, health/wellness or activities; or through some other position, they must have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the senior living and care industry through their accomplishments.
• Rising Star: Candidates must be aged 40 or fewer years or have fewer than 15 years of experience in the profession. Also, they must have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the senior living and care industry. Those achievements/accomplishments may include, for example, managing a project, developing a campaign or contributing to the field via research or thought leadership.
• Spirit Award: This award recognizes inspiring caregiving and service provision efforts. Eligibility is open to women who have demonstrated acts of bravery, courage, perseverance, dedication, determination — or other noble gestures.

Nominators for the Rising Star, Veteran VIP and Hall of Honor categories should be prepared to share detailed qualitative and quantitative information about nominees’ work histories, exceptional achievements and contributions or service, and anything else the judging panel should consider.

Nominations for the Rising Star, Veteran VIP and Hall of Honor categories that are submitted by Friday, Jan. 5, will have an $89 entry fee. Nominations submitted between Jan. 6 and Jan. 9 will carry a $119 entry fee.

Nominators for the Spirit Award should be prepared to detail the actions that qualify the potential honoree for recognition. Nominations for the Spirit Award will be accepted at no charge.

A Lifetime Achievement Award winner also will be named.

All honorees will be celebrated at an in-person event on Tuesday, May 14, in Chicago that also will recognize inductees from previous years. Some information about the event, which also will include educational sessions, is available now at mcknightswomenofdistinction.com. Additional details will be announced at a later date.

For more information about the awards, or to submit a nomination for them, visit mcknightswomenofdistinction.com.

Questions should be directed to Amanda Hassler, director of events for Haymarket Media, the parent company of McKnight’s, at amanda.hassler@haymarketmedia.com.

Read about previous award winners here. See lists of previous classes of honorees here.

When Natalie Spencer and her son decided to take in a Philadelphia Eagles game in January, they experienced a big win, but not the kind they expected. The Eagles lost the game, but Spencer and an emergency department physician who also was attending the game were able to rush into action to save the life of another fan in critical condition.

Spencer and the physician both rushed to the side of a fan who fell to the ground unconscious during the game. Spencer was able to move him from the steps where he fell as he began to turn blue, and she provided life-saving CPR along with the physician who joined her. 

Spencer joined Sanatoga Center as director of nursing in 2022. She is regarded by colleagues as a true leader in and out of the facility. 

During her 18-year career in healthcare, Spencer has filled almost every role, from nursing assistant to director of nursing, but her best work may have been done on that day in the Eagles stadium. 

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.

Friendly, approachable and unquenchably driven, Aimee Middleton brings the heart and humility of a frontline caregiver to the C-suite. As she climbed the corporate ladder at the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, she never forgot her humble beginnings waiting tables. And even though she no longer is working for tips, she didn’t lose that occupation’s service mindset. 

Middleton held leadership and faculty roles at Clarkson College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has served as a branch manager for Associated Staffing, a national account manager for Hirease, an administrator for home care specialties and director of client development for Tabitha Health Care Services, and administrator for Vetter Health Services. 

Middleton joined Good Samaritan in 2017, serving first as an administrator (2017-2019) and then as a regional executive director of operations before taking on the vice president of operations role in January 2022. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she taught college-level healthcare business classes as an adjunct professor as a way to share her love for older adults with the next generation of healthcare administrators. 

Middleton is known as someone who runs toward trouble, not away from it. As Hurricane Ian was bearing down on Florida in September 2022, she was on-site at Good Samaritan communities, helping staff evacuate residents and making sure they had everything they needed. It was important to her that everything possible was done to ensure that residents retained their dignity throughout the evacuation. 

In addition to tending to the needs of residents displaced by the hurricane, Middleton led Good Samaritan’s incident command process and gave numerous media interviews, always propelled by the needs of residents. 

Middleton energizes those around her to find a way to do more with less, to be creative, to serve with passion and to not take no for an answer if something is in the best interests of those the organization serves.

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.

Armed with the soul of a caregiver and a background in all facets of management—operations, team building, staff development, efficiency, continuous improvement and a focus on customer satisfaction—Rhonda St. Onge went to work as a licensed nursing home administrator and became a certified executive for assisted living and an executive director of senior living communities. 

St. Onge has an undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH. She then earned a master’s degree with a focus on lean management at Ohio State University, Columbus. 

St. Onge became the executive director of Wesley Woods, a Life Enriching Communities continuing care retirement community in New Albany, OH, in late 2018. There, she oversaw operations that included 118 units, including villas, independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing. While serving as executive director at Wesley Woods, St. Onge increased occupancy from 35% in 2018 to 85% in 2020. She retained 100% of the community’s directors, managers and coordinators. 

Since December 2020, St. Onge has been executive director of Brookdale Trillium Crossing, a 213-unit independent and assisted living community in Columbus, OH. At Trillium Crossing, she manages an operating budget of almost $7 million and leads a team of nine direct and 130 indirect reports. 

A key part of St. Onge’s success is her client-focused managerial training combined with her deep love of people and understanding of the needs of residents. St. Onge is the first and only McKnight’s Women of Distinction honoree whose nomination came from residents. Residents say they know that they have her full support (and that of her dedicated staff) in pursuing any interests or activities. 

St. Onge goes about her work with intensity, with her eyes always on the goal, forever juggling the myriad aspects of her role. Residents say she is the consummate team player and always maintains a sense of humor, a ready wit and a steady calm as she makes Trillium Crossing a true home. 

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.

What began as a “punishment” for teenage rebellion turned into a 42-year career in long-term care for Vicky Nordby. Her first job—started at the insistence of her parents—was in a nursing home, and Nordby went on to work as a certified nursing assistant, activity director, charge nurse and director of nursing on the frontlines of long-term care. Those roles led her to her current tenure in leadership, as director of clinical services and nurse consulting. 

Nordby joined Marquis Companies as a nurse consultant in 2008, focusing on the implementation of electronic health records and improvements in infection control. Her efforts in those areas are spread across 25 campuses specializing in post-acute rehab, memory care, assisted living and independent living. Nordby has helped establish clinical policies and programs at the facility, state and federal levels related to infection control and the prevention of healthcare associated infections. 

She works closely with facility teams to develop clinical policies and workflows that will improve quality outcomes. She is particularly recognized for her expertise in the area of infection control, as well as her work as a state and federal level advocate for reducing healthcare-associated infections and ensuring appropriate antimicrobial use. 

Though she has made a career of providing top-level clinical guidance and ensuring quality improvement, Nordby is recognized as playing a role in virtually every aspect of positive growth at Marquis over the past 14 years. 

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.

When you think of the word hospice, terms such as “engaging” and “energizing” likely are not some of the first to come to mind. But thanks to Desirae Toomey’s infectious spirit and commitment to her “why,” she has created an environment for her team at Sanford Home Health that is full of optimism, compassion and inspiration.

“I believe if I help create an exciting, innovative and engaging work environment that inspires and energizes people, they will take that enthusiasm and compassion out into the world,” Toomey says. She is the administrator of home- and community-based services for Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (Sanford Home Health), Sioux Falls, SD.

Toomey holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of South Dakota, a bachelor’s degree in registered nursing from South Dakota State University and a master’s degree in nursing administration from Western Governors University. Before becoming a home health administrator, she served as a clinical applications analyst and principal trainer, as well as a nurse supervisor and manager. Toomey also previously worked as a registered nurse at the Wyoming Penitentiary. 

When she began her role as hospice administrator in 2021, Toomey faced the challenge of interacting with several very dissatisfied teams. Rather than deferring responsibility, she took time to listen to everyone’s concerns with the intent to understand, including employees in decision-making and organizing team-building events in an effort to create a better professional/personal life balance for her team. The importance she placed on repairing and rebuilding relationships first is a testament to Toomey’s desire to engage those around her in a positive way. 

She also eagerly collaborates across disciplines for the benefit of her patients, colleagues say. She recently initiated work with the system’s spiritual care department to ensure that the residential hospice program she oversees had the proper resources to provide inclusive spiritual care resources to patients and families representing various faith traditions. 

The results of Toomey’s relationship efforts were reflected in a recent employee survey that saw her team engagement improving almost 20% in just six months. Toomey’s optimistic approach to resolution continues to position her team for excellence in the future. 

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.

Kelly MacNeill-Cooney began her career as a speech-language pathologist and quickly took on more responsibility, becoming a program manager and then a regional therapy manager. Her passion for treating patients, mentoring employees in clinical excellence and leading organizations in developing strategies based on regulatory and legislative requirements led her to the National Association of Rehab Providers and Agencies in 2011. 

After joining NARA, MacNeill-Cooney quickly jumped in to support the association’s mission of creating collaborative opportunities for members and advancing the therapy industry through advocacy and education. She currently is NARA’s president. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, MacNeill-Cooney set up a biweekly town hall call for NARA members to share rapidly changing regulatory guidelines and solutions to operational and clinical challenges. She helps NARA create collaborative opportunities for members and advance the therapy industry. 

She has worked in healthcare service for more than 28 years and was vice president of clinical compliance and training at Therapy Specialists before that organization was acquired by HealthPRO-Heritage. 

At Therapy Specialists, MacNeill-Cooney was responsible for ensuring that the goals of employees and clients were met through aligning the clinical team’s therapeutic skills, programming, documentation and clinical compliance with current rules and regulations, as well as the goals of the organization. In her current role as a member of the senior leadership team at HealthPro-Heritage, she is responsible for reporting observations on the status of regulatory issues and strategies to the executive team. 

She is also the steering committee secretary for the Princess Project in San Diego, which promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school teens. 

MacNeill-Cooney’s steadfast focus on advocacy, education and collaborative relationships has allowed both NARA and HealthPro-Heritage to meet the needs of all stakeholders amid some of the most tumultuous times the healthcare industry has ever seen. 

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.

Faith and spirituality are vitally important for many older adults. As director of spirituality for HumanGood, Sharell Shippen brings a much-needed inclusive approach to promoting a person-centered care philosophy and helping to ensure that residents and family members of all denominations and faiths are provided with services and resources that meet their spirituality needs and allow them to live their best lives. 

Shippen holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from the Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Social Work degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Divinity degree from Palmer Theological Seminary.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shippen’s efforts around outreach and support for residents and employees represented an important part of HumanGood’s mission to inspire the best life for everyone served. She was one of the first graduates of the organization’s Good to Grow leadership development program, and her unique ability to unify people through her insights and support was critical to the health of the company’s culture, especially as teams faced unprecedented restrictions and lockdowns. 

Shippen consistently made her presence known throughout the organization during the pandemic, offering help to communities’ spiritual directors as they focused on how to best serve residents. She works closely with HumanGood President and CEO John Cochrane on the HumanGood Inclusion Council to drive company culture toward a more welcoming future. 

Outside of HumanGood, Shippen is a member of the Next Generation Leadership Initiative, a leadership development program funded by the United Church of Christ. It strives to equip, energize and empower younger UCC church pastors to build vibrant congregations that change lives. Before joining HumanGood, she was the director of missions for Presby’s Inspired Life. 

She is currently a volunteer for the Saturday Enrichment Program, which provides academic support and enrichment, social and emotional and life skill lessons for K-12 students.

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.

Jackie Pappalardi began her healthcare career as a registered nurse but spent the majority of the past 45 years advocating for quality care in both the public and private sectors. She recently joined the board of the American Association of PostAcute Care Nursing, which represents more than 15,000 post-acute care nurses and other health professionals, as an at-large member.

In her current role as director of the Foundation for Quality Care, Pappalardi guides New York State Health Facilities Association/New York State Center for Assisted Living members on policy guidance and operations, as well as on clinical, quality and education programs. She also has a background as a consultant and advocate, assisting long-term care facilities comply with state and federal regulations to improve quality outcomes.

Pappalardi has been a member of the Junior League of Albany since 1987, volunteering on issues of social reform and community enhancement. 

Although the contributions she has made throughout her career are numerous, Pappalardi is especially recognized for helping to establish statewide emergency preparedness plans and resources, infection control training programs and a program to help prevent the development of pressure ulcers that is used by providers across the state.

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.