Since its founding in 2019, the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Awards program has become the premier recognition program for women long-term care professionals of all experience levels

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 early nomination deadline hits Jan. 5, 2024. Entries thereafter will be charged a late fee during a short window.

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

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.
• Rising Star: Candidates must be 40 or younger or have fewer than 15 years of experience in the profession.
• Spirit Award: This award recognizes inspiring caregiving and service provision efforts. Nominations in this category are free. Eligibility is open to women who have demonstrated acts of bravery, courage, perseverance, dedication, determination — or have made other noble gestures.

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 in the week after that 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, past and present, will be honored at an in-person event Tuesday, May 14, in Chicago. Information about the event, which includes a companion summit with educational sessions, is available now at mcknightswomenofdistinction.com.

For more information about the awards, or to submit a nomination for a deserving leader, 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.

Long-term care providers were intent on dismissing undesirable memories of the COVID-19 pandemic as much as possible in 2023, but the year’s top stories revealed there were still remnants of it to deal with — and plenty of other issues to fill the gaps.

From unprecedented, increased regulatory pressures to newly introduced legislation, ongoing workforce challenges, image problems and more, there was a lot to digest.

Here are the top stories that grabbed our readers’ attention in 2023, the top handful of them inevitably related to the staffing mandate and the sector’s ongoing workforce challenges.

Federal minimum staffing proposal dominates

By the time the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finally issued its first-ever rule to set nursing home minimum staffing levels, the sector had experienced a roller-coaster of tense emotions. The Sept. 1 announcement put providers and their advocacy counterparts in labor and consumer groups in an uproar.

Operators called the proposal an impossible, unfunded mandate, if not because of the estimated $4 billion or greater price tag, then because there simply aren’t currently enough registered nurses to satisfy the tripling of current mandated levels.

‘Accidental’ early study release, Biden unloads on providers

President Biden added fuel to the fire when he unloaded on nursing operators just days after the staffing mandate was proposed.

The administration, however, was undercut a few days before the proposed rule’s release, when a “draft” of it was briefly posted online before being pulled down. That gave outsiders an early look at study findings saying it’s impossible to settle on a specific staffing level(s) that would serve the White House’s desired goal. Despite officials calling it a “draft” study report, it was nonetheless included in the same form when the proposal was released later that week.

The intrigue persists: Was it truly an accidental early posting, or was it the purposeful act of an insider sympathetic to providers’ year-long criticism that an unprecedented staffing mandate would be a bad idea?

Staffing mandate’s costs greatly underestimated: report

Three weeks after the staffing mandate was officially proposed, a respected third-party analyst hired by providers found that its cost would be nearly 60% higher than the $4 billion annual cost estimated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Nursing homes would need to spend more than $6.8 billion annually and hire more than 102,000 new workers under its proposed form, said an updated analysis issued by accounting and consulting firm CliftonLarsonAllen.

Bills would block federal staffing mandate

Within five weeks of the staffing rule’s proposal, Republican House members proposed legislation to block it. A similar Senate bill, this one bipartisan, was proposed in December. 

The legislative efforts are being led by lawmakers in rural states, which figure to be most severely hurt by any new staffing standard.

CMS delivers 4% Medicare pay raise

Nursing homes received a higher-than-expected 4.0% increase to their Medicare Part A payments for fiscal 2024. The July 31 final rule from CMS added 0.3% — or $200 million — to the agency’s original April proposal. Inflationary costs were deemed responsible for the largest annual increase in recent memory.

In addition, most of the recommended vast changes to CMS’ quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs were retained in the final rule.

Biden plan would tie pay rates to staff turnover rates

In mid-April, President Biden signed a massive executive order that included several measures intended to improve access to long-term care and bolster job protections for skilled nursing workers. Among them were calls to expand on the then-undisclosed staffing mandate and to tie Medicare payments to staff retention.

The White House called the 50-plus elements the “most comprehensive set of executive actions any President has ever taken to improve care for hard-working families while supporting care workers and family caregivers.”

Nursing home ownership transparency pushed

Federal authorities made good on their promise to increase transparency from anyone owning a stake in nursing homes, or doing top business with them, with a rule finalized Nov. 15.

The rule imposes many of the ownership transparency measures outlined in a February proposal and defines both private equity and real estate investment trust owners. A coalition of 18 attorneys general fueled aspects of the rule with a plea for more ownership information.

Feds lift COVID-19 vaccine mandate that Supreme Court upheld

Regulators made big news in late spring when they announced they were acting to COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare workers. The mandate had been upheld by the Supreme Court in a historic court decision in January of 2022.

Other vaccine requirements also were lifted with the end of the public health emergency on May 11. Booster shot rates have plummeted since.

Among the other big story lines

As the referring examples in this sentence indicate, the skilled nursing sector saw a growing number of providers shedding or closing facilities, or filing for bankruptcy as access worries mounted.

Meanwhile, as Medicare Advantage plans passed the 50% market share level for the first time, regulators made moves to impose more standards on them, with providers appealing for even more.

On Oct. 1, the largest overhaul to the Minimum Data Set in years became effective, capping a hectic year of planning and worrying.

Also on the federal regulatory front, authorities quietly put into place new, stricter measures regarding infection control and general vaccine immunization matters. They also continued to increase scrutiny of the use of antipsychotics and schizophrenia medications.

In other pandemic-related matters, a federal jury found that the nursing home that was the site of the first major COVID-19 outbreak in the US was not liable for the deaths of two residents. It signified one of a number of heartening court victories for providers accused of wrongdoing in the early days of the public health emergency.

Like a beloved mother or revered school principal, operators and staff are being counted on to make things right and keep things sailing smoothly. 

Some might consider this being taken for granted. But sometimes there’s a fine line between feeling used and being appreciated to extreme. Even after squinting really hard, you can confuse yourself trying to figure out which it is sometimes.

As a glass-half-full guy, I’m here to tell you that by leaning on you so heavily, your dependents are looking to you with trust and respect. After all, they don’t unload the hardest tasks to the weakest workers or least trustworthy leaders.

And there’s no question there are going to be some enormously hard tasks ahead in the year ahead.

The proposed minimum staffing mandate won’t come to pass in 2024, but by all accounts, the intense pressure to get, and keep, more staff will continue. Your very census-dependent life may be riding on it.

Then there’s the fact that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has already announced its intention to ratchet up scrutiny of infection control practices. And woe be to the provider who gets sloppy about its administration of antipsychotic or schizophrenia drugs, among others in the medicine cabinet.

Already underway is the Sisyphean quest by regulators to force more information about nursing home owners into the disinfectant called sunshine. You do know that eventually they’re going to get it right and close the majority of loopholes so the overly opportunistic scoundrels among you are put off, don’t you? The sooner that day comes, the better.

And that’s a position held not only by yours truly but also by most of the top provider leaders in the country, though they may be unable to too openly admit it, due to political, financial or other value-torquing reasons.

The earnest and sincere among the provider world can use all the help they can get building the sector’s reputation. Let them get on with the righteous work they’ve signed up for unencumbered, I say.

And that gets us back to expectations. They will, of course, be high in 2024. There should be no other way.

As I was informed my first day on this job long ago, long-term care is a needs-based field. With 10,000 people currently turning 65 every day, those care needs are only going to skyrocket.

Guess whom those multitudes of needy people are going to be looking to. 

James M. Berklan is McKnight’s Executive Editor.

Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.

Led by McKnight’s Long-Term Care editors and regular, themed contributors, our bloggers treated readers to intriguing, often elegant observations about the world around them.

Workforce issues unsurprisingly dominated the canvas this year. But the topics were explored and uncovered in ways that almost always sparked deeper consideration and debate. That is the entire point of such a robust menu of offerings.

Communication, motivation and other managerial hot topics also found valuable places among the top posts.

The “best of the best” columns, as indirectly voted on by McKnight’s readers in 2023, were:

By Editorial Director John O’Connor

A four-day work week? Why stop there?

This Editors’ Notes blog post gives a provocative twist to a previously unconsidered patch for long-term care’s staffing woes. This unexpected, serious approach is the epitome of a high-quality blog: interesting, thought-provoking — and a potential solution to a pressing problem.

By Executive Editor James M. Berklan

How to deal with the end of an era in skilled nursing

Making sense of the “official” end of the COVID-19 pandemic — much like the historic public health emergency itself — was a time fraught with anxiety for long-term care providers. This insightful post perceptively set the stage for what providers should, and shouldn’t, be concerned with when the fateful day came in May.

By Senior Editor Kimberly Marselas

A slap in the face to LPNs who keep nursing homes running

One of the oddest aspects of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed nursing home staffing mandate was its dismissal of services by licensed practical nurses. This Editors’ Notes blog tears apart the rationale that essentially said the approximately 175,000 nursing home LPNs’ contributions are a moot point.

The Real Nurse Jackie, by Jacqueline Vance

Speaking Southern

Written by one of the top nurse managers in US long-term care, Vance reminds in this humorous, yet respectful piece that not everyone communicates in the same way. “People in the South can take just about anything and turn it into a long, passionate story,” she observers.

Rehab Realities, by Renee Kinder

Unlocking communication: The role of physical, occupational and speech therapy in aphasia 

Rehabilitation work is serious business for long-term care providers and their patients. This long-running McKnight’s column brings the goods every two weeks with fully educational pieces that almost without exception also elicit plentiful grins. Learning can be fun, as it turns out.

Living Leadership, by Julie Thorson

How do we offer hope when we can’t see beyond the next shift?

The author, an award-winning management and leadership teacher, hits at a core concern of managers across the country with this stellar column. “Hope in healthcare hides in plain sight,” she offers before giving four reminders on how to build hope in others.

Things I Think, by Gary Tetz

The unstoppable power of an activity director

Some call them recreation therapists, some activity directors. This blog author relates how one of them gave his father new reasons to live. Who could ask for anything more? “Like gravity and Taylor Swift, great activity directors are unstoppable forces of nature that defy all opposition,” Tetz observes.

Guest blogs

Beware the ‘squeeze the balloon problem’ with staffing

What happens when an industrial engineer like George D. Powell with 40-plus years of experience in healthcare manufacturing and professional services, offers his thoughts on the story of the year in long-term care? Thousands of people flock to plain-spoken observations and analysis about the perils of mandating minimum staffing levels.

Marketplace Leader blogs

Department of Labor rule will impact long-term care staffing

Long-time workforce issues dominated 2023, and this guest submission from Gale’s Tony Braswell was far and away the most highly read column from a market player. It framed the issues surrounding a controversial federal rule that aims to provide clearer guidelines for whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Then, we want to see if your concerns match those of your colleagues’ around the country. Please help us do that. There are multiple potential payoffs for taking part.

It takes just a handful of mouse-clicks to take the 2024 McKnight’s Annual Outlook survey. It’s free, it’s anonymous and it will not only lead to story coverage in the week ahead, it will help us frame coverage for the months and all of 2024.

Please click on the link now to get your “voice” tallied among the aggregate answers. A $25 Amazon gift card will be given to 20 lucky winners in a drawing after the survey closes.

We’re looking for leaders to share candid thoughts on how you and your facility view regulatory, clinical and payment changes coming down the pike. How optimistic are you? What coming challenges are keeping you up at night?

We know it’s a busy time of year, so head right on over to the questionnaire.

Cats have one big plus over dogs, however: I’m told that if you want to, you can leave them on their own for a few days and they won’t starve.

Then again there is at least one really big negative: Cats have given curiosity a bad name. It supposedly killing the cat and all.

I’m a big fan of exercising one’s curiosity muscle, and I’m not the only one. The downfalls of not expressing enough curiosity can be found in many places online, as your next search session will easily reveal. As far as I’m concerned, though, you have to look no further than the delicious pub scene when TV’s cagey Ted Lasso reveals what can happen when one doesn’t ask enough questions.

Make no mistake: We all need to develop our curiosity trait more — and in both our personal and work lives. As one mentor of mine once said, he’s looking for ongoing intellectual curiosity in job candidates. That’s a no-brainer in journalism. It also fits well in long-term care.

Make the mistake of being judgmental instead of curious about that irritating/puzzling/withdrawn patient in the corner, and you might miss a great opportunity to improve someone’s day. Or avert a pending health tragedy.

Gloss over your misgivings about a certain drug combination during med pass and brace yourself for the potentially harmful fallout from a bad interaction.

Neglect to ask your staff members (or your own boss) about expanding their (or your) job responsibilities and miss out on golden opportunities to groom stronger leaders. They are needed virtually everywhere in the halls where you work.

Feed your own soul by exercising a variation on JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Grow your sense of self-worth when you apply this line of questioning for serving your own local community, place of worship, food pantry or other laudable volunteer organization.

Quite coincidentally, while on the convention circuit this fall, I came across an outstanding example of the virtue of curiosity in a long-term care entity. I might not have fully grasped it until I got home. That’s when I started thumbing through the notebook I picked up at a Brio Living Services booth. 

As it turns out, the multifaceted provider rebranded with a new name last year. Brio means “life, vivacity, enthusiastic vigor — the very aspects of joyful living we aim to provide for older adults and our team members.”

The notebook and its slogan have to be at the core of this great, new image.

“The future belongs to the curious” is splashed on the notebook cover, which depicts a telescope aimed at a sky painted full of glistening and shooting stars. Inside, each blank writing page features a provocative, personal-reflection question at the top — and the provocative cover message again at the bottom.

That saying sums up things in a beautiful, constructive way. Forget about the fate of an inquisitive cat: When curiosity’s involved, expect the death only of off-target judgments, inner doubts and unanswered wonderings. A winning outcome anyway you slice it.

James M. Berklan is McKnight’s Executive Editor.Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.

The sector veterans earned recognition for driving change, setting new standards and inspiring others. They were nominated by peers and selected by an independent, national panel of judges.

Honorees include an array of veteran long-term care operators, caregivers and affiliated professionals who have enjoyed careers of 20 years or longer performing at the highest levels in skilled nursing, senior living and home care.

“This is an incredible collection of veterans who have made lasting marks on their fields. Such a group of outstanding professionals may gather only once a year,” praised McKnight’s Publisher Craig Roth in announcing the winners. “We’re looking forward to seeing them all together in March to honor them in person.”

The Pinnacle Awards are a joint effort of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and sister media brands McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care.

Winners will be celebrated March 21 at a gala awards ceremony and banquet at the iconic Ivy Room in Chicago. The event is open to all friends, family, colleagues and supporters. Coverage of the industry’s most vaunted independent awards program will appear both online and in print.

Pinnacle honorees are recognized in six categories. Winners were chosen by an independent panel of skilled nursing, senior living and home care leaders who assessed nominees across four major criteria groupings.

As part of the program, organizers will announce in January a Career Achievement Award winner, who also will be feted at the March ceremony.

Please check the program website at mcknightspinnacleawards.com for a gallery of winners and more information about the McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards, including details about the awards ceremony and dinner.

The 2024 McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards winners are:

Agent of Change Award

Vassar Byrd, Incoming CEO, The Kendal Corporation

Deke Cateau, CEO, A.G. Rhodes

Kristen Duell, Executive Vice President of Experience & Innovation, FirstLight Home Care

Phillip Hill, Administrator, Principle Long Term Care

Colleen Kamin, Executive Director, Anthem Memory Care

Marianne Longo, Chief Clinical Officer, Help at Home

David Totaro, Chief Marketing and Government Affairs Officer, BAYADA Home Health Care

Industry Ally Award

Andrew Carle, Lead Faculty, Senior Living Administration, Georgetown University

Clifton Porter II, Senior Vice President of Government Relations, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living

Inspiration Award

Mark Baiada, Chairman and Founder, BAYADA Home Health Care

Esther Kamara-Conteh, Vice President Care Management Operations, VNS Health

Esmerelda Lee, Chief Operating Officer/EVP, Century Park Associates

Roberto Muñiz, President & CEO, Parker Health Group

Cathy Williams, CEO, Winslow Campus of Care

Setting the Standard Award

Sheila Davis, Senior Executive Vice President, Area Operations, Always Best Care Senior Services

Jamie Dlatt, Chief Operating Officer, Legacy Healthcare

Charles “Chuck” Hastings, CFO/Vice President of Finance and Business Development, Juniper Communities

Kurt Merkelz, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Compassus

John Swanson, CEO, Willow Valley Development Corp.

Raeann Voorhies, CEO, Vanda Health

Thought Leader Award

Joan DiPaola, Director Dementia Program Development, Harmony Village at CareOne Paramus

Jessica Fear, Senior Vice President, Behavioral Health VNS Health

R. Tamara Konetzka, PhD, Louis Block Professor of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago

E. Joseph “Joe” Steier III, President/CEO, Signature HealthCARE

Unsung Hero Award

Wendy Blackman, Director of Reflections, The Bristal at North Woodmere

Orah Burack, Senior Research Associate, The New Jewish Home

Business Partner Award

Tim Hadley, Former CEO, Evive Brands

Steven Littlehale, Chief Innovation Officer, Zimmet Healthcare Services Group

Cindy Smith, Director, Professional Services, Omnicare

Wendy Strain, Director of Consulting Services, Polaris Group

Editor’s note: This article has been modified from its original version to update the overall number of honorees.

The nomination period for the 6th Annual McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is at its midpoint, a good timeto pull together key materials soon if they haven’t been already, organizers remind.

The program honors outstanding leaders in three experience categories. 

Eligible for recognition in the sector’s prestigious competition are women working as executives, managers, direct care providers and owners in independent living, assisted living, memory care and life plan communities. Also eligible are 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 program is jointly sponsored by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. It will culminate with a grand awards ceremony and banquet in Chicago in May 2024.

The primary categories are the Hall of Honor (for senior level professionals), Veteran VIPs (for long-time leaders) and Rising Stars (for less experienced individuals). There also will be a Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and others receiving the McKnight’s Spirit Award.

“With the year-end holidays approaching, it’s a great time to consult the entry form and realize how easy it is to get a respected colleague, mentor or friend entered,” said John O’Connor, McKnight’s vice president and editorial director. “A little bit of preparation goes a long way.”

Nominators are encouraged to provide detailed qualitative and quantitative information about nominees’ work histories, exceptional achievements and contributions or service, extracurricular highlights and anything else the judging panel should consider.

The first deadline for nominations for the Rising Star, Veteran VIP and Hall of Honor categories is Friday, Jan. 5. Nominations submitted between Jan. 6 and Jan. 9 will add a $20 late fee.

A Lifetime Achievement Award winner also will be named by organizers.

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.

“The Congressional Review Act gives us [Congress] the ability to pass a law that says that the minimum staffing rule is repealed because it was a bad rule,” said Ryan during a keynote presentation at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) conference in October. “It can’t be filibustered in the Senate. If it passes in the Senate, it happens and it goes away, no matter who the president is. That kind of stuff can happen.”

He noted that aligned interests need to control Congress and certain circumstances need to fall into place for that to happen.

“But you can repeal recent rules if you have Congress,” he said. “So there’s a lot you can do.”

Ryan also expressed his disdain for the Biden administration’s proposed staffing mandate.

“Even the Obama administration didn’t do that,” he said with a shake of the head.

Personnel at the unnamed nursing homes involved were the first to discover irregularities and notify authorities, leading to the apprehension of a suspect.

A statewide grand jury indicted Kaylie Giberson with three counts of larceny over $250 involving someone over 60 years old, two counts of larceny over $1,200 involving a pair of local small businesses, six counts of forgery, three counts of lying to investigators and a pair of other attempted larceny charges.

Giberson allegedly used her access to poor seniors at “various” unnamed nursing homes to exploit secure private documents and information she handled while helping individuals apply for Medicaid funding.

“Since at least 2022, Giberson engaged in a scheme to steal money from at least three elderly nursing home victims,” said a statement from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. 

The accused allegedly forged multiple signatures to falsely gain durable power of attorney privileges, which then gave her access to the victims’ bank accounts, Campbell explained.

Giberson’s charges, which were approved last week, have been transferred to Hampden County Superior Court, where she is expected to be arraigned at an unspecified date. The Worcester County District Attorney’s office will handle the case.

A LinkedIn account for a senior Medicaid specialist named Kaylie Giberson listed her location as Agawam, MA. That is just four miles south of Springfield, where the Attorney General labeled her residence. 

Giberson announced on her profile page that she had started a new job at Genesis 10 months ago; seven months ago, she wrote she had started as a Medicaid liaison and also was a business office manager during her tenure there.

“She is not employed with any Genesis affiliates,” Genesis spokeswoman Lori Mayer said Tuesday in an email to McKnight’s.

Giberson previously listed her employment from 2018 to February 2023 as a full-time account manager at Brunelle Medicaid Consultants, which is based about 15 miles east of Springfield, MA.

The Attorney General said in her announcement that Giberson was accused of using a former employer’s credit card “to complete unauthorized online retail purchases that were delivered to her residential address and intended for her personal use.” Her employment with the Medicaid consulting company “was ultimately terminated,” the statement added.