WEST DES MOINES, IOWA (June 7, 2019) — Twenty Iowa long-term care professionals graduated from the Iowa Health Care Association (IHCA) Leadership Academy this week in West Des Moines. The academy is an intensive one-year leadership course for licensed nursing-home administrators, assisted-living directors, home-care agency directors, and directors of nursing who work in long-term care, assisted living, and home-care settings. Through the academy, students build leadership skills to drive quality improvements at their organizations. Specific areas of focus include achieving workplace excellence, managing change, assuring quality, improving organizational performance, and navigating the post-acute care-landscape. "As we face a growing, aging population, the need for future leaders in the long-term care-profession has never been more important. These graduates are to be commended for their commitment to providing quality care by investing their time and effort into completing this training program," said Mary Jane Carothers, vice president of quality-improvement and clinical-affairs for the Iowa Health Care Association. "The skills they have gained during the academy will directly benefit those receiving long-term care in their communities." The graduates completed academic surveys, an orientation webinar, in-person meetings, and networking conference-calls during the year-long program. They also completed an individualized quality-improvement project for their organizations as part of the course. Project topics ranged from reducing staff-turnover, improving customer-satisfaction, and improving clinical-outcomes for the patients they serve. This is the third group of graduates to complete the academy. The academy is made possible by a sponsorship from Healthcare of Iowa. A list of the graduates is below. 2018-2019 Iowa Leadership Academy Graduates City; Name; Title; Organization Altoona; Stacey Brand; Director of Nursing; Prairie Vista Village Altoona; Timothy Jordison; Executive Director; Prairie Vista Village Ames; Gregg Hanson; Executive Director; Northridge Village Belle Plaine; Amy Castro; Administrator; Belle Plaine Specialty Care Bellevue; Amy Waller; Director of Nursing; Mill Valley Care Center Corydon; Gina Rose; Director; Murphy Place Decorah; Katy Wood; AL Director; Wellington Place Assisted Living Edgewood; Sara McCool; Administrator; Edgewood Convalescent Home Fairfield; Renee Sanai; Administrator; Parkview Care Center Grimes; Deb College; Director of Nursing; Kennybrook Village Grimes; Ethan Walton; Executive Director; Kennybrook Village Grundy Center; John Freeman; Administrator; Grundy Care Center Indianola; Holly Turner; Administrator; Good Samaritan Society — Indianola Indianola; Kari Ann; Director of Nursing; Good Samaritan Society — Indianola Marion; Sara Kuempel; Executive Director; Summit Pointe Senior Living Maryville; Ashely Fritz; Administrator; Village Care Center Mason City; Michael Davis; Administrator; IOOF Home and Community Therapy Center Odebolt; Marissa Edgar-Schwebach; Administrator; Odebolt Specialty Care Pomeroy; Jennifer Blair; Administrator; Accura Healthcare — Pomeroy Waukon; Cathy Lee Taylor; Executive Director; Good Samaritan Society — Waukon About the Iowa Health Care Association:
The Iowa Health Care Association (IHCA) and its divisions, Iowa Center for Assisted Living (ICAL) and Iowa Center for Home Care (ICHC) represent organizations that provide long-term care to Iowans through nursing facilities, assisted living, residential care, senior living communities and home health agencies.
