LeadingAge PA congratulates Distinguished Service winners making a difference in their senior care communities

Paul P. Haas Lifetime Achievement Award, Susan McCrary, President & CEO, St. Ignatius Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Philadelphia. Under Susan’s leadership and vision, St. Ignatius has expanded its service to the low-income aging populations in the city. Through the pandemic, she provided steady guidance, presence and immeasurable compassion for her team, residents, their families and the community. To ensure safety during the public transportation system shutdown, she creatively found ways to get her team to work, while making sure residents and workers received vital PPE and vaccines. 

Leader of the Year: Jackie Donnelly, Director of Nursing, Waverly Heights, Montgomery County. During the statewide staffing crisis, Jackie’s creative recruitment and retention initiatives allowed Waverly Heights to be agency-free and staffed well beyond regulatory requirements. She delicately and expertly balances the responsibilities of ensuring compliance and accountability with maintaining a positive work environment and culture. 

Manager of the Year, Michelle Posch, Regional Manager, Staff Development, Phoebe Ministries, Lehigh County. During the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of staffing issues, Michelle organized an initiative to creatively train existing employees and recruit potential employees to become temporary nurse aides. Michelle took on the management of Phoebe’s TNA program without hesitation. Currently, she supervises a team that instructs more than 300 nurses, nurse aides and many other front-line employees across four eastern Pennsylvania counties, while also playing a significant role in new employee orientation. 

Innovation of the Year, Spirit Alive^TM Program, Spiritual Care for Individuals with Dementia, Phoebe Ministries, Lehigh County. The program, led in part by Scott Stevenson, Rev. Dr. Scott Brooks-Cope and Emily Southerton, draws on the real cognitive effects of dementia, pastoral care practices and spiritual direction theory to create an interactive, small-group spirituality experience. It utilizes sensory experiences, creative arts, interpersonal spiritual direction and familiar stories to facilitate expression among individuals with dementia. 

Volunteer of the Year, Carol Freese, Moravian Hall Square, Northampton County. Incredibly, Carol has volunteered her time and talents in senior services since high school. In 2008, she moved into Moravian Hall Square and has since given her time and talents as a professional seamstress, baker and servant leader to make a difference in the lives of others. She has organized teams of residents to cut and sew clothing for earthquake victims in Haiti; led projects for fundraising events; and designed, cut and sewed skirts with shawls to help recreate a prom experience for residents living in personal care, memory care and nursing care. 

Direct Caregiver of the Year, Jamie Snare, PCA/Med. Tech., Shenango on the Green, Lawrence County. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamie redoubled her efforts to comfort and support residents by picking up extra shifts to ensure her residents were always receiving the care they deserved. Her compassion and positivity were a shining light through the toughest times. 

Licensed Caregiver of the Year, Leonard M. Hoolahan, LPN, Presbyterian SeniorCare Network, Allegheny County. Len ensures residents receive essential medical and physical care, as well as being the person they seek out as a resource, so that they may enjoy the highest quality of life. Residents and their families are touched by his genuine compassion and care for their loved ones. 

Staff Member of the Year, Linda Plunkett, Administrative Assistant, Phoebe Allentown Health Care Center, Lehigh County. For a quarter century, Linda has managed numerous projects, notably her leadership of the Allentown Basket Social Committee. The committee has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars that goes directly to programs benefiting seniors of Phoebe Allentown, and Linda has been integral to its success. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Linda led efforts to create lifesaving equipment during a time of scarce supplies. Her leadership resulted in a volunteer effort to cut and sew thousands of masks and hundreds of gowns for her team members.