National Association Salutes Lifespace for Superior Long-Term Care

Thirteen Lifespace Communities leaders have been named fellows of a prestigious national nursing administration academy, one of several honors for the company’s commitment to senior living and long-term care.

The National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (NADONA) announced the fellowships and other awards June 26 at its conference in Austin, Texas.

Induction as a fellow in the organization’s Academy of Certified Directors of Nursing Administration recognizes superior achievement, dedication to long-term care, leadership, and high professional standards.

Lifespace inductees are: Melissa Gale da Costa of Village on the Green in Longwood, Florida; Marie Cecile Eloi Desormes of Abbey Delray South in Delray Beach, Florida; Deedre Dolezal of Deerfield in Des Moines, Iowa; Josanna Lei Enriquez of Oak Trace in Downers Grove, Illinois; Jo Ann Finlon of Beacon Hill in Lombard, Illinois; Charles Martin Hall of the Lifespace Home Office in Des Moines, Iowa; Sara Hamm, Lifespace’s vice president of successful aging and health services; Sheila Mangrum of The Waterford in Juno Beach, Florida; Kathleen Mills of Abbey Delray in Delray Beach, Florida; James Ransone of Abbey Delray South in Delray Beach, Florida; Melissa L. Stannard of Harbour’s Edge in Delray Beach, Florida; Jean Steiner of Friendship Village of South Hills in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania; and Carolyn Ulrich of Friendship Village of Bloomington in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Last year, Lifespace was recognized by NADONA for being one of a few members to have all of its nursing directors certified by the organization.

This year, NADONA gave Lifespace an award for being the only organization with all of its nursing directors holding the double distinction of being certified by NADONA and inducted as academy fellows.

“It was an acknowledgment of our commitment not only to senior living and long-term care but to the continuing development of our directors of nursing,” Hamm says.

The organization also awarded Hamm a $2,500 Stephanie Carroll Memorial Scholarship to continue her doctoral studies at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Hamm received the Spirit of NADONA award for her “nonstop, positive, can-do attitude, drive and passion towards senior living and long-term care.”

Hamm says working with older adults “is in my DNA.” Her mother was a long-term care director of nursing and administrator, and Hamm herself started working in the field in her early teens as a volunteer “candy-striper” then at 16 landed a paying job as a housekeeper.

“I got to know the residents so well and that kind of hooked me into senior living and long-term care,” she says. “I fell in love with their histories and philosophies.”

She can remember decades ago seeing many residents in the hallways in restraints or over-medicated. “It was a very scary world,” she says.

The quality of care and quality of life for residents have improved significantly in the decades since then, and Lifespace in particular is setting high standards through a person-centered approach and designed environments that resemble homes, Hamm says.

At Lifespace, the philosophy is the exact opposite from the days of old, Hamm says.

“Aging is a time of discovery,” she says. “We really believe in giving aging adults every opportunity to explore and express the passions they have had throughout their lives. It’s amazing how far we’ve come.”

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