The Nevada Health Care Association Perry Foundation recognized several high-performing organizations and individuals around Southern Nevada that provide care inside the region’s nursing home and assisted living communities at its annual awards event.
The Perry Foundation Endeavor Awards, held June 8 at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, recognized The Heights of Summerlin that received a Gold Endeavor Award for excellence in care in a skilled-nursing facility. That was coupled with Desert Springs Senior Living, which was also given a Gold Endeavor Award, though it fell in the assisted living community category.
The Perry Foundation is built around a mission of improving the quality of care that residents of Nevada’s nursing homes and assisted-living communities receive.
The organization pushes its initiative by offering education; the awards honor those who provide exceptional care. Winners are initially nominated and later reviewed by an unbiased, non-provider-based selection committee.
The criteria used in the skilled-nursing category was the measure of dedication toward achieving the highest level of quality care, based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid quality measures. The facility with the highest aggregate score under the state-approved methodology was chosen.
Winners in the assisted living category were chosen based on four categories of quality initiative, as it’s outlined by the National Center for Assisted Living, according to a press release.
Three centers were chosen for each category in Southern Nevada, and three were chosen in the north.
Robert Kidd, Perry Foundation’s president, said there wasn’t an overall winner, but a winner was chosen for each category.
Winners in the assisted-living category consisted of The Wentworth of Las Vegas, which received the Silver Endeavor Award. Local winner Horizon Health and Rehabilitation Center received the Bronze Endeavor Award under the skilled nursing category. The silver award on the skilled side went to Highland Manor of Mesquite.
Facilities weren’t the only winners.
Kidd said for the first time, categories honoring individuals in long-term and post-acute care settings were available.
There were several local winners: Kristy Newsom of Delmar Gardens of Green Valley won in the activities program excellence category; Patrick Colombeau of Desert Springs Senior Living was honored in the innovation in dining category; and Nasslynne Lenz of Marquis Plaza Regency won in the distinguished nurse educator category.
Regional winners on the individual side in Southern Nevada included several at the Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City were honored, along with others in the Mesquite region.
Individuals and facilities in Northern Nevada were honored in a separate event, as the awards are offered statewide. That event took place June 2 at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada.
