The long-term care industry is nothing without its people, and Dana Ullom-Vucelich has spent more than 20 years ensuring that her company recruits and retains the best. As chief human resources officer for Ohio Living, Ullom-Vucelich lives by the mantra “inclusion, appreciation and investment.”
“I believe those words come to life when you create a welcoming workplace, trust employees, optimize supervisors, gain efficiencies through metrics and align values with strategic planning,” she says.
Her energetic leadership is part of what led judges to award her an “Inspiration Award” honor in the 2023 McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program.
After spending almost 10 years at Ohio’s Knox Community Hospital, where she was vice president of human resources, Ullom-Vucelich joined Ohio Living in September 2000.
Since then, she’s infused employee appreciation throughout the organization, which includes more than 3,200 people serving 12 life plan communities and offering home health, hospice and palliative medicine services. In addition to leading HR, she is the company’s ethics and compliance officer.
Ullom-Vucelich graduated from Kent State University with an undergraduate degree in child development and gerontology. She also has a master’s degree in human resources development from Webster University.
Ohio Living, then known as Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, was one of only six organizations in the state to win the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics in 2015.
Amid the pandemic and industrywide staffing crises, Ullom-Vucelich has rallied others with a reminder to focus on “controlling the controllables,” including “how one cares, communicates and connects.“
“During crisis calls, board meetings, leadership development or employee listening events, all of the heartbeats of Ohio Living (residents, patients, donors, families, volunteers and employees) receive her focus,” said Mica Rees, Ohio Living’s chief brand and growth officer. “She leads by example and exhibits the highest level of integrity and caring.”
The McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. Honorees were recognized March 7 at a dinner and awards ceremony in Chicago. The program’s Platinum sponsor was MatrixCare. Omnicare was a Silver sponsor, and additional sponsors included Pinnacle Quality Insight, HealthDirect and Sentrics.
Editor’s note: McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and McKnight’s Senior Living are profiling the McKnight’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.
