For 22 years, Gloria Lopez led a team of nurses as a clinical manager overseeing some of central California’s most fragile patients.
At Sierra View Medical Center’s Distinct Part Skilled Nursing Facility, the 35-bed subacute facility in Porterville, CA, often is home to those dependent on ventilator care or in need of around-the-clock respiratory care.
It’s where Lopez, a registered nurse, felt rewarded to satisfy the needs of residents each day, finding solace in caring for those who may have not had family comforting them in their last moments.
There also were the victorious moments when a patient was taken off a ventilator and began breathing on his or her own, able to go home.
An “Unsung Hero” category winner in the 2023 McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards, Lopez began her career with the then-42-year-old Sierra View Medical Center in November 2000.
The nurse manager announced her retirement in late 2022 from Sierra View, which announced plans to open a new 29,470-square-foot skilled nursing facility with 44 beds.
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.
