Editor’s note: McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.

Jamie Dlatt joined Legacy Healthcare in September 2008 as a facility administrator and quickly rose through the ranks to roles such as chief compliance officer and vice president of operations before strutting into the C-suite as the chief operating officer. She keeps her focus on staff achievements, though, to ensure employees know that they are valued. 

Each Friday, she sends a “champion of the week” email in which she shares how someone has gone above and beyond that week. She also designated July 3 as a company-wide holiday called Hero Day, which celebrates the outstanding work performed throughout the company. 

She has firmly planted her high heels into the legacy of Legacy Healthcare by developing a pipeline to bring more women into the company and into leadership roles. More than 70% of the participants in the company’s administrator training program are women. 

She also has developed mentoring programs to teach women business skills, industry knowledge and soft skills such as customer service and communication, all of which are necessary for successful leaders.

In an internal survey last year of Legacy employees, Dlatt was mentioned most often as someone who inspires employees and as someone they seek to model. 

When she joined Legacy, the company had just two facilities in Illinois. Today, it has 70 nationwide, due, in part, to her dedication and hard work. Legacy also is defying the national trend in long-term care by adding 15 new skilled nursing facilities — an almost 25% increase in the number of such properties. 

  • Dlatt holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State University. 
  • She was inducted into the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor in 2019. 
  • Dlatt works with the Health Care Council of Illinois, an advocacy group working with policymakers to advance legislative solutions for nursing homes. 

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 21 at a dinner and awards ceremony in Chicago. Omnicare was the Silver sponsor for the 2024 Pinnacle Awards program. Parker Health Group and Sentrics were event sponsors.