Awards & Recognition Programs
KCARE Quality Awards
The Best of Kentucky – Nursing and Rehabilitation Award
KCARE’s “The Best of Kentucky — Nursing and Rehabilitation” Competition is designed to recognize the best of Kentucky’s nursing and rehab facilities and to educate community leaders about our profession. This competition addresses the most important factors in long-term care - the loving and compassionate way that a facility's staff cares for their residents and what the facility is doing to continue to provide quality care and meet residents' needs. Apply now! This award is open to nursing facilities only.
The Best of Kentucky — Assisted Living Award
KCARE's "The Best of Kentucky – Assisted Living” award program is designed to recognize the outstanding assisted living communities in Kentucky. The award also acts to educate local leaders about the profession and celebrates the community’s relationship within the environment it serves and the ways in which the community works to further the senior care profession in Kentucky. Apply now! This award is open to assisted living communities only.
Leadership Award
KCARE strives to recognize administrators, executive directors, directors of nursing, and corporate officers for outstanding contributions to their facility and the long term care profession. The Association will recognize the top scorers, based on scores and number of entries, in this category during the Quality Awards Banquet. Apply now! This award is open to nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Care Partner Award
The Care Partner Award recognizes medical directors, dietitians, pharmacists, therapists, nurse practitioners, and physicians’ assistants who work in our member facilities and communities. This award will honor them for their work in providing quality care, with demonstrated evidence of their effort. Multiple winners will be recognized based on scores and number of entries. Apply now! This award is open to both nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Professional Achievement Award
Kentucky’s long-term care facilities and assisted living communities employ thousands of professionals to ensure the highest quality of care for residents. These employees are the backbone of our profession, with facilities relying on dedicated teamwork and skills to provide quality care and compassion to residents and families. KCARE's Professional Achievement Awards are designed to honor those individuals who have excelled in providing outstanding care in a cooperative spirit of teamwork.
There are three categories in which you can nominate staff: Nursing Care (Administrative Nurse, LPN, RN); Caregiving (Kentucky Medication Aide, PC Caregiver, State Registered Nurse Aide); and Supportive Care (Activities/Recreation, Dietary, Environmental Services, Social Services/Admissions, Support Services such as administrative assistant, bookkeeping/billing, medical records, other related supportive services). Apply now! This award is open to both nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Volunteer of the Year Award
The Volunteer of the Year competition seeks to recognize the best volunteers in Kentucky's long-term care facilities and assisted living communities. While honoring these unique individuals, we offer thanks to the hundreds of other dedicated volunteers who make facilities and communities special. Apply now! This award is open to both nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Community Event Award
Providers that have established strong working relationships with community groups and organizations are better able to provide total quality of life for their residents by making the facility/community a viable and integral part of the towns and neighborhoods in which they are located. Interaction within the local community is an invaluable opportunity for residents and staff, and this award celebrates that relationship by recognizing a facility or community that has done exemplary work to engage with the community it operates within. Apply now! This award is open to both nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Nelda Barton Collings Community Service Award
KCARE occasionally honors an individual who has distinguished himself or herself as a community leader through involvement in civic and political groups. This award is named for Nelda Barton Collings, a woman who was active both in the long-term care profession and on boards and executive committees of philanthropic and business organizations. Apply now! This award is open to nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
Outstanding Resident Award
The Outstanding Resident award recognizes an individual resident whose contributions have positively influenced the quality of life for residents or the quality of the working environment for staff at their assisted living community. Apply now! This award is open to assisted living communities only.
AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program
Get your facility recognized on a national level! The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program helps you to evaluate your organization’s strengths and opportunities, identify critical areas for improvement, and implement a plan to be stronger, more resilient, and successful than ever before. The three-level program evaluates long term care organizations capabilities against nationally recognized standards for excellence, making it one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective performance assessments available to providers. Each progressive award levels — Bronze – Commitment to Quality, Silver – Achievement in Quality, and Gold – Excellence in Quality — requires a more detailed demonstration of superior performance.
Visit the Quality Award Program website for more information and instructions on how to apply.