Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.
Angela Olea knows how difficult it can be for both older adults and their families to choose the best senior living community for their needs. That’s why, in 2006, she started the nation’s first no-cost senior living placement and referral franchise.
Now with 140 franchisees in 36 states and Washington, DC, the company Olea founded, Assisted Living Locators, is one of the country’s fastest-growing, according to Inc. 5000 rankings. That’s part of the prowess that earned her honors in the “Business Partner” category of the McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards.
Her company’s nationwide network of senior living advisers offers free advice about short-term and long-term care options, as well as tours of vetted communities and referrals to partners and experts in elder law and financial planning.
A registered nurse, Olea’s early healthcare career began in 1998 when she worked at outpatient surgery facilities. She then moved to a hospital and a pain institute.
Her mission remained reducing hospital readmissions.
She has played an integral role in starting a new advocacy organization, the National Placement and Referral Alliance, as a founding member of the board of directors.
She also was a founding member of the National Readmissions Prevention Specialized Program.
Community involvement and giving back is a central tenet of her company’s operations. During the pandemic, Olea partnered with Love for the Elderly to mail handwritten letters to older adults to combat social isolation and depression. She also worked with her franchisees to collect and donate iPads and tablets to senior veteran communities, and N-95 masks for caregivers at senior living communities.
In September, Executive Home Care acquired Assisted Living Locators. Olea remains its brand president — and its greatest advocate.
The McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Honorees were recognized March 7 at a gala banquet 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.
