Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Women of Distinction honorees daily from July 1 to Aug. 13. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.
Diane Johnson has left her mark on long-term care across the United States.
Her career began as a recreation therapy assistant at ManorCare Health Services, and she soon was promoted to social services director and then to assistant administrator for facilities in northeastern and eastern Pennsylvania. Eventually, Johnson became the administrator of the Pottsville Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, where her achievements included a deficiency-free survey from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Soon afterward, she moved with her husband to California, where she took on the role of an assistant administrator while pursuing a California nursing home administrator license.
Johnson moved back to Pennsylvania in 1996 to become regional director of operations for HCR ManorCare, subsequently known as ProMedica. In this role, she consulted for 13 skilled nursing and personal care facilities across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and she helped Sacred Heart Hospital open its in-house transitional care unit.
After those achievements, Johnson accepted assignments in Ohio and Michigan before again returning to her home state. Today she is the regional director of operations for LiveWell Centers in North Wales, PA.
This commitment extends beyond Johnson’s daily work. She is dedicated to the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, having served on its education and workforce committees. In 2014, she received the Clarence Baumgard Award for her selfless dedication to PHCA, assisted living and the long-term care industry as a whole.
More about Johnson:
- Johnson has two golden retrievers, Max and Jacob, and a cat named Furball.
- She battled breast cancer to remission in 2023 but never allowed the fight to affect her commitment to the family at LiveWell Centers, colleagues said.
- She helped shape public policy when she was appointed to a Pennsylvania Department of Health long-term care workgroup in 2018.
The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Healthcare Services Group was the Platinum sponsor of this year’s McKnight’s Women of Distinction Awards and Forum. PointClickCare was the Gold sponsor, and PharMerica was the Silver sponsor. Other sponsors included Curana Health, DirecTV for Business, Easyshifts, Hireology, Reliant Rehabilitation, ShiftKey and Sentrics.
Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2024 and previous years.
