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The members of the Benedictine Order of Sisters in Atchison, KS, begin their time together at many different ages, but the retired sisters are able to continue living as a community in the Dooley Center, much to the credit of administrator Renee Porter.
Porter started out working for a different long-term care facility in another capacity. It didn’t take long for leaders there to realize her passion for caring for the elderly. She received her long-term care administrator licensure through Wichita State University on top of the applied behavioral science degree she had earned at the University of Kansas. Colleagues say her commitment to the best care possible is evident.
“Quality of care is Renee’s hallmark. She accepts no less,” Dooley Center Director of Nursing Dixie Flynn says.
This quality is proven in the accomplishments Porter has achieved in just more than six years at Dooley Center. During that span, the facility has maintained a 5-star status.
Porter also took the facility through the Performing Excellent Alternatives in Kansas Nursing Homes program, one determined to accomplish significant culture change in nursing homes. The Dooley Center is certified at the highest level in the program.
Colleagues say that Porter effortlessly bridges the necessary gap between the public sector oversight of nursing homes and the religious aspect of the Benedictine Sisters.
Under her guidance, the facility provided twice-weekly testing during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak and teamed up with the monastery sisters to deliver food for employees so they wouldn’t have to go into grocery stores. Porter even worked through a contraction of COVID-19 from home, keeping the incidence at work to three mild resident cases and four staff member cases.
Porter serves on the PEAK Advisory Board, the Benedictine College Nursing Advisory Board, the Pioneer Network Education Committee and the LeadingAge Kansas Board of Directors. She also is the mother of four girls, with whom she loves to go to haunted houses and participate in 4H programs.
The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and McKnight’s Senior Living. The program’s Diamond sponsor is PointClickCare, and the Roundtable Sponsor is Paycor.
