Pioneer Award 2017 - Sharon Reynolds
 |  | The OHCA Pioneer Award is designed to recognize Ohioans influential in the development and advancement of long-term care programs, education, professionalism or ideals. The Awards honor the commitment of these individuals to excellence in long-term care services. |
Sharon Reynolds
Sharon Reynolds initiated many innovations in long-term care. While working at Mayfair Village, Columbus, beginning in 1980, the facility started a home health company and offered quarterly accredited educational programs for physicians with approximately 30 physicians in attendance at each program.
Moving to Northland Terrace in Columbus in 1985, Sharon pioneered subacute care in Ohio’s nursing centers. One of the first facilities in Ohio to care for ventilator-dependent adults and children, Northland operated an adult ventilator program with contracted in-house respiratory therapists. In the late 1980s, Sharon received a Governor’s Commendation for saving the State of Ohio millions of dollars when a program was initiated in collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital to care for children who would otherwise remain in the hospital. She also successfully petitioned the State to have the children mainstreamed in school rather than having them tutored.
Sharon quickly embraced the concept of subacute care and rehabilitation. She hired one of the first subacute program directors in Ohio and Northland became the first CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited facility, and began using FIM scores (functional outcome measure scores) to demonstrate that patients were functionally better upon discharge than they were upon admission.
Other innovative and progressive advances included rehabilitation critical pathways; facility-employed RN case managers; facility-employed nurse practitioners; and made-to-order dining service. Sharon also contracted with the Cleveland Clinic for placement of post-acute patients, and contracted with various insurance companies for post-acute care of patients that would otherwise have a longer hospital stay.
Many of these progressive applications have become common practice in nursing centers nationwide today.
Giving back to the long-term care community, Sharon served as an active member of the OHCA Board of Directors and dispatched her staff to OHCA to help educate and develop resources to assist OHCA members in subacute care development and managed care.
Moving to AdCare, Sharon developed alliances with acute care hospitals and physicians to ensure that quality post-acute care was being delivered to patients and residents. Although she has recently retired and is enjoying her well-earned rest, Sharon Reynolds, a true Pioneer has inspired many professionals with the same passion and progressive spirit.
OHCA Pioneer Award Nomination Form See Other Pioneer Award Winners