National Quality Award Board of Overseers

The AHCA Board of Governors established a Board of Overseers to oversee activities, ensure integrity, and sustain the vitality of the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program. The 11-member Board includes the best quality expertise available in long term care. These individuals dedicate their time and service to providing continuous support and improvement to the National Quality Award program.

Barbara Baylis, RN
Tel: 520.596.7920

Barbara Baylis, a registered nurse, has served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations for Kindred Healthcare since December 2002. Prior to joining Kindred, she served in various executive capacities with Mariner Post-Acute Network and Living Centers of America.  Barbara has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Molloy College in New York and a Master’s of Nursing Administration and Nursing Education from the University of Wyoming.  Her areas of expertise include clinical practice, clinical and nursing administration, nursing education, clinical policy and procedure, quality improvement and regulatory compliance.  Barbara has served on various committees and subcommittees, presented at many workshops and conventions.  She is currently Co-Chair of the AHCA Clinical Practice Committee and Past Co-Chair of the Nurse Executive Council.  Barbara has been an AHCA Quality Award Examiner  since 1996 and is a Master Examiner.  She serves on the AHCA Quality Award Program Board of Overseers, is a member of the Kentucky Center for Performance Excellence Operating Committee and a KYCPE award application examiner.  She is co-author of Continuous Quality Improvement: Using the Regulatory Framework.  Barbara currently serves as a member of the CMS Technical Expert Panel (TEP) for the Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Demonstration project. Barbara is the recipient of the 2006 President’s Award by Kindred CEO and President Paul J. Diaz.

Christine Boldt
Tel: 651.388.2234

Christine Boldt, Vice President, Operations with the Benedictine Health System, has more than 25 years of health care experience.  She has served in a variety of positions in her career including Social Worker, Director of Assessment and Transition and Director of Quality Care for the Benedictine Health System.  Ms. Boldt is skilled in designing and implementing assessment and transition processes for newly acquired facilities, leading teams in facility turnaround situations, providing training to facility leadership teams in the process and principles of quality and organizational development.  Ms. Boldt is responsible for overseeing and directing the operations of 11 long term care campuses including assisted living and independent housing to ensure compliance, profitability, high levels of resident, tenant, family and employee satisfaction and promoting the highest possible outcomes while assuring the mission and values of BHS are maintained.

Ms. Boldt has presented at national, state and regional meetings and conferences on the topics of facility turnaround, quality improvement, facility assessment processes and the AHCA Quality Award.  She is a Master Examiner for the American Health Care Association Quality Awards Program, serving since 1997.  Ms Boldt serves on the Care Providers of Minnesota’s Executive Management Committee, Service Corporation Board Chair and a board member for Care Provider’s Foundation.  In addition, she serves on the American Health Care Association’s Quality Improvement Committee, AHCA Quality Award Board of Overseers and on the AHCA Not for Profit Committee

Ms. Boldt holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota.  She is a Licensed Social Worker and Licensed Nursing Home Administrator. 

Ed McMahon, Ph.D.
Tel: 505.980.6146

Ed began his career in long-term care as a nursing assistant on the night shift while he was completing his doctoral studies. He currently serves as the National Director of Alzheimer’s Care/Quality for Golden Living.  He has 33 years experience in the long term care profession in Alzheimer’s care development, research and development, sales and marketing, and corporate operations. Ed has served on the senior leadership teams of several corporations in multiple capacities. He was a pioneer in the development of special care units within the skilled nursing facility.  He designed and developed the first Alzheimer’s Care Unit within a skilled nursing facility in the state of California.  He is a much sought after speaker for national, state and local professional associations and has frequently been asked to key note conferences with a focus on culture change and quality of life issues for our customers.

Ed served on the AHCA Quality Committee that developed the Quality Award program and then served as an original, senior and master examiner. His passion for quality began in the 80’s when he lead a company of 120 facilities through the principles of Total Quality Management.

Dr. McMahon is a clinical psychologist and has degrees in modern languages and Asian History. He is also a licensed nursing home administrator.  He has studied at Seton Hall University, the University of Madrid, Stanford University and Psychological Studies Institute.

Renée-Claire Norris
Tel. 301.975.6323

Renée joined the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award staff in 2005 as an Education Specialist for the Workforce Development Team. She has designed, developed, and facilitated training classes for Baldrige examiners and staff for several years. She has also served as project lead for training implementation, the examiner application process, and the evaluation of examiner training and award processes. In addition, she has participated in examiner selection. As a registered nurse, Renée has also maintained a health care focus within the Baldrige Program. She has worked on the Health Care Criteria writing team for four years, currently serves as a member of the Baldrige Program’s health care partnership, and has served as the Program monitor for numerous health care consensus and site visit teams.

Renée holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the University of Virginia and a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from George Mason University in Virginia. She has over twenty-five years of clinical nursing experience as a staff nurse, nurse manager, and house supervisor. She has worked in a variety of university teaching, community, and military facilities and in several specialties including PACU, ICU, and endoscopy. Prior to joining the Baldrige Program, she served as a Patient Safety Senior Program Analyst in Tricare Management Activity’s Office of the Chief Medical Officer, providing medical team training to military treatment facilities in the U.S. and abroad. She currently serves as a volunteer in Fairfax County, Virginia’s Medical Reserve Corps.

Doug Olson, PhD
Tel: 715.836.5067

Dr. Douglas Olson is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Doug obtained his PhD at the University of Minnesota in Health Services Research, Policy and Administration with a dual minor in Management and Aging Studies. His dissertation topic was "How do Leadership Practices Influence Employee Satisfaction", which he completed in fall of 2000.  Dr. Olson completed his MBA at the University of St. Thomas while working for Ecumen, formerly the Board of Social Ministry. His undergraduate degree in Health Care Administration was received from the UW-Eau Claire.

Dr. Olson has over twenty years of health care leadership experience, primarily in the field of health and aging services. Doug has given numerous national and regional presentations, and has an array of publication credits. He is currently involved in a variety of applied research and consulting efforts focusing on leadership, leadership development, organizational roles and best practices in the health and aging services field. At UW-Eau Claire, he serves as the Director of the Center for Health Administration and Aging Services Excellence, which has been instrumental in advancing the excellence of the health and aging service administration field.  Dr. Olson is also the Vice-Chair of the Academy for Long Term Care Leadership and Development for ACHCA.

Christopher R. Schmidt
Tel: 334-273-9002 

Chris has been involved in nursing homes and healthcare almost all of his life.  He and his brother grew up in the nursing home business where their mother, Patti Wallace, worked as a social worker and then as administrator of a facility in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris went to school at Auburn University where he received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration in 1988 and a Master’s in Business Administration in 1990.  He started working summers and weekends in 1987 at Capitol Hill Healthcare in Montgomery, Alabama while he was attending college. In 1988, he joined the family business full time as Administrator in Training and for the next 4 years he learned and performed almost every job in the facility.  Chris completed his certified nursing assistant training in 1991.  In 1991 at the age of 25 Chris moved to Talladega, Alabama and became the administrator of Talladega Health & Rehab Center, a 234 bed skilled nursing and rehab center.  In 1996, Chris came back to Montgomery, Alabama to be the administrator of Capitol Hill Healthcare Center, a 284 bed skilled nursing and rehab center.  In 1998, Chris moved to Gadsden, Alabama to run Mcguffey Healthcare Center, a 209 bed skilled nursing and rehab center.  In 1999, Chris became administrator of Albertville Health & Rehab, a 159 bed facility in Albertville, Alabama.  In 2005, Chris became the administrator of Shelby Ridge Health & Rehab, a 131 bed facility in Alabaster, Alabama.  In 2010, Chris became the administrator of Hillview Terrace Health, a 143 bed skilled nursing and rehab center.  All of the facilities Chris has been the administrator of have received quality awards from the American Healthcare Association and the Alabama Quality Award.  Albertville Health and Rehab and Talladega Health & Rehab have both won the highest Alabama Quality Award at Level 3.  Chris was a master quality award examiner for the American Healthcare Association for 10 years and a quality award examiner for the Alabama Quality Award for 4 years.  Chris is the C.E.O. of Schmidt Wallace Healthcare which provide healthcare services for over 650 residents from over 900 employees in four skilled nursing and rehab facilities in Alabama.   

Chris has two boys Brannon, age 18 and Mason, age 16. He enjoys outdoor activities such as snow skiing, soccer, sailing and international travel.

Ira M. Schoenberger
Tel: 413-821-0750

Ira M Schoenberger, FACHCA Senior Administrator with Genesis Health Care, with over 25 years operations experience in the for- profit post-acute rehab, long term care, and assisted living industries with a broad base of experience identifying new product lines of business, designing and operating program specialties in the post-acute and long term care delivery systems.  Over the years Mr. Schoenberger has created implemented and directed  complex projects including acute and long term care hospice services, dialysis services, building renovation projects, physician services, culture change initiatives and employee workforce education programs.  He has direct operating responsibilities for the Heritage Campus (4- skilled nursing facilities and an assisted living center, Agawam Ma) and is responsible for the day to day operation of the 164 bed JCAHO accredited skilled nursing center on the campus which provides pulmonary and stroke rehab, acute and long-term care hospice programs; and long term care. He had lead his team at Heritage Hall East to received the first Gold American Health Care Association (AHCA) Quality Award in the state of Massachusetts and was the first awarded in the country to a proprietary nursing home in 2005.  Mr. Schoenberger is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Administrator and serves on many boards including as a Board of Director for Regional Employment Board of Hampden County in Western Ma, Healthcare Workforce Advisory Board Western MA and is an Ambassador for his association the Massachusetts Senior Care.  He is a Master and Senior Examiner for American Health Cares Association Quality Awards Programs and has presented at national and regional meetings and conferences on topics of workforce development and engagement; culture change initiatives; quality awards; and quality improvement process and performance.

Carole Scillia​
Tel:  860-343-9241

Carole Scillia, is Vice President of Corporate Compliance/Risk Management, for Revera Health Systems, (formerly CPL Retirement REIT US LTC) a position she was appointed to in January of 2002. Prior to that Ms. Scillia was Vice President of Resident Care Services, for CPL. Ms Scillia joined CPL in 1992 as Director of Continuous Quality Improvement. Ms. Scillia is responsible for overseeing and directing the organization’s compliance, risk management programs for 30 post-acute care centers located in 9 states.

Ms. Scillia has over 40 years of health care experience. Her journey began as a certified nursing assistant working in various homecare, long-term, subacute and acute care settings for over 18 years. Continuing on she obtained a Certification in Recreational Therapy at Norwalk State College and worked for over 10 years providing quality of life programming to patients in various healthcare settings. In 1990 while pursuing a B.S. in Health Care Administration and a Certification in Healthcare Management from St. Joseph’s College, she was President and owner of Insight Advisory, Inc., a consulting service for long-term care. In 1992 Ms. Scillia assumed her positions with Revera Health Systems.

Ms. Scillia has been a guest speaker on various healthcare topics for international, national, state and local professional associations and has been nationally recognized receiving the YWCA’s 1990 Women of the Year Leadership Award for her “Unselfish Devotion to Seniors and Others in Long-Term Care”. As an accomplished artist, Ms Scillia is the author and illustrator of a children’s book titled “Grandma Lives In A Nursing Home” published in 1998 by NADONA, The National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration LTC. She is a Senior Examiner for the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program.  

Bradley Shiverick, CPHQ
Tel. 715.848.2713

Bradley N Shiverick, CPHQ is the Vice President of Healthcare Analytics for Team TSI Corporation.  In that capacity he is involved in all aspects of the healthcare division, including product development, client relations, sales and marketing.  Prior to joining TSI, he was the Chief Quality Officer of My InnerView, Inc. where he was responsible for the company's research agenda, information services activities, and development of strategic direction into new products and business lines. Before My InnerView, Mr. Shiverick was the Vice President for Quality Improvement with Harborside Healthcare. During his eight year tenure at Harborside, he was responsible for quality programs, customer service activities and performance measurement. Mr. Shiverick has 20 years of experience in long-term care quality and public policy development.

Nina M. Willingham

Tel:  941-360-6411

Nina Willingham is a healthcare executive experienced in the management of multi-million dollar properties.  She is particularly adept in developing effective, loyal, and cohesive staff with a proven record of success in recruiting, interviewing, selecting and training healthcare professionals.  She has a strong background in initiating and implementing leadership practices, resulting in significantly improved employee morale, productivity and retention.  Her communication and problem solving skills make for dramatically improved customer satisfaction results.  Her facility has received several national awards under her leadership, including AHCA Bronze and Silver Quality Awards, JCAHO Ernest A. Codman Award for Performance Improvement, and Nursing Homes Magazine Optima Award for excellence in resident focused care. She was recognized as FHCA Administrator of the Year and received the Life Care Centers of America President’s Award and the Chairman’s Award, the highest honor an associate can receive from Life Care.  Nina serves as the President of the Florida Health Care Association and is the Vice Chair of the FHCA Quality Foundation.  

Nina is published in Spectrum magazine, Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Nursing Homes magazine and Healthy Skin Magazine.  She is a state and national speaker on end-of-life, quality improvement, program development, culture change and quality award.

She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Nina is the Senior Executive Director at Life Care Center of Sarasota.