Rollup Image
Page Content
Bobbie Vavra serves as Executive Director at Heritage Woods of Yorkville, which proudly achieved the Silver Quality Award.
The Quality Journey from Start to Now
As a recipient of the Silver Quality Award, Bobbie reflects on her community's journey and the role culture, staff development, and data played in its success: “Our Quality Award journey started with a strong belief in the culture we had already built within our community. From the beginning, I knew that staff development had to be at the center of our journey and that we needed to connect that development back to our mission and values in everything we did. I truly believe that when we take care of our staff, our staff will take care of our residents and caring for our residents is the very reason each of us shows up every day.
“That philosophy became the foundation for how we approached quality improvement, staff engagement, and ultimately our Quality Award journey. One of the most valuable parts of the journey was learning to use our data more intentionally. The Trend Tracker information was particularly helpful because it put meaningful information right at our fingertips. In fact, I started with the charts before I even began writing our narrative. The data helped me identify where we were strongest, where we had opportunities for improvement, and which areas best reflected the story of our community.
“Our achievement today is a reflection of both the culture we have worked hard to create and our willingness to continually look at the data, learn from it, and use it to become better. For me, the Quality Award journey was not simply about receiving an award. It was about validating the work our team does every day to support our staff, strengthen our community, and ultimately provide the best possible experience for our residents."
Valuing People
At Heritage Woods of Yorkville, Bobbie's approach to valuing people begins with staff development and strong community relationships: “Our focus on valuing people, customer-focused excellence, innovation, and societal contribution really grew out of the challenges we experienced coming out of COVID, particularly the impact it had on staffing. Rather than relying on traditional recruiting methods, we looked for opportunities to connect with our local CNA schools and build relationships within our community."
Innovation
Heritage Woods of Yorkville showed its innovation when a local CNA program needed a new clinical partner: “That outreach we did to connect to local CNA programs led to a relationship with a CNA instructor who was facing a difficult situation. The clinical sites she had been using were no longer aligning with the school's mission and were not in good standing with the state. Instead of seeing that as someone else's problem, we saw an opportunity to create a solution that benefited both organizations. We opened our doors and became a clinical site for the CNA program, something that was relatively unheard of in our industry. But it filled an important need for the school while creating an incredible opportunity for our community."
Customer-Focused Excellence
Bobbie and her team use those partnerships to model resident-centered caregiving for future caregivers: “For us, it meant getting in front of young, impressionable students and showing them what caregiving is truly about before they had the opportunity to develop misconceptions about the profession. We could demonstrate firsthand the importance of compassion, dignity, teamwork, and treating every resident as an individual."
Societal Contribution
That partnership with the local program helped contribute to the local community by helping develop the next generation of caregivers: “For the school, it provided a reputable clinical partner that allowed students to continue progressing through their curriculum with confidence that they were receiving meaningful, quality clinical experience. What started as a staffing challenge ultimately became something much bigger: a partnership that helped develop the next generation of caregivers while strengthening our own workforce and our connection to the community. To me, that is innovation and contribution: seeing a challenge, looking at it differently, and creating a solution that makes everyone better."
The Impact of the Quality Award Journey
The Quality Award journey has made Heritage Woods of Yorkville more intentional and data-driven while helping the team see the impact of its daily work: “Engaging with the Quality Awards Program has brought both insight and momentum to our daily intentions. It has helped us be more intentional about looking at what we do, understanding the impact of our efforts, and using data to guide our decisions rather than simply relying on what we think is working. Most importantly, it has helped turn our everyday commitment to quality into a more purposeful and measurable journey. It has given our team a clearer understanding that the small things we do each day truly add up to meaningful outcomes for our residents."
“My favorite part of the process was sharing the outcome with my staff. I brought the team together, shared our narrative, walked through our results, and reminded them that they should be proud of the work they do every day. I focus a lot on our mission and values because that is our common ground, it is what brings each of us together and reminds us why we get out of bed every day. Seeing our results on paper was a powerful reminder that what we do matters. These results show that we are succeeding in our mission to enrich the lives of our residents through Love, Compassion, and Dignity. The award is recognition of the team, but the real achievement is knowing that the work they do every day is making a difference."
What the Silver Quality Award Means
For Bobbie, the Silver Quality Award is an opportunity to celebrate the team's everyday commitment to caring for others: “The Quality Awards Program and the recognition we achieved mean so much to me because they provide an opportunity to celebrate something our team does every day: care for others.
“I think many health care workers shy away from praise or talking about their accomplishments because caring for others comes so naturally to us. We often don't see what we do as something to boast about; we simply see it as doing our job and doing what is right for our residents. I have always told my team, 'Take credit for the work you do.' Every interaction, every small act of kindness, every extra effort, and every decision made with our residents in mind truly does make a difference. Those small things add up to the quality of life and care we provide every day.
“Receiving this recognition has given us an opportunity to pause and recognize the incredible work our team is doing. For me, the greatest value of the award isn't simply the recognition itself, it is being able to remind my team just how great they really are and to encourage them to be proud of the difference they make every single day."
Looking Forward
Looking ahead, Bobbie hopes to use the Quality Awards Program to elevate the work of health care professionals and inspire future caregivers: “Looking forward, I hope to continue using the Quality Awards Program as a way to highlight the importance and value of the work we do in health care. So much incredible work happens in health care every day that often goes unnoticed. I hope to use this platform to highlight that work, encourage health care workers to be proud of what they do, and show others how meaningful caregiving can be. Most importantly, I hope we can encourage more young people to consider a career in health care. If we can show them the purpose, relationships, and difference they can make, we may inspire the next generation of caregivers while helping address the staffing challenges our industry continues to face."
Final Advice
After achieving Silver in the Quality Award journey, Bobbie shared simple advice for organizations beginning their own journey: “My advice is simple: just start. Get something down on paper even if it is just a rough draft. The most important thing is to get the momentum going. Start by really knowing your community and its culture. From there, begin gathering your results and identifying the story your data is telling you. Once you have that foundation, you can begin putting everything together with intention and purpose. Don't worry about making it perfect from the beginning. Start with what you know, build from there, and let the process tell your story."