Walworth County Care Center’s Trista Bates earns state award for health care administrators

The South Dakota Health Care Association has chosen the administrator of the Walworth County Care Center in Selby as the recipient of its 2023 Administrator of the Year Award.

Trista Bates was recognized during the Association’s Annual Fall Convention held last week (Sept. 19-21, 2023).

See a full list of award winners and scholarship recipients below.

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD – Trista Bates, Walworth County Care Center, Selby

SERVICE AWARD – Darla Van Rosendale, Sioux Falls

ASSISTED LIVING ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD – Alecia O’Neill, GS Prairie Creek Assisted Living, Sioux Falls

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS $1,000 from SDHCA and $1,000 Employer-Match:

1. Stacy Ulwelling – Bethel Lutheran Home, Madison
2. Lacey Small – Wheatcrest Hills, Britton
3. Raven Rush – MJF South Dakota Veterans Home, Hot Springs
4. Alena Pomponi-Rennich – Medicine Wheel Village, Eagle Butte
5. Kaylee Milbrandt – Firesteel Health Care Center, Mitchell
6. Isabella Glass – The Courtyard at Westhills Village, Rapid City
7. Shelbi Fox – Firesteel Health Care Center, Mitchell
8. Natalie Evans – Prairie View Healthcare Center, Woonsocket
9. Sarah Dockter – Aberdeen Health & Rehab, Aberdeen
10. Cheryl Block – Medicine Wheel Village, Eagle Butte
11. Kelsey Bear Heels – Medicine Wheel Village, Eagle Butte
12. Amy Roost – Avantara North, Rapid City

AHCA/NCAL QUALITY AWARDS – Bronze – Commitment to Quality Award:

• Avantara Arrowhead, Rapid City
• Avantara Saint Cloud, Rapid City
• Good Samaritan Society – Hearthstone AL, Sioux Falls
• Good Samaritan Society – Echo Ridge, Rapid City
• Good Samaritan Society – Prairie Creek, Sioux Falls
• Good Samaritan Society – St Martin Village, Rapid City
• Good Samaritan Society – Tyndall
• Orchard Hills – Dell Rapids
• Prairie View Healthcare Community, Woonsocket

INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL AWARDS:

• Activity Award – Sharmen Buechler, Aberdeen Health & Rehab, Aberdeen
• Dietary Award – Lisa DeSmet, Jenkins Living Center, Watertown
• Nursing Award – Ruth Gulck, Avantara Milbank
• Social Service Award – Sherry Bjorklund, Estelline Nursing & Care Center, Estelline

VOLUNTEER AWARDS:

• Adult Volunteer of the Year – Roberta Stoebner, Menno-Olivet Care Center
• Group Volunteer of the Year – John and Karen Phelan, SD State Veterans Home, Hot Springs

MILLIE E. OLSON AWARD OF THE YEAR – Sherry Bjorklund, Estelline Nursing & Care Center, Estelline

HONORARY MEMBER – Loren Diekman, Watertown

LEGEND AWARD – Governor Kristi Noem