Out of thousands of skilled nursing facilities nationwide, only two earned the prestigious Gold - Excellence in Quality Award from the American Health Care Association this year. One of those top honors belongs to Todd-Dickey Nursing and Rehabilitation, a 62-bed facility in southern Indiana that proves size is no barrier to achieving high-level operational excellence. In this episode, Executive Director Wendy Broughton and Janean Kinzie, vice president of parent company American Senior Communities, detail the behind-the-scenes work to maintain a stringent focus on quality for six years — and how some friendly competition helped deliver excellence. The discussion highlighted the key drivers behind the facility’s success, starting with a deeply rooted culture of local commitment and retention. As the only nursing facility in its county, Todd-Dickey relies on a tight-knit staff — some with over 40 years of tenure — who view their work as "family taking care of family," Broughton tells McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Editor Kimberly Marselas. "It’s a multi-year marathon of putting things together and looking at those challenges and taking one thing at a time,” she says. “If you do good quality of care, the awards will come." Maintaining open lines of communication, setting clear expectations during initial job interviews, and keeping floor staff directly involved in quality metrics were crucial strategies for sustaining momentum on the path from Bronze to Gold. Rather than viewing quality initiatives as temporary fixes for isolated issues, ASC focuses on analytical evaluation and regional training seminars across its portfolio. That’s given it more than 80 Quality Award winners in recent years. And good ol’ "Hoosier competitiveness" continues to push facilities across the state to elevate their standard of care year after year, she adds Listen to the full episode to learn more about Todd-Dickey’s journey to Gold, the role of corporate support in quality improvement and how competition can drive higher standards in long-term care.