SPRINGFIELD—Cathy Weightman-Moore, director of the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program for Catholic Charities, received the Culture Change Champion award from the Illinois Pioneer Coalition in March.
She was honored for her ongoing efforts to promote best practices at long-term care facilities.
Weightman-Moore has worked for Catholic Charities since 1985 and became head of the ombudsman program when it began at Catholic Charities in 1989.
She has been a member of the Pioneer Coalition since its beginnings. With them she continues to promote “really positive, person-centered care,” she says.
Culture change is an ongoing journey, she adds, aiming to create a culture in which people want to live and work, with a focus on people more than on tasks to be done.
The award is usually given to an individual who is a champion in a particular long term care facility.
Receiving the award, she says, was “a real surprise” and “certainly an honor.”
Patrick Winn, diocesan director of Catholic Charities, says he believes Weightman-Moore received the award because she’s “never satisfied” and always is working to improve the overall culture in long-term care facilities.