William (Bill) Leahy, M.D., a neurologist and vice chair on the Board of Directors for Ingleside, a premier, charitable not-for-profit provider of comprehensive older adult opportunities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, was selected by The Daily Record, a Baltimore-based multimedia news source, to receive a 2019 Health Care Hero Award. Leahy was recognized in the Community Outreach/Education Hero category for his professional achievement, community involvement, and inspiring change surrounding his Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program for high school students.

Leahy’s CNA program provides education and career opportunities for non-college-bound high school students. He founded and initiated the CNA program for high school students to educate and provide experiential practice in a career-launching training curriculum to gain the skills to become certified nursing assistants.

“The Ingleside family is grateful for Dr. Leahy’s dedication and commitment through his Foundation, which supports this extraordinary program. Because of him, 40 students have passed their qualifying exams and entered the workforce,” said Ingleside President and CEO, Lynn O’Connor. “The program makes an impact in the lives of the students and to the residents and clients which they serve.”

The program, initially started in Prince George’s County, is entering its fifth year at Ingleside at King Farm, one of Ingleside’s life plan communities located in Rockville, Maryland that provides a clinical site for the program. Ingleside’s Washington D.C. community, Ingleside at Rock Creek, will soon benefit from this program as it will start there in the future.

Leahy’s award comes at a time when each of Ingleside’s communities are adding more programs, services and spaces. Recently, Ingleside at King Farm in Rockville, Maryland opened its state-of-the-art Center for Healthy Living and memory support assisted living neighborhoods, and will soon open Gardenside, with 120 new independent living residences.

Memory support assisted living is a newly developed program for those living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Ingleside at King Farm has already opened its memory support residences, with Ingleside at Rock Creek’s set to open in July 2019. Ingleside at Rock Creek’s Creeksidein Washington D.C. will also soon have 105 new independent living residences, a Center for Healthy Living, and skilled nursing in addition to the memory support assisted living.

The memory support assisted living program offers a full-time, dedicated RN and licensed nursing around the clock. In addition, it will include individualized therapeutic programs offering music, art, movement, pet and recreational therapy. Similar new projects are being developed with Westminster at Lake Ridge’s Westminster OnWard in Northern Virginia, a renewal project, which will bring increased vitality to Westminster at Lake Ridge.

About Ingleside

Ingleside is a premier, charitable not-for-profit provider of comprehensive older adult opportunities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Based in Rockville, MD, Ingleside is the parent organization for three CARF-accredited, charitable not-for-profit, life plan communities (formerly continuing care retirement communities) and its affiliates, including: Westminster Ingleside Foundation, WING (Westminster Ingleside Group), which focuses on real estate development and management, Ingleside at Home, a not-for-profit, charitable home-based care program. Ingleside’s family of communities include: Ingleside at Rock Creek (Washington, D.C.), Westminster at Lake Ridge (Lake Ridge, VA), and Ingleside at King Farm (Rockville, MD). For more information, visit www.inglesideonline.org. Ingleside’s mission is to provide strategic and operational leadership that enables our affiliates to excel in their missions.