VHCA/VCAL Name Valerie Holden Assisted Living Administrator of the Year

Recognized for 25-year career at Harbourway Assisted Living at Atlantic Shores

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — October 4, 2023 At the recent annual awards banquet of the Virginia Health Care Association and Virginia Center for Assisted Living (VHCA/VCAL), Valerie Holden, CTRS, RMA, of Harbourway Assisted Living in Virginia Beach was selected as “Assisted Living Administrator of the Year.”

The award recognized Holden for her leadership in staying the course despite all the pressures of this profession, and for showing genuine fidelity and compassion to her responsibilities, her residents, professional standards, and her staff.

The Assisted Living Administrator of the Year Award recognizes outstanding statewide leadership among assisted living administrators actively employed for a minimum of two years by a current VHCA-VCAL member center.

In accepting the award, Holden said, “I am very humbled by this honor and am still getting used to all the lovely words of congratulations from residents and their families and friends.  I could not have done this without all of staff here at Harbourway.”

Holden’s award was presented by her supervisor and mentor, Liz Dammeyer, Administrator of Harbourway and Seaside Health Center at Atlantic Shores. Dammeyer is also a past recipient of this same award.

“Even after 25 years in the field, she’s never lost her original passion for the mission,” said Liz Dammeyer, Seaside Health Center at Atlantic Shores. “She began her career serving in resident activities, then as an assistant administrator, and after weathering the worst of COVID she was promoted to administrator. She well deserves to receive this recognition.”

Holden has 25 years of experience in the field and has been employed at Atlantic Shores since July 1998. She is a graduate of Radford University and has achieved her CTRS and RMA accreditations and has obtained her Assisted Living Administrators License.