Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Home Care and McKnight’s Senior Living are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.

List “retirement” as one more thing COVID-19 disrupted for Andrew Carle, who had planned to step down as executive director of The Virginian, a Life Care Services-managed community in Fairfax, VA, before the pandemic hit.

Not only did he remain at helm there, but the design of the facility’s memory care unit ultimately earned a top award in a national design competition. 

Influenced by the effect of isolation on people with dementia during the pandemic, Carle co-authored a peer-reviewed paper titled “The COVID-19 Pandemic Reignites the Need for Person-Centered Gerontological Approach,” which appeared in the journal Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine in September 2021. 

Throughout his career, Carle has advocated for the senior living equation of autonomy, dignity and individuality. He recently launched UniversityRetirementCommunities.com, a national directory of university-based retirement communities.

In 2018, he was a senior consultant for J.D. Power and Associates’ Health Intelligence, where he helped develop the first national customer satisfaction and certification program for the senior living industry. Carle also was a founding operations executive and vice president of business services with Summerville Senior Living and the chief operating officer for Affinity Living Group through a reorganization in 2016-2017, among other senior living providers listed as top-10 communities by Argentum.

Carle’s legacy will, in part, be carried on by the multitude of students who graduate from George Mason University’s undergraduate program for senior living administration, which he founded. He developed a similar graduate curriculum at Georgetown University, where he is an adjunct lecturer in the school’s aging and health program. 

  • Provided the keynote address at the 25th Australian Congress on Aging.
  • Co-developed the SmartSole, the first GPS tracking shoe for individuals with dementia who are at-risk of wandering. 
  • Authored the book “Moments, Memories, and Mission: Stories from the Field of Assisted Living,” which showcases life-changing contributions of workers in all levels of the industry.

The McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Honorees were recognized March 21 at a dinner and awards ceremony in Chicago. Omnicare was the Silver sponsor for the 2024 Pinnacle Awards program. Parker Health Group and Sentrics were event sponsors.