Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2025 Women of Distinction honorees daily through Aug. 18. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.

With more than 20 years of clinical experience and a keen eye for process improvement, Laura Templeton has made a significant mark on the care-at-home sector.

Templeton started at Compassus in 2012 and rose quickly through the company’s ranks. Prior to becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer, she held roles as Compassus’ managing clinical director, executive director, regional director of operations, regional vice president and divisional president and chief clinical operations officer. Her contributions to the field resulted in her 2025 induction into the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor. 

In her current position, Templeton oversees home health, infusion, palliative care and hospice operations, delivering strong results in care quality and patient satisfaction. Colleagues say her work has helped Compassus enhance recruitment and retention, implement new clinical training programs, leverage innovative predictive analytics platforms and overhaul key leadership positions. In what little spare time she has available, she leads Compassus’ quality committee and serves in key roles on both its public advisory and compliance committees.

“Laura perfectly embodies servant leadership in healthcare,” her nominator said. “She continually puts the needs of others before her own and truly cares about her patients, families, peers and improving the industry for years to come.”

Her teammates also know her as a daring innovator. Dedicated to quality and efficiency, Templeton spearheads Compassus’ efforts to revolutionize care through technology. She works on several internal committees related to the use of artificial intelligence and has played an instrumental role in the company’s innovations in AI-powered scheduling. Those efforts have led to tangible improvements in clinician and client satisfaction, her nominator noted.

Throughout her tenure at Compassus, Templeton also has aided in the promotions of six women to C-suite or director-level roles and has helped forge partnerships with Ascension, Bon Secours Mercy Health and OhioHealth.

“She is driven to improve the industry overall by inspiring the next generation of caregivers and leaders and working with peers and partners across industry organizations to suggest improvements to quality, compliance and care access,” one colleague said.

The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living  and McKnight’s Home Care. Healthcare Services Group was the Platinum sponsor of this year’s festivities, and PharMerica was the Silver sponsor. Additional sponsors included Affinity Health Services, Curana Health, DirecTV for Business, EasyShifts, Guardian Pharmacy Services, Marquis Health Consulting Services, Priority Life Care, Reliant Rehabilitation, Reside Admissions and Sentrics.

Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2025 and previous years.