Wesley Place on Honeysuckle is pleased to introduce its two lead nurses, who have now had about three months to settle into their new roles. Remarkably, both women recognized their calling to become nurses at a very young age.

Meet Director of Nursing, Angela Weed

Angela was born and raised in Ft. Pierce, Florida, but her family moved to Alabama in 1998 to care for her elderly grandfather. That early exposure to caregiving further reinforced what she had known since childhood. “Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a nurse,” said Angela.

After graduating from Carroll High School in Ozark, Angela earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Troy University. Her clinical experience began at Dale Medical Center, working first in the medical-surgical unit and later spending five years in the ICU. After the birth of her first child, she transitioned to Dothan Surgery Center, where she was introduced to long-term care. Angela then joined Extendicare as an RN supervisor and later moved into the MDS office, gaining specialized experience in clinical assessment and quality measures for Medicaid and Medicare residents.

In 2024, Angela accepted a position as the Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) at the Veterans Home in Enterprise and also spent a year as a CNA instructor at Wallace State Community College. However, commuting from Headland with two young boys — now ages 11 and 7 — became increasingly difficult. So, when a call came from Wesley Place’s Executive Director, Hubert Paul Jr., inviting her to work closer to home, Angela quickly said yes.

“Hubert had known me from previous interviews, and so he reached out to me and was like, ‘Hey, we have an ADON position open. Are you interested?’, and I said, ‘Absolutely I am.’” Wesley Place on Honeysuckle is only about 15 minutes from Angela’s house.

Before her first day, however, the Director of Nursing role became available, and Angela stepped confidently into the job. “I’m really loving it,” she said. “Because I had so much experience in long-term care, with running a rehab hall, running a long-term care hall, working in MDS with quality measures, and all the reimbursement stuff, I really get to share that education with other nurses and staff, and we can make this building the best that I know it can be.”

Angela says the warm and welcoming culture at Wesley Place makes her feel right at home. “The staff has been so welcoming, with open arms,” Angela said. “It is a very happy place.”

She believes Wesley Place’s household model of care truly sets it apart. “A lot of places try to do that, but it really does become institutionalized as mini-hospitals.” But not Wesley Place. “The kitchen, and the food, and just the community model in general where the resident is able to direct their care and their activities, what they want to eat, it really, truly does make long-term care look and feel more like home than the competition.”

Angela also appreciates how the model improves clinical outcomes. “The more we know the resident one-on-one, the better we are able to recognize when they’re not feeling well or recognize when something is wrong and we can address those concerns so much more quickly,” she said.

Meet Assistant Director of Nursing, Suzanna Wimberly

Just a week after Angela stepped into the DON role, the ADON position was offered to Suzanna, another nurse who never questioned her path. “I’ve just always known that I wanted to be a nurse, since I was little,” Suzanna shared. “There was really no other career that I considered.”
 
Born in Zanesville, Ohio but raised in Dothan after her family moved to Alabama in 2000, Suzanna earned an Associate’s Degree in Nursing at Wallace State Community College in 2017.
 
She gained clinical experience in Med-Surg at Southeast Health, and in rehabilitation care at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital. Suzanna already had a history of employment with Wesley Place, first joining the community in 2020. She left for a short time, but even spent some time on the campus as a hospice nurse serving the residents of Wesley Place. But the community continued to draw her back. “I feel like now I know that this is where I’m meant to be. I feel like I have a strong purpose and that God has put me here at Wesley Place for something big, something long-term. I’m just happy to be here and have this opportunity.”
 
Like Angela, Suzanna values the long-term relationships that retirement community nursing makes possible. “A lot of them don’t have a lot of family so really you become their family,” she said.
 
She also speaks highly of the household model. “We are in the process of trying to perfect the household model in the best way for the residents. Small households create a more intimate, homelike environment.”

Leadership Matters

With both Angela and Suzanna now leading the nursing team, Wesley Place on Honeysuckle benefits from a rare blend of clinical expertise, leadership experience, and genuine compassion for older adults. Their shared vision — rooted in strong relationships, home-like environments, and attentive care — strengthens the mission of the community and brings confidence to families who entrust their loved ones to Wesley Place. Together, these two leaders are helping ensure that residents not only receive excellent clinical care, but also feel truly at home.