Senior living industry movers and shakers gathered in Chicago this week for the annual investor conference hosted by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC). Couldn’t make it? Catch up with Senior Housing News’ conference coverage.
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Aldersgate Names Luke Short as Chief Financial Officer
Aldersgate United Methodist Retirement Community is pleased to welcome Luther (Luke) Short as Chief Financial Officer.
As Chief Financial Officer, Short will be a key member of the organization’s leadership team and maintain responsibility and accountability for the financial affairs of the company.
Prior to joining Aldersgate, Short served as Chief Financial Officer for Epworth Villa, a retirement community located in Oklahoma City, Okla. He has also served as Controller for Medford Leas, a retirement community in Medford, N.J. and as Vice President of Finance at Peninsula United Methodist Homes, a multi-site continuing care retirement community in Hockessin, Del.
Short holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington College and a Masters of Business Administration from Wilmington College.
GeriJoy Names Julie Bolt as New Advisory Board Member
GeriJoy announced recently a new member of its advisory board: Julie Bolt, an experienced, executive-level innovator in the senior care industry. Bolt has more than a decade of director-level experience in the senior care industry, having led sales, marketing, and community relations at a variety of senior living organizations, including Benchmark and Epoch, two of New England’s top assisted living chains.
Prior to joining GeriJoy’s board of advisors, Bolt co-founded Mature Caregivers, a homecare company that provides employment opportunities for older adults. She also has experience developing innovative memory preservation and enhancement programs, teaching classes on communication and dementia care, and integrating digital tools to manage individual care plans while improving the caregiver experience.
Bolt holds a Master of Science in Gerontology with Honors from the University of Massachusetts Boston and is a Certified Animal Assisted Therapist.
Westminster at Lake Ridge Names Libby Bush as Executive Director
Westminster at Lake Ridge continuing care retirement community has named Libby Bush as Executive Director, effective Sept. 30.
With more than 20 years of experience in the senior-living industry, Bush comes from Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. As a Vice President for 12 years, she was a key member of its executive team and oversaw four divisions including independent living, assisted living, memory care and nursing. She joined Westminster Canterbury in 1992 as a Personal Care Unit Manager.
Bush holds a B.A. in Sociology from the College of Wooster and expects to earn an M.A. in Management of Aging Services in 2014.
Ecumen Names Judy Blaseg VP of Philanthropy
Judy Blaseg has been named vice president of philanthropy at Ecumen, a not-for-profit provider of senior housing and aging services.
While she has raised money for good causes her entire career, this new job involves fundraising that is especially personal” Blaseg’s mother is now in a dementia and Alzheimer’s care facility, much like those Ecumen operates, as was her now-deceased aunt, who had early onset Alzheimer’s.
Blaseg grew up with an understanding of senior services. Her mother worked for 30 years as an activities director in a long-term care community. So when the Ecumen opportunity came her way, Blaseg felt a compelling convergence of experience and passion.
Blaseg grew up in Hand County, South Dakota. For the past 25 years, she has worked in philanthropy and fundraising for numerous local and national organizations, including Catholic Charities, VocalEssence, and the Jeremiah Program. She has served on many boards including Mill City Summer Opera, Citizens League, DeLaSalle High School and MinnPost.
She and her husband live in Minneapolis and have three children.
Dena Meyer Named Director of Business Development at Ecumen
Dena Meyer has been named director of business development at Ecumen in Shoreview, Minn., a provider of senior housing and senior services in Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest.
Meyer has 15 years of senior housing experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and has developed more than 1,000 senior housing units in the Twin Cities. She recently served as interim housing manager of Ecumen Seasons at Apple Valley and was the first director of marketing for that community, overseeing initial sales efforts and opening events. Before that, she was the developer of the award-winning Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood, and she also worked on the development of Ecumen Seasons at Apple Valley.
Meyer is a graduate of the College of St. Benedict/St John’s University and lives in Prior Lake.
David Schmidt Joins Walker & Dunlop as Senior Vice President
Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE: WD) announced in late September that David Schmidt has joined the Company as senior vice president.
With more than 24 years of diversified real estate experience on a national level, Schmidt has been involved in the origination, processing and underwriting of transactions involving all types of commercial real estate. Throughout his career, he has worked with many commercial mortgage financing sources, with a specialization in multifamily property financing.
Schmidt joins Walker & Dunlop from KeyBank Real Estate Capital, where he was responsible for originating multifamily permanent loan transactions within the central United States. Previously, he was a director for Red Capital Group where he was responsible for the origination of multifamily and senior housing transactions in the Southwest. Prior to that, he served in a similar capacity at AMRESCO/Lend Lease in Dallas.
Schmidt began his career at Carey, Kramer Co. in Miami, Fla. providing commercial mortgage banking services to clients in the Southeast.
GlynnDevins Hires Alyson Langenkamp and Kerry Essmann as Account Supervisors
GlynnDevins Advertising & Marketing announces the addition of Alyson Langenkamp and Kerry Essmann as account supervisors in Client Service for the Overland Park-based marketing and advertising agency, which specializes in the field of senior living.
As account supervisors, Langenkamp and Essmann will be responsible for designing and implementing strategic marketing plans to help a number of senior living communities across the country increase occupancy.
Langenkamp has more than 20 years of marketing experience. She most recently worked as an account supervisor for Stephens & Associates in Overland Park. Langenkamp has also held a management position at Veterinary Learning Systems, and was an account executive for The Zillner Group in Overland Park.
Essmann has been in the field of marketing for more than 27 years. Before joining the GlynnDevins team, she worked as an account supervisor at Trozzolo Communications Group in Kansas City, Mo. She also worked as a marketing communications consultant for Essmann Communications Consulting and spent 16 years at Kuhn & Wittenborn Advertising in Kansas City, Mo.
The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens Names Nancy Hackett as Director of Nursing
Nancy Hackett has joined The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens as the new director of nursing. In her position, Hackett will oversee the nursing staff in the senior living community’s health center, The Village, and offer personalized resident care.
Hackett has more than 25 years of nursing experience. She’s worked as a case manager at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center, and as a minimum data set (MDS) coordinator for Horizon Health and Subacute Care and California Armenian Home, both located in Fresno. As an MDS, Hackett organized the delivery of care for patients in a long-term care center. Prior to joining The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens team, she worked as the director of nursing for a local senior living community.
Under Hackett’s leadership, The Village received zero deficiencies and a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The award is only given to the top 10 percent of senior health care providers in each state.
In addition to serving as director of nursing, Hackett is working as an instructor in the Vocational Nurse Program at Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts in Fresno. She is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, where she earned a master of science degree in nursing education.
Mark Beisler Appointed Chairman of MBA’s Commercial Board of Governors Multifamily Council
Red Mortgage Capital, LLC, the mortgage banking arm of RED CAPITAL GROUP, LLC, is pleased to announce that Mark C. Beisler has been appointed Chairman of The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial Board of Governors Multifamily Council. Beisler is the President and COO of RED.
COMBOG is comprised of MBA member executives representing all aspects of the commercial/ multifamily real estate finance industry. COMBOG leads the strategic development of MBA’s commercial/multifamily policy and initiatives, as well as best practices and standards.
Beisler has more than 25 years of multifamily/healthcare experience. He has participated in the origination of over $17 billion in Fannie Mae loans, including large structured transactions for many of the nation’s public real estate companies and pension funds. On the FHA side, Beisler has overseen the processing and funding of over $7 billion of FHA insured loans under all of HUD’s various programs, including new construction, substantial rehabilitation and refinances for apartments, affordable housing and healthcare facilities.
Beisler has previously served as Chair of the MBA’s Multifamily Steering Committee and Chair of the Fannie Mae DUS Advisory Council. Currently, he is on the Board of Directors of the National Multi Housing Council in Washington, D.C.
AdCare Adds Michael Fox to Board of Directors
AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ADK) recently announced that Michael Fox, the founder and portfolio manager of Park City Capital, LLC, a value-oriented investment management firm located in Dallas, Texas has been named to AdCare’s Board of Directors.
Fox brings more than a decade of investment and equity analysis expertise to the Board. He founded Park City Capital, which manages private investment funds exclusively for qualified individuals, family offices and institutional investors, in 2008 and has managed the firm’s investments since. Prior to that, Fox spent eight years in equity research at J.P.Morgan in New York where he served as Vice President and Senior Business Services Analyst and headed the firm’s Business Services equity research group from 2005 to 2008.
From 2000 to 2005, Fox was a member of J.P.Morgan’s Leisure equity research group, which was consistently recognized by Institutional Investor’s All America Research Team. He received a BBA in Finance from Texas Christian University.
Cory Stern Named National Director of Operations at Covenant Retirement Communities
Cory Stern as been appointed national director of operations for Covenant Retirement Communities Inc. In his new position, Stern oversees operations for the company’s 14 communities nationwide.
Among his responsibilities, he has begun implementing a financial projection model that uses budget, expense and census data to refine both short- and long-term financial planning. Using the model, which he developed, communities can more accurately project and maintain their budgets. Stern works from corporate headquarters in Skokie, Ill., and reports to Executive Vice President for Operations Terri Cunliffe.
Stern brings more than 25 years of broad-based experience in senior housing to his new position. He started his senior housing career as a campus accountant with a Covenant Retirement Community in Minnesota and held positions of increasing responsibility for 18 years. He left CRC when named corporate director of finance for Vibrant Living Communities and Services, Downers Grove, Ill., and moved on to become vice president of Prime Associates, Richfield, Minn., a senior living management consulting firm. He returned to CRC in 2012 to lead the financial turnaround at the organization’s community in Florida.
A 1987 graduate of Northwestern College, Roseville, Minn., Stern has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and theater. He lives in Plymouth, Minn.
Betsy Connolly Named Executive Director of Traditions at Wayland
Betsy Connolly has been named Executive Director of Traditions of Wayland, a 76-apartment Independent, Assisted and Memory Care senior community located in Wayland, Massachusetts. Connolly was previously the community’s Business Director. In her new position, she will be responsible for all operations at Traditions.
Traditions of Wayland is managed by LCB Senior Living, LLC (www.lcbseniorliving.com) of Norwood, Mass., and is owned by McNeil Real Estate Group, Inc. of Dedham, Mass.
Connolly has been at Traditions as a volunteer and employee since 2009. She has deep business experience, ranging from management, to human resources and finance, and holds both a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, and a master’s degree in gerontology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Cliff Porter Named Head of Government Affairs for AHCA/NCAL
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) today announced that Clifton Porter II will serve as its new head of government affairs. Porter will join the Association following an eight-year tenure as Vice President of Government Relations for HCR ManorCare – a national skilled nursing and post-acute care provider.
As Senior Vice President, Porter will oversee all federal, grassroots and public policy functions in the Association’s Government Relations department. He will also serve as top lobbyist on every facet of the organization’s legislative agenda, including Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements as well as new policy initiatives. Porter will officially join the Association in early January.
Porter possesses more than 24 years of health care management experience, specializing in skilled nursing operations and policy development. He began his career in long term and post-acute care as an administrator-in-training, ascending through nursing center operations with 16 years of progressive responsibility, including new facility openings, turnaround, and multifacility management.
Porter formerly served on the Board of Advisors for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Health Administration Program, and is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine.
Susan Lippy New Exec Director of Springpoint Senior Living’s Winchester Gardens
Springpoint Senior Living has welcomed Susan K. Lippy as executive director of Winchester Gardens, a continuing care retirement community in Maplewood, N.J. Lippy’s responsibilities include overseeing Winchester Gardens’ daily operations as well as the services provided to the community’s 300 residents. Additionally, she will provide leadership to a team of 225 employees.
Lippy comes to Winchester Gardens with 25 years of experience working with seniors. She served most recently as vice president of home- and community-based services at Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, a Pennsylvania senior housing provider and social services organization.
Lippy is a licensed nursing home administrator and holds a BS in Gerontology from Bowling Green State University. She has been a member of the LeadingAge PA Board of Directors and served as President of LeadingAge PA’s Northern Chapter Region.
Care Technology Systems Names Bobby Wamble as COO
Healthcare entrepreneur Bobby Wamble has been named Chief Operating Officer of Care Technology Systems, Inc., a Tennessee-based healthcare company that provides data analytics and remote monitoring to help caregivers improve the safety of aging seniors in their residences.
Wamble was most recently vice president of specialty pharmacy field operations for BriovaRx, a billion-dollar specialty pharmacy company he helped found in 2003 as MedfusionRx. Earlier this year he retired from BriovaRx, which had become the fifth largest specialty pharmacy in the nation.
The new Care Technology Systems COO will oversee daily operations of the company, driving performance measures and allowing President and company Founder Jim Anderson to focus more time on strategy and sales.
In addition to founding MedfusionRx, Wamble has also held pharmacy management positions in Middle Tennessee. He is a 1994 graduate of the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
Wamble joins other members of the leadership team at Care Technology Systems that include Robert Hendrick, chief executive officer, Drew Johnson, chief technical officer and Jonathan Barnes, vice president, sales.
Spectrum Retirement VP Named CREW Denver “Woman of Influence”
Denver-based Spectrum Retirement Communities, known for senior living communities that deliver luxury at an affordable price, announced that Colorado Real Estate Women (CREW) named its Vice President of Construction, Bernida Egging, one of its “Women of Influence” award nominees at its Oct. 2 luncheon.
Egging, who recently joined Spectrum’s growing team, was named to the esteemed list as an “Achiever,” noting her ability as a problem solver and her commitment to doing whatever it takes to assist Spectrum’s clients and her co-workers and partners for the good of a project. Egging was one of just 16 women named to the list at CREW’s 14th annual Women of Influence Awards Luncheon. She was joined at the event by nine of her colleagues – all female.
Egging oversees construction for Spectrum’s National construction projects. The privately-held developer and manager of senior living facilities currently has eight communities under construction in six states.
Cory Stern Named National Director of Operations at Covenant Retirement Communities
Cory Stern has been appointed national director of operations for Covenant Retirement Communities Inc. In his new position, Stern oversees operations for the company’s 14 communities nationwide.
Among his responsibilities, he has begun implementing a financial projection model that uses budget, expense and census data to refine both short- and long-term financial planning. Using the model, which he developed, communities can more accurately project and maintain their budgets. Stern works from corporate headquarters in Skokie, Ill., and reports to Executive Vice President for Operations Terri Cunliffe.
Stern brings more than 25 years of broad-based experience in senior housing to his new position. He started his senior housing career as a campus accountant with a Covenant Retirement Community in Minnesota and held positions of increasing responsibility for 18 years. He left CRC when named corporate director of finance for Vibrant Living Communities and Services in Downers Grove, Ill., and moved on to become vice president of Prime Associates, a Richfield, Minn.-based senior living management consulting firm. He returned to CRC in 2012 to lead the financial turnaround at the organization’s community in Florida.
A 1987 graduate of Northwestern College, Roseville, Minn., Stern has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and theater. He lives in Plymouth, Minn.
Erickson Names Louis Kiang as Director of Development
Erickson Living has selected Louis O. Kiang as its Director of Development. In this new position, Kiang will play a key role in the company’s future project development, design, and management.
Kiang has more than 25 years of experience working with major national banks and real estate development companies. His expertise includes property acquisition and improvement, development and design, and leasing and sales.
Prior to joining Erickson Living, Kiang held several management positions with development companies. That experience reflects his superior leadership skills and expertise in strategic and talent management, project and investment analysis, transaction negotiations, and business-plan execution.
Kiang’s prior positions have included serving as Executive Director of BioBat, Inc.; as a member of the executive management team at Townsend Capital, LLC; as a founding member of Wexford Science and Technology, LLC; and as a Senior Vice President at Bank of America.
Kiang holds an MBA in finance and a BA in business/marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a mentor at the University of Maryland Colvin Institute’s Master of Real Estate Development program. He has also served as adjunct professor in the John Hopkins University Real Estate program.
Northstar Rancho Cordova Names Jennifer Willard Sales & Marketing Director
Jennifer Willard has been named Sales and Marketing Director for Northstar Rancho Cordova, an assisted living and memory care community under construction in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
Willard joins Northstar with more than 25 years in sales and marketing leadership roles. For the past four years, she has worked with local senior communities, dedicating herself to educating families and helping them with residential care decisions.
Additionally, Willard has successfully owned and operated an executive recruiting firm in Sacramento for nearly 15 years, providing sales environment consulting and career guidance.
A native Sacramentan, Willard attended American River College and Folsom Lake College. She currently makes her home in Folsom.
Northstar Rancho Cordova is the city’s first large-scale senior community and will offer assisted living as well as specialized memory care. It is slated for a January 2014 opening.