Randall Bufford to become board chair, Leigh Ann Barney to succeed him as president and CEO of Trilogy Health Services

Randall Bufford

Randall Bufford, president, CEO and founder of Trilogy Health Services, will transition to the role of chairman of the board effective Oct. 1, he announced Thursday. Leigh Ann Barney, Trilogy’s chief operating officer, will succeed him as president and CEO.

“I’ve been planning for this transition for over 10 years,” Bufford said, whose healthcare career spans more than three decades. “Now is the perfect time for me to take a step back from day-to-day operations at Trilogy. We’re checking off all the boxes – outstanding customer satisfaction, record employee engagement and retention rates, and our financial position has never been stronger. This is a good thing for Trilogy.”

Bufford expressed confidence that Barney will “nurture this culture and carry on our tradition of continuous improvement.”

“In my new role as chairman of the board, I look forward to mentoring Leigh Ann and to helping Trilogy grow in the coming years,” he said. “I know that, under her leadership, our employees will continue to say what I am saying today: Trilogy is the Best Place I Ever Worked.”

During her 19-year tenure with Trilogy, Barney has held several positions, including treasurer, and has experience overseeing all ancillary service operations.

She earned her undergraduate degree and an MBA degree from the University of Louisville.

Trilogy offers a full range of senior living services, from independent and assisted living to skilled nursing and rehabilitative services, in more than 100 senior living communities in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The organization is a subsidiary of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III.

Wesleyan Homes names Bethany Sisneroz as chief operating officer

Bethany Sisneroz

Georgetown, TX-based Wesleyan Homes has appointed Bethany Sisneroz to the role of chief operating officer.

Leading Wesleyan Homes’ service delivery excellence, business operations and strategy implementation, Sisneroz will report to President / CEO Mark Lenhard and work to ensure that the faith-based nonprofit organization’s mission of service and ministry of care remains deeply embedded within its operations and culture.

Before joining Wesleyan Homes, Sisneroz was chief operating officer for The Talent Match Group, a professional agency for long-term care providers. She has 20 years of experience as a licensed administrator.

Previously, as a regional vice president for a multi-site skilled nursing organization, Sisneroz led a team of 1,100 staff members. She was the first administrator in Texas to receive the American Health Care Association’s Silver Quality Award, a program for which she currently serves as national examiner, according to Wesleyan Homes.

Sisneroz has an undergraduate degree in long-term care administration from Texas State University.

Ascension Living names Ryan Endsley chief operating officer

Ryan Endsley

Ryan Endsley has been named chief operating officer at St. Louis, MO-based Ascension Living. He succeeds Daniel “Danny” Stricker, who was selected to lead Ascension’s new Post-Acute Services Division.

In his new role, effective July 1, Endsley will direct the operational and clinical integration of post-acute services across Ascension Living’s 54 senior living communities. He will work closely with Ascension market leaders to try to ensure better collaboration between acute care and post-acute services to improve outcomes and lower the cost of care.

Endsley’s 20 years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit long-term care settings includes regional leadership of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, as well as skilled nursing facilities, throughout Missouri and Kansas. Most recently, he was market vice president of operations for Ascension Living.

Before joining Ascension Living, Endsley was the first regional director of operations for a St. Louis-based senior-living company called Cedarhurst Living. In this regional role, he provided administrative, financial and regulatory oversight of multiple communities in Missouri and Kansas. Cedarhurst owns and operates independent living, assisted living and memory care communities throughout the Midwest.  

Endsley earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Missouri State University and a master’s degree in human resource management from Webster University. He is a licensed nursing home administrator and recently served two one-year terms as the district president on the Missouri Health Care Association Board of Directors. He currently is a member of the Leading Age Kansas Board of Directors.  

Watercrest Senior Living Group promotes Kristen Dalrick to regional director of operations

Kristen Dalrick

Kristen Dalrick has been promoted to regional director of operations at Vero Beach, FL-based Watercrest Senior Living Group. Dalrick will work to strengthen operational efficiency and growth in each of Watercrest’s communities as the company prepares to open a dozen new communities in the next few years.

In 2017, Dalrick was honored with Argentum’s “Best of the Best” award for Executive Director of the Year. She joined Watercrest in late 2018 as executive director of Market Street Memory Care Residence East Lake. In six months under her leadership, the community doubled in occupancy and employee retention peaked at 95%, according to the company.

Legend Senior Living promotes Wendy Dotson to corporate sales specialist

Wendy Dotson

Wendy Dotson has been promoted to corporate sales specialist at Wichita, KS-based Legend Senior Living.

Dotson joined Legend Senior Living in 2010. She has been sales director for The Windsor of Ocala for nine years. She also serves as preceptor for new sales directors for the company.

In her new role, Dotson will work with targeted communities as a primary sales resource to generate move-ins and new leads and ensure that the sales process is fully implemented and executed. Her responsibilities will include developing sales strategy for individual communities, working with onboarding and mentoring, coaching and training new hires, and improving communication and sales processes.

Raintree Terrace names Leah Daily senior director of sales and marketing

Leah Dailey

Leah Dailey has been named senior director of sales and marketing at Raintree Terrace, an Integral Senior Living community in Knoxville, TN.

Dailey has worked as senior director of sales and marketing at The Pointe at Lifespring, an ISL community in Knoxville, for two years. Her responsibilities include trying to develop positive and lasting relationships between the local community and the businesses and organizations. In addition to attending various community activities and networking events, her day-to-day tasks include helping residents and their families coordinate all aspects of the move-in process, developing annual marketing plans, and organizing marketing visits to the community.

Dailey began her career in marketing and sales nine years ago at Freedom Christian Academy in Knoxville, where she coordinated fundraising, event planning, recruiting and marketing efforts.

The Pointe at Lifespring names Julie Sharp director of sales and marketing

Julie Sharp

Julie Sharp has been named director of sales and marketing at the Pointe at Lifespring Senior Living, an Integral Senior Living community in Knoxville, TN.

Before joining The Pointe at Lifespring, Sharp accumulated more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in various industries. Most recently, she worked in property management. Her career also includes a background in graphic design and healthcare sales.

Sharp began her career in sales working as an outside sales representative for Alpha Graphics in Knoxville. While there, she sold printing services to many businesses throughout the area.

From 2007 to 2011, Sharp was an outside sales and marketing director for Lambert Healthcare, working to ensure that nursing home and rehabilitation facilities maintained proper equipment and communicating patient needs to insurance companies to comply with federal regulations. She also worked with patient budgets and hospital administrators to promote Lambert Healthcare equipment.

As a marketing and property manager, Sharp managed three communities for Freeman Webb Property Management, overseeing renovations for property teams and occupancy management.

Brooksby Village names Pamela Simpson director of resident life

Pamela Simpson

Pamela Simpson has been named the director of resident life at Brooksby Village, an Erickson Living-developed and managed continuing care retirement community in Peabody, MA. 

In her new role, Simpson will oversee a variety of departments, including fitness, community resources, volunteer programs, philanthropy, Brooksby Village TV, resident services, certified home health, pastoral ministries and home support.    

Before joining Brooksby Village, Simpson was a director for multiple locations of Bayada Home Health’s leadership development program. For the past three years, she was senior executive director for LCB Senior Living in Ipswich, MA.

Simpson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations from Suffolk University.

Lindsay Schwartz named Gerontological Society of America fellow

Lindsay Schwartz, Ph.D.

Lindsay Schwartz, Ph.D., associate vice president of workforce and quality improvement for the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living, has been named one of 43 new fellows of the Gerontological Society of America

The status of fellow — the highest class of membership within the society — is an acknowledgment of “outstanding and continuing work in gerontology,” according to the GSA. The recognition is given to those in research, teaching, administration, public service, practice and notable participation within the organization. Fellows are chosen from each of GSA’s four membership sections and its educational organization, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.

The new fellows formally will be recognized in November in Austin, TX, during GSA’s 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Plante Moran Living Forward announces executive promotions

Eric Dumont

Eric Dumont has been promoted to senior vice president at Southfield, MI-based Plante Moran Living Forward, the senior living development consulting branch of Plante Moran Cresa and an affiliated entity of Plante Moran. PMLF offers strategic planning, feasibility, development advisory and operations consulting services to senior living communities across the country. 

Dumont joined the senior living development team from the independent real estate consulting firm Plante Moran Cresa, where he was involved with the senior living, healthcare, commercial, industrial, retail, municipal and education construction industries.

He has an undergraduate degree in industrial technology management and business administration from Central Michigan University.

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