Watercrest Senior Living Group promotes Sheena Jeffries
Sheena Jeffries has become the engagement specialist, a newly created position at Watercrest Senior Living Group in Florida.
In this role, Jeffries will lead the memory care and programming teams to provide hands-on support and training. She also will help implement Watercrest’s new memory care programs, Illuminate and Live Exhilarated.
Jeffries joined Watercrest Senior Living Group in 2016 as a community memory care director. Prior to that, she worked as a trained therapeutic recreation specialist focused on adaptive methods and technology to improve the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Legend Senior Living hires regional healthcare director
Elaina Couming has been hired as the new regional healthcare director for Florida by Legend Senior Living.
In this role, she will identify areas of need within the clinical department and provide education for the new healthcare directors within the communities she oversees.
Couming has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, with the past five in senior care. Before starting in the healthcare industry, she was a second lieutenant and nurse in the U.S. Army. Since then, she has worked as a health and wellness director and a resident care director.
AHCA / NCAL’s Mark Parkinson named top CEO
Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, has been named the top CEO in the small-employer category of the Washington Post’s 2019 Top Workplaces in the Washington, D.C. area.
This is Parkinson’s first time being selected as a top CEO. Energage LLC surveyed hundreds of employees in the Washington area to rate the extent to which they have confidence in their company’s leadership. Parkinson, who has been at the helm of AHCA / NCAL since 2011, received the highest marks in the small-employer category for 2019.
And for the fifth consecutive year, the organization has been named one of the Top Workplaces. This year, AHCA / NCAL came in at No. 32 on the list of small employers, with 74 employees. Selection as a top workplace is based on employee feedback gathered through an anonymous third-party survey administered by Energage, LLC. The survey measured several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution and connection.
The Washington Post hosted an awards ceremony on June 20.
Portola Gardens hires new executive director
Jeffrey Dillon has been named the new executive director at Portola Gardens, a CiminoCare assisted living community in San Francisco.
He comes to Portola Gardens with more than 30 years of experience in the senior service industry. During his career, Dillon has served as director and care manager at SeniorHD, executive director and sales and marketing director at Acacia Creek Retirement Community and as a care manager for the NFL Player Care Foundation. He also was invited by the United Nations to be an envoy to China for senior and housing services in 2015.
Senior Living Communities hires or promotes three
Lakes at Litchfield, a retirement community in South Carolina owned by Senior Living Communities, has promoted Lena Oncken to be social director. She joined the company in 2018 as the activity director in care services.
Nick Varone, also a member of Lakes at Litchfield, has become director of facility services. Varone has been apart of Senior Living Communities for four years and has served has a maintenance technician.
Vickie Fowler has been announced as the new lifestyle adviser at Summit Hills, a retirement community in South Carolina owned by Senior Living Communities. Fowler has worked in the senior living industry for the past 10 years at a continuing care retirement community.
Heron’s Key names new director of marketing and sales
Stacy Edwards has become the new director of marketing and sales at Heron’s Key, Gig Harbor, WA.
Edwards brings experience in sales, management and business development to this role. He has played and coached football for the Canadian and Indoor Football Leagues, worked in sales at a sports agency, served in the telecommunications industry and was the director of business development for a parking solution technology company.
Timber Ridge hires new food and beverage director
Marcus Kollmai has been named the food and beverage director at Timber Ridge at Talus, Issaquah, WA.
Kollmai’s experience includes studying at a hospitality school in Austria, owning and managing a banquet facility and running dining services at other senior communities across the country.
In this new role, he will work to elevate the dining experience for residents by cooking the food fresh to order, including carving stations and buffets, providing vegan and healthy meal options, as well as training the dining staff to have top service etiquette.
Vi at the Glen welcomes new fitness coordinator
Jorge Guzman has joined Vi at the Glen in Chicago as the new fitness coordinator.
In this position, he will work to advance Vi at the Glen’s Living Well philosophy, which emphasizes the need for holistic wellness including mind, body and spirit.
Guzman received an undergraduate degree in exercise science and has more than five years of experience in therapy and exercise.
New Senior Investment Group adds to Board of Directors
Justin Hutchens has been named an independent director on New Senior Investment Group’s Board of Directors.
Hutchens has almost 25 years of experience operating and investing in healthcare real estate. He has been the CEO of HC-One, a home care provider in the United Kingdom, since 2017.
Before joining HC-One, Hutchens was president of HCP in 2017 and the real estate investment trust’s executive vice president and chief investment officer from 2015 to 2017. Before that, he was CEO, COO and president of National Health Investors from 2009 to 2015.
FALA announces new general counsel, director of government affairs
Michael J. Hardy has been named by the Florida Assisted Living Association to be its new general counsel and director of government affairs.
He has a decade of experience as an attorney inside the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration’s office of the general counsel, where he represented the agency on healthcare matters.
Zanthion hires new CFO
John Sebesta joins Zanthion, an AI digital healthcare company based in San Francisco, as the new chief financial officer.
Sebesta comes to Zanthion after founding Business Stewardship Partners and co-founding TBL Tourism. In his new role, he will lead efforts to define strategies for distribution and capital needs such as loans and investments. Sebesta also is in charge of internal corporate compliance and maximizing the effectiveness of the company’s research and development.
Greystone welcomes new managing director
Matt Miller has joined Greystone, a commercial real estate lending, investment and advisory company, as a managing director on its seniors housing finance team.
Miller brings experience in the banking industry to his new position. He served as executive vice president at Texas Capital Bank, vice president at BBVA Compass and was assistant vice president at Guaranty Bank.
Glassdoor names top CEOs
Some names familiar to those in the senior living industry were on the list when Glassdoor revealed its Employees’ Choice Awards, honoring the top CEOs in 2019 of large companies:
No. 19 – Randy Richardson of Vi
No. 30 – Aron Ain of Kronos International
No. 33 – Anant Yardi of Yardi Systems
No. 39 – Robert E. Sulentic of CBRE
No. 60 – Randy Bufford of Trilogy Health Services
No. 68 – Alex Gorsky of Johnson & Johnson
No. 76 – Tim Pierce of Morrison Health Care
No. 99 – Daniel Baiada of Bayada Home Health Care
See the entire list here.
Send personnel news to Senior Editor Lois A. Bowers. Please include a high-quality color photo.
