Lifespace Communities appoints Jesse Jantzen as president and CEO

Jesse Jantzen headshot
Jesse Jantzen

Jesse Jantzen has been appointed president and CEO of Lifespace Communities, West Des Moines, IA, effective April 1, after a year-long national search.

With a career spanning almost 30 years, Jantzen has held similar positions with Ascension Living and Elder Care Alliance as well as various leadership positions with Life Care Services. Most recently, he was CEO of Lutheran Life Communities.

As Jantzen transitions into his new role, Larry Smith, the company’s interim president and CEO, will transition back to his role as the company’s chief financial officer.

Lifespace Communities owns and operates 15 continuing care retirement communities in eight states, serving more than 5,100 residents and employing more than 3,900.

Edgewood Healthcare’s Senior Living Division announces new president

Robert Ford Jr. headshot
Robert J. Ford Jr.

Robert J. Ford Jr. has been promoted to president of Grand Forks, ND-based Edgewood Healthcare’s Senior Living Division.

Ford had been executive vice president / chief operating officer of the division since 2019. In his new role, he will continue to oversee the division operations as well as collaborate closely with the leadership of CaringEdge, Edgewood Healthcare’s Health Services Division.

Previously, Ford was Central Division vice president and regional vice president and began his career with Edgewood as executive director of the Edgewood assisted living and memory care community in Casper, WY.

Ford obtained a healthcare administration degree at Montana State University, Billings, and an MBA from the University of Mary, Bismarck, ND.

Edgewood owns and operates 62 independent living, assisted living and memory care communities with more than 4,100 beds in seven states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho — and employs almost 2,800 people.

Acts names Deirdre Groenen as SVP and chief human resources officer

Deirdre Groenen headshot
Deirdre Groenen

Deirdre Groenen has been named senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Acts Retirement-Life Communities.

Groenen has experience as an employment attorney and counselor and as a human resources professional. Since being admitted to the bar in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she has worked as employment counsel for a wide variety of clients. She also is an adjunct professor at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, focusing on the legal aspects of human resources management and the legal environment of business.

Acts appoints Paul Reinbold, M.D., CMD to VP, chief medical director

Dr. Paul Reinbold headshot
Paul Reinbold, M.D., CMD

Paul Reinbold, MD., CMD., has been appointed to the new position of vice president and chief medical director at Acts Retirement-Life Communities.

Reinbold earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Delaware and his medical degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Reinbold is board-certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is certified as a medical director by AMDA-Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Kendal at Lexington names Jan Bigelow CEO

Jan Bigelow headshot
Jan Bigelow

Jan E. Bigelow has been selected as Kendal at Lexington’s new CEO. Bigelow’s first day at the Lexington, VA, continuing care retirement community will be May 4. She will succeed Mina Tepper, who is retiring after serving as Kendal at Lexington’s executive director since December 2012.

Since 2016, Bigelow has been executive director of Westminster Palms, a CCRC / life plan community in St. Petersburg, FL. In that position, she created and implemented a campus strategic development plan, oversaw campus and building renovations, built ties with local colleges and hospitals, achieved strong financial and census results, and led a campus evacuation during Hurricane Irma.

Bigelow previously served for 13 years as executive director of Cumberland Crossings Retirement Community in Carlisle, PA. During her tenure there, she led the community’s acquisition by Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, stabilized the community’s finances, launched an electronic health record pilot program, and oversaw strategic planning and campus renovation projects.

A licensed nursing home administrator, Bigelow has an undergraduate degree in hearing and speech sciences from the University of Maryland–College Park  and a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in healthcare administration from Penn State University–Harrisburg.

Masonic Homes of Kentucky promotes Conjuna Collier to SVP of risk management

Conjuna Collier headshot
Conjuna Collier

Conjuna Collier has been promoted to senior vice president of risk management at Masonic Homes of Kentucky.

Collier has been executive director and administrator of Masonic Home Shelbyville since 2015. In her new role, she will oversee all of Masonic’s risk management responsibilities, including ensuring compliance state and federal regulations governing long-term care.

Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland appoints Ken Connelly VP of operations

Ken Connelly headshot
Ken Connelly

Ken Connelly has been named vice president of operations at Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland, Westminster. LSMMD is a faith-based organization created in 2018 to serve as the parent organization of life plan communities Carroll Lutheran Village, Westminster, MD, and The Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant in Ellicott City, MD

In his new role, Connelly will work closely with the executive leadership team and provide strategic direction and leadership to the communities’ executive directors and 600-plus employees. He will oversee all aspects of operations, including financial oversight, culinary and building services, healthcare and capital projects.

For 20 years, Connelly served in various leadership roles in operations, sales, marketing and business development of national senior living and healthcare organizations, including HCR ManorCare and Sunrise Senior Living.

Connelly has an undergraduate degree in marketing communications from Salisbury University and is a licensed nursing home administrator. He is the board president for Insight Memory Care, a Fairfix, VA, day program that serves people living with dementia.

Moorings Park names Tom Mann VP of sales and marketing

Tom Mann headshot
Tom Mann

Tom Mann has been named vice president of sales and marketing at Moorings Park Inc. He will oversee the company’s three life plan communities in Naples, FL: Moorings Park, Moorings Park at Grey Oaks and Moorings Park Grande Lake.

Mann has 30 years of experience promoting communities that focus exclusively on senior living. Most recently, he was the principal and chief marketing innovation officer for Love & Co., an advertising agency and consulting firm that services not-for-profit retirement communities around the country. His previous roles include senior vice president of advertising for Erickson Living.

The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights welcomes Rocco Bertini as executive director

Rocco Bertini headshot
Rocco Bertini (Photo: Ola Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications)

Rocco Bertini, CDAL, has joined The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, NY, as executive director.

The community, currently undergoing a renovation to convert it to one of four communities in Watermark’s Élan Collection lifestyle brand of premier properties offering personal service with grand scale amenities, is opening this spring. The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights is owned by a partnership of majority owner Kayne Anderson; operator, co-developer and minority owner Watermark/The Freshwater Group; and the development partner, minority owner and construction owner’s representative, Tishman Speyer.

Bertini will oversee the day-to-day operations of the community, including managing finances, hiring and managing senior personnel, developing and implementing operational standards, strategic planning, training, programming, and being responsible for culinary services, healthcare services and member engagement. He will lead an executive, operations and support team of more than 200 employees.

Before joining Watermark, Bertini was executive director and general manager of The Bristal at Jericho assisted living community and the adjacent Encore Luxury Living senior residence in Jericho, NY. His experience also includes positions as executive director and general manager for Atria Senior Living in Louisville, KY, and as regional director of operations for Morrison Senior Living – The Compass Group in Charlotte, NC.

Bertini earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and an associates degree in hotel and restaurant management from Sullivan Community College. He is a certified director of assisted living credentialed by the Senior Living Certification Commission.

The Stratford welcomes Stacy Sibbach as human resources director

Stacy Sibbach headshot
Stacy Sibbach

Stacy Sibbach has been hired as human resources director at The Stratford, a Carmel, IN, continuing care retirement community owned and operated by Senior Living Communities.

Sibbach earned an undergraduate degree in business administration and management, with a minor in sociology, from Coastal Carolina University. While a student, she interned at The Lakes at Litchfield, working with the HR director. After completing her degree, she joined the community as business manager, where she supported the HR director.

Wildewood Downs hires Anterica Thomas as wellness director

Anterica Thomas headshot
Anterica Thomas

Anterica Thomas has joined Wildewood Downs, a Columbia, SC, retirement community owned and operated by Senior Living Communities, as wellness director.

Thomas graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having concentrated on exercise and sports science. While she was attending college, she interned at Brightwater, in Myrtle Beach, SC. She was offered a position as wellness associate at Wellmore of Daniel Island, Charleston, SC, shortly after graduating.

Seniorlink names two regional directors, community partnerships

Donna McHugh headshot
Donna McHugh

Boston-based tech-enabled health services company Seniorlink has announced a new regional corporate structure as well as the promotion of two executives to positions of regional director, community partnerships.

Donna McHugh will spearhead community initiatives in Seniorlink’s Northeast Region, which includes Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Lisa Bennett will lead the company’s Central Region, consisting of Indiana, Georgia, South Dakota, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Lisa Bennett headshot
Lisa Bennett

Both McHugh, who has been with Seniorlink since 2015 as director of community partnerships in Massachusetts, and Bennett, who joined Seniorlink in 2017 as director of community partnerships in Indiana, have worked with community organizations, physician groups, medical service providers and managed care organizations in those roles.

Before joining Seniorlink, McHugh worked for Tufts Health Plan and Novartis in director of sales and management roles. Bennett previously was the regional director of marketing for American Senior Communities and was a team member at IU Health Systems, where she worked with physicians and recruiting patients.