Melanie Sullivan to join Ecumen as senior vice president, chief people officer
Melanie “Mel” Sullivan, Ed.D., has been named senior vice president and chief people officer at Shoreview, MN-based Ecumen, effective April 1. She will report to CEO Shelley Kendrick and lead Ecumen’s team of human resources professionals across the company.
Previously, Sullivan was chief people officer at Minneapolis-based Constellation, a collective of medical insurers and health service organizations, including MMIC, UMIA and Arkansas Mutual.
She has worked in healthcare almost 30 years, including serving as chief executive officer and chief operating officer for Twin Cities Orthopedics and St. Croix Orthopaedics. She teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas in the areas of health management and MBA–Healthcare.
Sullivan holds a Doctor of Education degree in organizational development from the University of St. Thomas. She also has an MBA and an undergraduate degree in business administration and human resources, and she is a certified medical practice executive.
Premier Senior Living names new CMO, COO
Sheri Steele has joined the New York City-based Premier Senior Living Group as chief marketing officer, and Gregg Calvert is the new chief operating officer.
Steele will be tasked with the overall supervision of the company’s sales and marketing systems, key performance indicators and metrics for assisted living and memory care.
She has more than 30 years of experience in the senior living and healthcare industries, most recently working as the vice president of Platinum Health Care in Chicago, where she had complete oversight of the sales and marketing activities of 32 post-acute and 23 assisted living communities.
Calvert also comes from Platinum Health Care, where he was the COO, overseeing 32 skilled nursing facilities, 23 assisted living communities and two independent facilities.
His experience also includes working as COO at Lexington Post Acute Health Network, working at Extendicare for seven years and serving as a vice president of operations at Life Care Centers of America.
Calvert attended the University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University.
Premier owns and manages 23 senior living communities that offer assisted living and specialized assisted living services for the memory impaired in Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Misti Powell promoted to chief people officer at Civitas Senior Living
Misti Powell has been promoted to chief people officer at Fort Worth, TX-based Civitas Senior Living. The position is a new one created as a part of the company’s ongoing focus on fostering a positive, people-centered company culture in an effort to stabilize the workforce.
Powell is a co-founder of the company and previously had been its senior vice president of operations. Her primary directive in her new role will be to act as the guardian of Civitas’ company culture. She also will continue her oversight of employee training, activities, overall resident experience, memory care training and application, and implementation of the company’s signature Passion Program.
“Misti Powell has been the driving force behind many of the programs that have made Civitas such a dynamic organization over the past six years,” Vice President of People Operations Anthony Ormsbee-Hale said. “When you tell the story of Civitas, you can’t help but tell the story of the many amazing people that have been mentored and developed either by Misti personally or through the programs she developed.”
Brenda Connelly named chief quality officer of The Springs Living
Brenda Connelly has been promoted to chief quality officer at The Springs Living.
In this role, Connelly will work to ensure that the company’s standards of care and services are continually practiced throughout its senior living communities in Oregon and Montana, and that continuous improvements are in place to strengthen the foundation and consistency of outcomes.
Connelly joined The Springs Living in 2010 as executive director of The Springs at Whitefish. Two years later, she was promoted to director of quality assurance, overseeing the health services provided to residents across all communities. In 2015, she was named director of community operations to lead regional operations teams and ensure that each community had the necessary resources and systems in place to consistently deliver high-quality care and services to residents.
During and after college, Connelly worked for nine years in a skilled nursing facility, where she began as a CNA, then charge nurse, and later was promoted to various management positions until overseeing facility operations.
Connelly obtained her assisted living administrators license in Montana in 2010. A BSN graduate of North Dakota State University, she plans to finish her Masters of Quantitative Management – Health Analytics degree at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in the next year.
Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh appointed chief experience and memory care officer at Inspīr
Eleonora C. Tornatore-Mikesh has been appointed chief experience and memory care officer at Inspīr, an international senior living brand developed by Maplewood Senior Living and Omega Healthcare Investors, with a flagship residence in Manhattan. Formerly the CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Connecticut Chapter, she is responsible for the oversight of Inspīr’s memory care program.
During her seven-year tenure at the Alzheimer’s Association’s Connecticut Chapter, Tornatore-Mikesh more than doubled revenue and implemented statewide dementia training for the state of Connecticut and more than 140 entities. She also was one of three executives nationwide tasked with developing public policy and care and support plans for the organization.
Previously, Tornatore-Mikesh was chairperson for the Connecticut Assisted Living Association. While in that position, she co-created the curriculum and the state course for executive directors and was a representative at CALA for seven years with the Department of Public Health. During that time, Tornatore-Mikesh sat on a task force to rewrite the regulations for assisted living and for the Institute of Senior Living Education.
Tornatore-Mikesh was trained as a gerontologist at Caring Kind, formally known as the Alzheimer’s Association of New York City, where she worked as a research associate for two years on a Department of Public Health grant on culture change in nursing homes and assisted living. Soon after, she moved to Connecticut, where she spent almost 14 years as the executive director at an assisted living community.
Eric Portnoff named memory care and resident programs VP at Oakmont Senior Living
Eric Portnoff has been hired as vice president of memory care and resident programs at Oakmont Senior Living, effective April 1. He will be responsible for ensuring that the programs are progressive, innovative and industry-leading.
Before joining Oakmont, Portnoff helped a young Chinese assisted living company open some of the first memory care environments in China and established a certification program to teach The Validation Method.
He has been interested in helping people living with cognitive impairment since he volunteered in a special education class at his elementary school. After studies at Evergreen State College, Portnoff worked with people with developmental disabilities and mental illness in community residential settings, eventually become a non-profit executive director.
JoAnn Presbitero named vice president at Lorien Health Services
JoAnn Presbitero has been named a vice president at Ellicott City, MD-based Lorien Health Services, a family-owned assisted living and nursing home company that operates 10 facilities in Maryland as well as Lorien at Home and Lorien Rehabilitation and Fitness.
She will be responsible for implementing the company’s organizational vision, including brand recognition and its “care forward” approach. She also will focus on expanding Lorien’s Parkinson Wellness Program to all locations.
Presbitero joined Lorien in 2015 to assist with recruiting specialized nurses. She moved to the position of director of strategic initiatives, revamping the company’s marketing and sales efforts.
Spearheading Lorien’s Parkinson Wellness Program at its Mays Chapel location, Presbitero helped institute continued education for nurses on Parkinson’s disease best practices and licensed physical therapists certified in specialized Parkinson’s treatments such as LSVT Big Loud and PWR. Presbitero also brought Rock Steady Boxing, a boxing class designed to slow the progression of Parkinson’s, to Mays Chapel.
Presbitero’s career has been closely tied to the healthcare industry for almost 20 years. She previously worked in hospital social work and pharmaceutical sales.
Presbitero earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Loyola University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland.
Affinity Living Group announces two vice presidents
Hickory, NC-based Affinity Living Group, with more than 100 communities in five states, has named Rick Grimes as executive vice president and Mary Raddant as vice president of human resources.
Grimes joins ALG after previously serving as president and CEO of the Assisted Living Federation of American, now known as Argentum.
He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Texas A&M University and the University of Illinois, Chicago, respectively. He has served in many leadership positions throughout his career, including a stint as a captain in the U.S. Army.
Raddant joins ALG after serving as the senior director of human resources for David’s Bridal. Her professional career also includes human resources management roles with Target, Toys “R” Us, Lowe’s and the Fresh Market.
She earned an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Massachusetts and undertook graduate-level coursework at Harvard University with a focus in organizational behavior and strategic human resources management. She ultimately earned a master’s degree in global human resource development from the University of Illinois.
Rich DeLong named executive director at Seagrass Village Panama City Beach
Rich DeLong has been named the new executive director of Seagrass Village Panama City Beach Independent Living, a 128-unit independent living community managed by Tallahassee, FL-based SRI Management.
DeLong will oversee all daily operations and business development.
He has more than 20 years of experience in senior living as well as experience in recreation, teaching and coaching. Before moving to the Florida Panhandle, DeLong was an executive director for almost 20 years, working for Magnolia Manor, Five Star Senior Living and, most recently, Georgia Living Management. He was named a Rotarian of the Year and Volunteer of the Year for the Council on Aging, among many other awards and accolades.
DeLong has an undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and a master’s degree in education from Georgia Southwestern State University.
Martine Francois named care center administrator at Vi at Bentley Village
Martine Francois has been named care center administrator at Vi at Bentley Village, Naples, FL.
She will oversee all operations of the care center, from dining service to nursing care, working closely with a team of nurses and support staff to develop personalized approaches for every care center resident.
Francois has more than 25 years of experience in the field of social work and has worked with Vi since 2012. She has spent the past year at Vi at Bentley Village completing her administrator-in-training program through the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards and earning her license as a nursing home administrator.
Francois has a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from Nova Southeastern University and a master’s degree in social work from Yeshiva University in New York City. In addition, she holds certifications as an assisted living administrator, an assisted living facility Alzheimer’s disease and related disorder training provider, and a dementia practitioner.
Lauren Sanford named lifestyle adviser at Senior Living Communities
Lauren Sanford has joined the home office of Charlotte, NC-based Senior Living Communities as a lifestyle adviser, a role in which she will help further increase sales and marketing efforts.
Sanford attended the University of Southern Mississippi to pursue her degree in marketing. She moved to Charlotte, NC, 6.5 years ago to be closer to her family.
Sanford primarily worked with the elderly as a former med tech for an eye physician for six years.
GlynnDevins names CFO and VP of market development
Kansas City, MO-based senior living marketing firm GlynnDevins has named Scott Kokotan chief financial officer and Brad Fuqua vice president of market development.
Kokotan officially stepped into the role on Monday. He will manage the firm’s daily internal and external financial functions, assess the financial infrastructure to enable ongoing growth and acquisitions, and work to improve the firm’s reporting, budgeting, planning and other financial processes.
Kokotan has an undergraduate degree in business administration degree with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Iowa. He also earned an advanced accounting certification from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as his certified public accountant and chartered financial analyst credentials. He’s held numerous CFO and executive leadership positions during his nearly 25-year career, most recently at HH Ventures, a wireless telecom and technology company in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Kokotan succeeds GlynnDevins’ outgoing CFO, Chris Smith, who announced late last year that he was departing the agency after 18 years to pursue a career focused on personal advisory relationships.
As vice president of market development, Brad Fuqua will be responsible for expanding GlynnDevins’ business within the areas of assisted living and memory care, particularly with for-profit organizations.
Fuqua brings almost three decades of sales and business development experience to the role, with the past two decades focused exclusively on digital marketing within the senior living industry.
Previously, Fuqua was the senior vice president of market development at Eldermark Software, a Minnetonka, MN-based technology firm that provides electronic health record and other technology to the senior living industry. At Eldermark, he was responsible for national account development and the launch of the organization’s web-based customer relationship management and digital marketing products. He’s also a founder of SeniorHousingNet, the first national online senior living directory, launched in 1999, where he helped expand the contents to more than 3,500 senior living communities nationwide; many of the listed companies are GlynnDevins’ clients.
Fuqua has an undergraduate degree in advertising from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. He’s a longtime member of several national industry trade associations, including LeadingAge, Argentum and the American Seniors Housing Association.
Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care announces new clinical operations leaders
DeAnna Looper, RN, CHPN, CHPCA, has been named chief compliance officer, and Danny Cox, BSN, has been appointed senior vice president of clinical operations for Tulsa, OK-based Carrefour Associates, the management firm for Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care.
Looper brings more than 40 years’ experience in healthcare, education and administration to her newly created position. As chief compliance officer, she will oversee all clinical, legal and regulatory compliance operations across 11 Crossroads sites in seven states.
Looper joined Crossroads at its founding in 1995 as a nurse and advanced through several operational roles. She most recently was senior vice president of clinical operations.
A graduate of Tulsa Junior College, now Tulsa Community College, with an associate’s degree in nursing, Looper continued her education attending Kaplan University and University of Oklahoma. She earned certifications as a hospice and palliative care nurse, hospice and palliative care administrator, legal nurse consultant, grief recovery specialist, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association-approved educator and end-of-life care trainer. She is a member of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Health Care Compliance Association and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.
Cox advances to the position of senior vice president of clinical operations from his previous role as a clinical consultant for Carrefour, a role he had held since 2014. As a clinical consultant, he led the implementation of a new hospice-specific electronic medical record platform across all 11 Crossroads sites.
In his new role, Cox will be responsible for leading the enterprise-wide integration of all clinical operations for Crossroads.
Cox joined Crossroads in 2011 as a clinical director at its Cincinnati location. He earned his nursing degrees from the University of Cincinnati, where he also was an adjunct clinical instructor in nursing before joining Crossroads.
Greg Snoddy named EVP of healthcare sales at Encompass Group
Greg Snoddy is the new executive vice president of healthcare sales for McDonough, GA-based Encompass Group, manufacturers and marketers of reusable textiles, professional apparel, and disposable and single-use medical products.
Snoddy, a 20-year veteran of Encompass, will manage both the senior living and the acute care sales channels.
Snoddy joined Encompass in 1999 as field sales manager through the acquisition of the Lintex Corp. He was promoted to region director for senior living in 2003. In 2006, he was promoted to vice president of sales and held leadership roles in corporate accounts. In 2014, Snoddy assumed the senior sales leadership role for the senior living sales organization.
Snoddy represents Encompass as a member of Senior Living Advocacy Group, a member of CPAC and to various industry associations such as American Healthcare Association, the Senior Living Resident Safety Group and the Home and Healthcare Advocacy Group. He is a graduate of John Tyler College in Richmond, VA.
Skender promotes five to senior positions on operations team
Skender, a Chicago-based construction, design and manufacturing firm, recently promoted five members of its operations team.
Brian Ribordy formerly senior superintendent, team leader, is now director of field operations. He joined Skender in 2011. Prior to his current work at North Shore Place assisted living, Ribordy completed the Woodlawn Station affordable housing project in Chicago and Grandbrier of Prospect Heights ground-up memory care and assisted living community. In his new role, Ribordy will oversee all field operations of multi-unit projects.
Pete Conlin, formerly senior superintendent, team leader, now is director of field operations. In his new role, he will oversee all field operations of tenant improvement projects. He joined Skender in 2011
John Estes formerly senior superintendent, team leader, is now director of field operations. He joined Skender in 2013 and in his new role will oversee all field operations of healthcare projects.
Jeff Krause, formerly senior superintendent, is now director of field operations. He joined Skender in 2017 and in his new role will oversee all field operations of ground-up projects.
Dan Torres, CHST, STS-C, formerly SPQ manager, is now safety director. He joined Skender in 2018.
Donald H. Layton to retire as CEO of Freddie Mac; David M. Brickman named successor
Donald H. Layton will retire as CEO of Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.), and David M. Brickman has been appointed to succeed him, effective July 1. Brickman will become a member of the Freddie Mac Board of Directors at that time.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, as Freddie Mac’s conservator, has approved Brickman’s appointment.
In September, the board announced Brickman’s promotion to president and Layton’s intent to retire in the second half of 2019. The board conducted a search for Layton’s successor that included Brickman as well as external candidates.
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