Jerry Kemper joins Benchmark as chief financial officer
Jerry Kemper has joined Benchmark Senior Living as senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Kemper joins Benchmark from Kindred Healthcare, where he was senior vice president and CFO for the company’s nursing center division. He brings with him more than 20 years of operational and strategic financial management experience in the long-term care and healthcare industries.
“Jerry is joining Benchmark at a pivotal time in our evolution as we embark upon enhancing our brand and expanding into new markets,” Benchmark Chairman and CEO Tom Grape said. “I have been impressed by his experience and success and have no doubt he will make an immediate impact on the entire organization.”
As CFO, Kemper is responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the company, including financial planning and analysis, accounting and financial reporting, as well as managing the tax, internal audit, treasury and investor relations functions.
A former “Big 4” CPA, before joining Kindred, Kemper was an officer for ADDIT and vice president of finance for Genesis Healthcare for 11 years.
He earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Aaron Webb joins Morning Pointe corporate leadership team
Aaron Webb has been appointed executive vice president of Morning Pointe Senior Living.
In his new position, he will oversee the company’s developmental strategies and lead in the daily management of Morning Pointe’s operations. The Chattanooga, TN-based company is the developer, owner and manager of 30 Morning Pointe Assisted Living and The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Memory Care Center of Excellence communities in five southeastern states.
“Aaron brings a wealth of practical business experience and compassion for seniors to our company,” Morning Pointe President and CEO Greg A. Vital said. “His track record for business insights will be valuable to the organization.”
Webb brings more than 20 years of strategic business, financial and legal experience to his new role. He comes to Morning Pointe from Life Care Centers of America, where he provided business counsel as the executive vice president. Previously, he held executive positions with the Electric Power Board and Fidelity Investments.
Webb has a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville and an undergraduate degree from Denison University in Granville, OH.
Donna Moore named vice president of operations at Isakson Living
Donna Moore has joined Roswell, GA-based Isakson Living as vice president of operations.
Moore has more than 30 years of management and leadership experience. She will oversee operations and work closely with the executive director and associate executive director in charge of health services at both Park Springs, a continuing care retirement community in Stone Mountain, GA, and Peachtree Hills Place retirement community in Atlanta.
Before joining Isakson Living, Moore was the state registrar and director of the Office of Vital Records in Georgia. She also ran her own consulting business for 14 years, providing project and process management services to clients in the South and Northeastern United States.
Her career has included leadership positions with BellSouth, AGL Resources and C.R. Bard. Additionally, Moore is a certified professional project manager and has earned a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
Karol Gorniak promoted to lead North Jersey Region at Atria Senior Living
Karol Gorniak has been promoted to regional vice president for Atria Senior Living’s North New Jersey markets.
Atria’s newly formed North Jersey Region now includes Atria Cranford in Cranford, Atria Roseland in Roseland, Atria Norwood in Norwood and Atria Waldwick in Waldwick, which is scheduled to open in early 2019. Gorniak most recently was executive director for Atria Roseland.
In his new role, he will work to ensure that Atria communities in the area deliver on the company’s quality standards. Gorniak will oversee operations, service and care delivery.
He has 25 years of experience in leadership, customer service and operations management, having worked in the hospitality, fitness and wellness, and healthcare industries.
LaTanya Jules, Vera Steinmetz join leadership team at The Shores at Clear Lake
LaTanya Jules has been named senior executive director and Vera Steinmetz has been named director of sales and marketing at The Shores at Clear Lake, set to open this summer in Houston.
Jules is a 16-year veteran in the senior living and care industry and has been with The Shores at Clear Lake’s management company, Integral Senior Living, since 2006. Before joining ISL, she managed the business operations for a produce company and was an administrator for an adult dementia program. Jules is a certified dementia and mental health trainer and is pursuing continued education in care studies.
Steinmetz has 15 years of experience in the senior living industry, including positions as business office manager, marketing mentor and regional sales and marketing manager.
Bryan Cooper named executive director of Presbyterian Village North
Bryan Cooper has been named executive director of Presbyterian Village North, a continuing care retirement community in Dallas.
In his new role, Cooper is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the senior living community, facilitating a teamwork-centered environment, managing marketing, planning community outreach and overseeing financial operations, as well as administration duties such as programming and strategic planning.
Cooper has more than 10 years of experience in the senior living industry. Before joining PVN, he was the executive director of The Forum at Park Lane for four years, where he gained experience in achieving revenue, profit, occupancy and business growth.
Cooper received his undergraduate degree in business management at Brigham Young University and is certified as a licensed nursing facility administrator.
Amsterdam at Harborside appoints executive director, administrator
The Amsterdam at Harborside, a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community in Port Washington, NY, has announced the appointment of Brooke Navarre as its executive director and Michael Tartaglia as administrator of its Tuttle Center, which provides assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitative services.
An experienced property management and finance professional, Navarre joined The Amsterdam in 2015 as its assistant executive director. In her career before The Amsterdam, she managed high-rise cooperatives on Central Park West and oversaw the day-to-day operation of a 2,900-unit cooperative corporation in Queens.
Tartaglia has more than 35 years of experience as a healthcare administrator. He has managed sub-acute and long-term care facilities in New York and Connecticut and has an extensive background in systems implementation and community relations.
Jeannette Ruggiero named administrator at Oakview Health Center
Jeannette Ruggiero has been named the new administrator at OakView Health Center in Thousand Oaks, CA, which provides assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing services to the public as well as residents of University Village Thousand Oaks, the continuing care retirement community adjacent to the health center.
As administrator, Ruggiero will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of OakView, including resident satisfaction, regulatory compliance, financial management and employee engagement.
A licensed nursing home administrator in California, Ruggiero most recently was the assistant administrator at OakView after serving several years as director of human resources. Ruggiero has an undergraduate degree in marketing from California Lutheran University and a human resources certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining OakView in 2010, Ruggiero worked in a human resources capacity at United Imaging in Woodland Hills, CA, and at Amgen in Thousand Oaks.
Kevin Shimer named food service director of Waterstone at Wellesley
Kevin Shimer has been named food service director at Waterstone at Wellesley, an independent and assisted living community in Massachusetts managed by Epoch Senior Living.
In this role, Shimer will oversee all dining room operations, create daily menus for residents, mange food ordering and assist the dining team with cooking and plating.
With more than 40 years of culinary experience, Shimer has served as executive chef for the Massachusetts State House as well as for several gubernatorial campaigns. He spent seven years as chef manager for Wellesley College’s Stone Davis Dining Hall and before Waterstone at Wellesley spent more than a decade with Purple Line Catering.
Shimer has an undergraduate in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University.
Peconic Landing appoints three new trustees to board
Claudia Ward, Eileen McGuire and Paul May have joined the Peconic Landing Board of Trustees.
The 14-member board of the Greenport, NY, life care community is responsible for ensuring the fiduciary integrity of the organization while driving optimal performance of services delivered to the membership of the community. The board approves all operating budgets, annual operating plans and strategic planning initiatives.
Ward’s former career was in banking and relationship management and as former manager of compliance and risk control services for a client services group of The Bank of New York Mellon. She founded and currently operates an independent photography business.
McGuire is a former director of AIG, has been a consultant for Massachusetts and is a former senior vice president of Marsh, working within global technology in the New York corporate headquarters.
McGuire holds certifications from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and currently serves part-time with Castello di Borghese Vineyard and Winery in Cutchogue.
May is a financial services attorney with expertise in compliance risk assessment, fraud detection and prevention, and regulatory compliance, among other specialties. He is securities and business advisory counsel for the financial services law firm Pastore & Dailey.
Mayl has a history with Peconic Landing, having helped incorporate Peconic Landing at Southold more than 20 years ago. His father, John, served as chairman of the Peconic Landing board for 12 years until his death two years ago.
Aaron Schroeder joins Ziegler
Aaron Schroeder has joined investment bank and brokerage Ziegler as senior vice president of its investment banking team in senior living finance.
Based in the firm’s Milwaukee office, Schroeder is responsible for providing investment banking services to not-for-profit senior living providers in the company’s Midwest region, as well as credit, covenant and deal structuring oversight for the national senior living practice.
Schroeder previously worked at Ziegler from 2003 to 2014, primarily serving in Ziegler’s West region. During this time, he provided lead technical and documentation support in the structuring and execution of more than 50 bond underwriting and bank placement transactions in senior living. In total, he has participated in financing transactions with total par amount of almost $2.5 billion.
Before rejoining Ziegler, Schroeder was assistant director of corporate strategy at Northwestern Mutual. In this role, he was responsible for leading the team tasked with providing competitive context to company leadership on key issues influencing Northwestern’s corporate strategy and its successful execution.
Schroeder has an undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis on finance from Carroll University in Waukesha, WI.
Christopher Fenton joins seniors housing lending team at PGIM
Christopher Fenton has joined the seniors housing originations team at PGIM Real Estate Finance, which is the commercial mortgage finance business of PGIM, the $1 trillion global investment management businesses of Prudential Financial, Inc.
Fenton is a principal in the Senior Housing and Healthcare Group, where he will collaborate with the current team to increase PGIM Real Estate Finance’s seniors housing blueprint, with a specific focus on agency and Federal Housing Administration business. He is based in Lenox, MA, and reports to Hal Collett, managing director at PGIM Real Estate Finance.
Fenton has worked in the seniors housing space for almost 25 years and is experienced in financings such as commercial mortgage-backed securities, FHA/Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and life company executions. Most recently, he was on the seniors housing lending team at Berkadia Commercial Mortgage. Before that, he held similar roles at Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage, Love Funding and Lehman Brothers.
Fenton began his career working for a startup nursing home company that acquired 82 nursing homes in 16 states over his tenure. Over the course of his lending career, he has been involved in more than $4 billion in seniors housing and care financings.
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