Touchmark names Jay Leo president

Jay Leo headshot
Jay Leo

Jay Leo has been named president of the Beaverton, OR-based central office for Touchmark. He assumes responsibility for and oversight of all operations for 14 full-service retirement communities, including a new one under development in McKinney, TX. He also leads Touchmark’s COVID-19 response team.

Leo began his career in retirement living at Touchmark at Fairway Village in Vancouver, WA. After serving as executive director, he was promoted to a position in Touchmark’s company headquarters overseeing a portfolio of home sales for Touchmark. He also supported the opening of the company’s largest community, Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village in Meridian, ID.

For the past decade, Leo has worked at The Springs Living, where first he was an executive director before advancing to the position of director of operations, then chief operating officer and then president. During his time at The Springs, the company grew from five to 17 communities in Oregon and Montana.

Before senior living, Leo worked as a branch manager with Wells Fargo, followed by six years with Intel, where he held several roles.

Leo is a member of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s Future Leaders Program and serves on the board of the National Center for Assisted Living. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Oregon and an MBA from Arizona State University in Tempe. He also completed the executive education program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jefferson’s Ferry founder George Rice passes away

George Rice headshot
George Rice

George Francis Rice Jr., Esq., who was one of the founders of Jefferson’s Ferry and provided strategic counsel and support in its earliest planning stages and served as chair of its board of trustees until last year, passed away Oct. 15. He was 75.

“George Rice was a founding father of Jefferson’s Ferry,” said Bob Caulfield, president and CEO of the life plan community in Centereach, NY. “He earned the enduring gratitude of all of us who live and work here. His vision, commitment and expertise have been invaluable to every stage of our development and in our continuing pursuit of excellence.”

Rice received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He was selected as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow, a national fellowship in which attorneys commit to a year of social service representing disadvantaged clients in communities across the nation.

A former partner at Spellman Gibbons Polizzi Truncale & Trentacoste, Garden City, NY,  throughout his career Rice was involved in the representation of many not-for-profit sponsors who have planned, constructed, occupied and managed more than 1,000 units of subsidized and/or affordable housing.  He was the founding chair and longtime board member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island; past chairperson of St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center; and a past trustee of St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, St. Catherine of Sienna Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital.

Rice’s involvement in Jefferson’s Ferry started long before ground was broken. In appreciation for his vision and commitment to the community, in June 2001, the Jefferson’s Ferry Community Center was named in his honor.

Heatherwood Retirement Community names new executive director, Ken Hook

Ken Hook has been appointed executive director at Heatherwood Retirement Community in Honey Brook, PA.

He most recently was executive director at Independence Court of Quakertown, Quakertown, PA, for 18 years. Before that appointment, he was executive director at Newseasons at Exton, Exton, PA. He has 37 years of experience in senior living and a background in mental health.

Hook is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He has a master’s degree in public administration and an undergraduate degree in social work. 

Heatherwood Retirement Community is managed by Cleveland, TN-based Century Park Associates, which manages more than 40 senior living communities in 19 states. 

Fox Run names new executive director, Ashley Bulat

Ashley Bulat headshot
Ashley Bulat

Ashley Bulat has been named executive director at Fox Run, a Novi, MI, continuing care retirement community developed and managed by Erickson Living. Bulat has been Fox Run’s associate executive director since 2018.

With more than 13 years of experience in senior living, Bulat has a background in operations, strategic planning and long-term care. She is a 2015 graduate of the LeadingAge Michigan Leadership Academy, a 2017 graduate of the LeadingAge National Leadership Academy, and is an academy coach, supporting and mentoring fellows. She was nominated for Ericson Living’s Leader of the Year award in 2019.

Bulat succeeds Fox Run’s longtime executive director, Mike McCormick, who has accepted a new role with Erickson Living at Siena Lakes, a new community under development in Naples, FL.

Bulat has an undergraduate degree in management and finance and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota.

Parkview on Hollybrook names three directors

Parkview on Hollybrook, an Integral Senior Living independent living, assisted living and memory care community in Longview, TX, has named Andrea Ziegler as its Vibrant Life director, Wilda Kincaid as its resident care director and Glen Tucker as its building service director. 

Ziegler joined Parkview in 2018 as an activities assistant.

Kincaid comes to Parkview with 10 years of nursing experience and is confident she has found her calling in senior living. 

Tucker brings 15 years of experience in the senior living industry with him to Parkview, which he joined in August. In his capacity as building services director, he oversees community maintenance, as well as housekeeping services. He has 30-plus years of experience in maintenance and construction.

Elizabeth Robertson named board president for Broadview – Senior Living at Purchase College

Elizabeth Robertson headshot
Elizabeth Robertson

Elizabeth Robertson has been named prescient of the board of directors for Purchase Senior Learning Community, a New York state not-for-profit corporation and sponsor of Broadview – Senior Living at Purchase College, an independent living community under development on the Purchase College campus.

A 30-year veteran in both the public and private sectors, Roertson was elected president after serving as the board’s secretary for the past five years. Thomas J. Schwarz, past board president and Purchase College president emeritus, will remain on the board and continue to advise for the Broadview project.

Robertson previously was director of government relations and strategic projects at Purchase College. She has been involved with Broadview from its inception, assisting with project planning and development, the approval process with the New York state legislature and SUNY system, spearheading the community’s integration with the college and overseeing the marketing of the trieement community.

Robertson joined Purchase College in 2009 as executive assistant to the president and supported activities including strategic planning, special projects, grant submissions and managed relations with local and state legislators and SUNY government. She also was a member of the president’s college cabinet and a campus freedom of information law officer.

Robertson earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s degree in business administration and management from Columbia University. She received her undergraduate degree from Williams College.

The Architectural Team expands leadership team

The Architectural Team, a Chelsea, MA-based architecture, planning and interior design firm that works with assisted living and senior living communities, is expanding its leadership team.

Jay Szymanski, Gary Kane, Edward Bradford and Vice President of Finance William Moran have been promoted to principals. The firm also announced that Meghann Van Dorn has joined the team as director of interior design.

Jay Szymanski headshot
Jay Szymanski

Szymanski has been with the firm for 28 years as a planner and designer of mixed-use, commercial office, market-rate and affordable housing, adaptive reuse and waterfront projects. He is active in a number of advisory groups, including the Urban Land Institute. He is a graduate of the Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Gary Kane headshot
Gary Kane

Kane’s background includes almost 30 years of planning and design work for assisted living and long-term care, adaptive reuse, hospitality and multifamily residential projects. Kane spearheaded many of the firm’s mentorship and professional development initiatives, including the student design competition at Boston Architectural College. He is a graduate of the Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Edward Bradford headshot
Edward Bradford

Bradford, in his new position as a principal, will assume an expanded leadership and managerial role while continuing project work. He holds a master of architecture from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Bill Moran headshot
Bill Moran

Moran has been vice president of finance and administration for almost 10 years. He previously was a consultant with professional services firm PwC, finance director for design firms including Svigals + Partners in New Haven, CT, and chief financial officer for venture-backed startups SportsMedicine Systems and Visible Markets. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting and finance from Syracuse University Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

Meghann Van Dorn
Meghann Van Dorn

Van Dorn has almost 15 years of experience in design and project management for multifamily and single-family residential, institutional, hospitality and corporate workplace interiors. In her role as director of interior design, she will be responsible for managing the firm’s national roster of interiors work ranging from asset repositioning and adaptive reuse, to large-scale new construction for senior and assisted living, affordable rental and luxury condominium housing. Before joining the firm, Van Dorn was a senior interior designer with Dyer Brown Architects in Boston. She has a master’s degree in interior design from Marymount University.

Caspar.AI retains Joe Anderson as adviser to CEO

Joe Anderson headshot
Joe Anderson

Joe Anderson has been retained as adviser to Caspar.AI President and CEO Ashutosh Saxena. The company is a developer of artificial intelligence applications in the senior living industry, including apartment temperature control, lighting control, motion detection, falls detection and kitchen appliance safeguards, all with remote capabilities.

Anderson has more than 30 years of experience in the marketing, sales and management of retirement communities. He spent many years with HumanGood/American Baptist Homes of the West, Pleasanton, CA, in a variety of senior positions. He most recently was president of Seniority, an Addison, TX-based company that provided management and sales services for continuing care retirement communities, assisted living communities and 55+ senior housing.

Anderson is now located in Scottsdale, AZ.