Audrey Weiner

Audrey Weiner to retire as president and CEO of New Jewish Home

Audrey Weiner, DSW, MPH, will retire as president and CEO of New York City-based The New Jewish Home, a post she has held since 2002, effective Dec. 31, the organization announced Monday.

Weiner will stay on as president of The Jewish Home’s Fund for the Aged, a foundation where she will continue spearheading Jewish Home’s Manhattan master plan. That plan will result in The Living Center of Manhattan, a 414-bed facility on West 97th Street, the first Green House residence to be built in a major urban center.

In her role as president of the Fund for the Aged, Weiner will be responsible for all fundraising from both public and private sources; oversight of legal, regulatory, construction and other approvals; and other related tasks necessary to see the project through. Her position will be part time.

Weiner joined Jewish Home in 1993 as administrator for its Westchester campus.

Christopher Thompson named national director of culinary service for Harbor Retirement Associates

Christopher Thompson has been named national director of culinary services at Harbor Retirement Associates, a regional senior living development and management company based in Vero Beach, FL.

He will be responsible for implementing new culinary programs and innovations in HRA’s growing number of communities nationwide — HRA communities are found in eight states. Thompson also will be responsible for maintaining the culinary standards of HRA’s Chef’s Fare dining program, which offers customized dining experiences in multiple venues.

Thompson has more than 28 years of experience in the culinary and culinary education industries. He has served in many roles, including executive chef, chef instructor, culinary dean, associate director of education and director of business operations and finance. He also has served as a corporate consultant for various properties and campuses over the years.

He studied culinary arts and hospitality management at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, is a certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation and holds various other certifications through the National Restaurant Association. Thompson has received multiple awards, including Educator of the Year for Academic Leadership, the L’Esprit d’ Excellence (The Spirit of Excellence) and Extraordinary Student Experience from Le Cordon Bleu-North America. He is an 11-time recipient of Faculty of the Quarter during his years serving as a culinary instructor.

Kathy Brown named marketing coordinator at Asbury Place

Asbury Place has named Kathy Brown marketing coordinator at its Kingsport CARF-CCAC accredited continuing care retirement community campus in Kingsport, TN.

Brown has been with Asbury Place since 2015, previously serving in a human resources role. Before coming to Asbury Place, she had an eight-year career with Holston Manor.

Kathleen Reed named health services sales director at Terraces of Boise

Kathleen Reed recently was named the new health services sales director at The Terraces of Boise, an ABHOW-affiliated community that is the only continuing care retirement community, or life plan community, in Idaho.

In this position, Reed is responsible for managing community outreach; implementing marketing strategies, events and communications; and overseeing sales for assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kathleen to our team, as she has a diverse background that we feel will bring a fresh perspective to marketing for our continuing care retirement community,” said Jud Severns, executive director of The Terraces of Boise. “Previously, Kathleen worked in real estate for 15 years as a designated broker and spent more than 20 years in corporate marketing and communications positions.”

Previously, Reed worked as a designated broker with John L. Scott Real Estate in Boise.

Recently, The Terraces received Medicare certification for its first skilled nursing home, the Maple house, and Reed made a goal to make this information more available to the public, as The Terraces is the first community in four years to become Medicare-certified. She also plans to educate seniors and their families on what it means to be a life care community.

Reed also helped The Terraces put on a social worker appreciation event and plans to help facilitate a veterans aid seminar and an expo and initiative caregiver support groups that will be held at The Terraces in conjunction with the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. These group meetings will be open to the public.

She graduated from Montana State University with an undergraduate major in communication, film and TV and a minor in marketing.

Eight receive OnShift Scheduler of the Year or Leadership awards

Cleveland-based human capital management software company OnShift has announced the winners of its annual Scheduler of the Year awards.

OnShift clients submitted hundreds of nominations to recognize members of their teams who demonstrate scheduling excellence to improve operational, clinical and financial outcomes in their organizations.

The 2017 winners:

  • Jamia Bellinger, Bradford County Manor
  • Lisa Birenbaum, New Perspective Senior Living
  • Gretchen Gaughan, Essex Meadows
  • Erica Gomez, Hobbs Health Care Center
  • Jeffrey Kelley, Lanfair Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care
  • Kris Kiegel, Northwood Retirement Community
  • Jennifer Thompson, Marklund

This year, OnShift also recognized an individual deemed to have demonstrated superior scheduling and labor management leadership throughout an organization. Dianne Dagg from Royal Health Group is the 2017 Leadership Award winner.

“Each of this year’s winners embodies unwavering dedication and service to their community and the residents their community serves,” said Jim Rubadue, chief customer officer at OnShift. “Their day-to-day efforts in staffing and scheduling have helped their organizations succeed by delivering high-quality care, eliminating unnecessary labor costs and improving community morale.”

Chris Havens named VP of talent acquisition at Vikus Corp.

Chris Havens has been named vice president of talent acquisition at Vikus Corp., a Tennessee-based hiring software company for senior living providers.

He was most recently the director of talent acquisition for Diversicare Healthcare Services, where he managed the company’s centralized recruiting team and the recruiting efforts of 76 skilled nursing centers in 10 states.

Havens has certifications as a professional in human resources and Six Sigma yellow belt and has a focus on recruiting and hiring process improvement. He will be a dedicated resource for prospecting and current clients of Vikus to help them achieve desired recruiting objectives through the use of Vikus hiring software.

Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare VP Joseph Lewarski to speak at the AARC event

Joseph Lewarski, vice president of global respiratory and sleep at Port Washington, NY-based Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, will speak April 22 at a special American Association for Respiratory Care 70th anniversary event at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History, which is located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Lewarski, who has worked in healthcare for more than 33 years, will discuss the history and evolution of home respiratory care, the effect that reimbursement challenges have on the delivery of care, the current status of respiratory homecare, therapists’ current challenges and the future of home care respiratory therapy.

Lewarski is a registered respiratory therapist and a fellow of the AARC. He also has played a part in the development and design of various medical devices and has published more than 40 peer‐reviewed research and scientific papers, two textbook chapters, and myriad clinical and industry‐related articles and white papers. In addition to writing, he also speaks regularly at regional and national pulmonary medicine, respiratory therapy and home care conferences.

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