Bobbi Miller named regional director of operations at Benchmark

Bobbi Miller has been named regional director of operations at Benchmark Senior Living. In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing the operations of seven of the company’s Massachusetts communities.

Miller has more than 24 years of senior care experience. She joins Benchmark from Brookdale Senior Living, where she served in several roles, including executive director training specialist, regional director of operations and senior executive director.

Miller attended Berkeley College in White Plains, NY, and has a variety of certifications, including as an assisted living administrator in the state of New Jersey, coach, FIERCE Conversations Facilitator and master trainer from the Association for Talent Development.

Judy Braun retires as COO at Kendal

Judy Braun retired from Kendal, a not-for-profit senior living organization headquartered in the southeastern Pennsylvania/metro Philadelphia area, on July 6 after 17 years as chief operating officer.

Since joining Kendal’s executive leadership team in 2001, Braun worked in close cooperation with executive directors, affiliate boards of directors and Kendal staff, serving as coach and facilitator to improve the performance of the Kendal System of senior living communities, programs and services in eight states.

During Braun’s tenure, she oversaw the system-wide transition to electronic medical records and the development of KendalNet, the Kendal System’s intranet. Most recently, Braun has helped oversee plans for Enso Village, a Kendal community in northern California being developed in partnership with the San Francisco Zen Center.

“The feedback from dozens of meetings and discussions held all over the Kendal System has convinced us that besides recruiting a new chief operating officer we’ll need to add someone in the newly created role of chief strategy officer to take over all of Judy’s responsibilities,” Kendal President and CEO Sean Kelly said.

Before joining Kendal, Braun was the executive director and president/CEO of The Washington House in Alexandria, VA. She is a past commissioner of Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (since acquired by CARF), an international body that accredits organizations aspiring to excellence, and is a fellow and past president of the National Gerontological Nursing Association.

Braun has a doctorate in geriatric mental health nursing and a master’s degree in nursing and gerontological nursing, both from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She also has an undergraduate in nursing from Carlow College in Pittsburgh.

James Antonucci Jr. named CEO and executive director of Kendal on Hudson

James Antonucci Jr. has been named CEO and executive director of Kendal on Hudson effective Sept. 1. He will succeed Patricia Doyle, who is retiring after serving as Kendal onHudson’s CEO since the life plan community opened in 2005.

Antonucci has more than 17 years of experience in aging services. He has served as executive director of Heron’s Key,an Emerald Communities life plan community in Gig Harbor, WA, since2016, where he was responsible for the startup and operational oversightof the community. Antonucci also previously was executive director of The Village, a Santa Fe Senior Living rental community in Gainesville, FL.

Hehas a doctorate in design construction and planning with a focus onenvironmental gerontology from the University of Florida in Gainesville,a MBA from the University of NewHaven and an undergraduate degree in business and finance from Sacred HeartUniversity in Fairfield, CT. Antonucci previously was a chef andgraduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1990.

Anthem Memory Care names executive directors in Illinois, Kansas

Anthem Memory Care, based in Lake Oswego, OR, has named Carole Considine as executive director for Harvester Place in Burr Ridge, IL, and Melissa Dinsmore as executive director for Chisholm Place in Wichita, KS.

Considine has more than two decades of senior care leadership experience, most recently serving as executive director for Brookdale Burr Ridge. She has an undergraduate degree in social work from College of St. Francis (now the University of St. Francis) in Joliet, IL. 

Dinsmore previously served as interim administrator forBethesda Home in Goessel, KS. She also was a project development coordinator for Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado, KS. She has a Master of Public Health degree and an undergraduate degree in health science from Wichita State University.

Julie Decoteau named executive director of Wingate Residences at Brewster Place

Julie Decoteau has been named executive director of Wingate Residences at Brewster Place, an assisted living community located on a continuum-of-care campus in Cape Cod, MA.

Decoteau has more than 13 years of healthcare experience. Before joining Wingate, she was executive director and resident care director for an assisted living community in Harwich, MA. Decoteau also worked as a wellness nurse for an assisted living and memory care community in Hyannis, MA.

Decoteau is a certified Alzheimer’s educator and is a board member for the Harwich Chamber of Commerce and Cape Cod Regional Technical School. She also serves as education co-chair for the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association. Decoteau has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Bay State College.

Patrick Hardy named executive director at Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree

Patrick Hardy has been named executive director at Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree in Norwood, MA. In his new role, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of its operations and helping local families thrive.

Hardy has more than eight years of experience working in senior living. Before joining Benchmark, he oversaw Brookdale Senior Living properties in Dedham, MA, and Auburn, MA.

Hardy previously was a portfolio administrator for State Street in Boston.

He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Carlos Matos named director of hospitality for Eastcastle Place

Carlos Matos has been named director of hospitality for Eastcastle Place, a retirement community in Milwaukee.

In his new role, Matos is responsible for dining services at Eastcastle Place, including developing menus, overseeing operations of dining in independent living, assisted living, memory support and skilled care. He also ensures that cleanliness and sanitation standards are met and exceeded and hires and trains people for the department.

Matos has experience at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Laredo Country Club, Doral Arrowwood Resort and more, as well as a degree from the Culinary Institute of America.

“In 2011, I moved from hotels and country clubs to acute care hospitals. Most recently I was at Columbia St. Mary’s. I had been a chef for many years and got burned out. I was looking for more purpose in my work,” Matos said.  

Calli Cantrell begins as memory support assisted living manager at The Springs at Monarch Landing

Calli Cantrell has started her position as memory support assisted living manager at The Springs at Monarch Landing, a life plan community in Naperville, IL.

In her new role, Cantrell is responsible for directing the activities programming, helping with staff training and providing oversight regarding resident care and compliance of regulations.

Cantrell is a certified dementia practitioner and was a CNA when she was 17. She has an associate’s degree in business management and is working on her bachelor’s in social work degree. When that is complete, she plans to pursue a dual MBA and MSW. She also is taking classes to become a licensed nursing home administrator.

Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas CEO, elected Real Estate Roundtable Chair

Debra A. Cafaro, center, chairman and CEO of real estate investment trust Ventas Inc., has been elected chair of the Real Estate Roundtable (RER) for its fiscal year, which began July 1. The RER, led by President and CEO Jeffrey D. DeBoer (left, with William C. Rudin, co-chairman and CEO of Rudin Management Co. and outgoing chair of the Real Estate Roundtable), brings together leaders of the nation’s top real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms to address key national policy issues relating to real estate and the overall economy.

Cafaro is the eighth chair and first female to serve in the role since the formation of the RER in 1997.

“I look forward to proactively advancing policies that promote a healthy balance of capital and people flows to create sustainable economic growth that is good for our members, our industry and for our national economy,” she said.

Cafaro has experience across business, public policy, academic, sports and nonprofit sectors. She has received multiple professional recognitions, including being named as one of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (Forbes Magazine) and a top 50 Best-Performing CEOs in the World for four consecutive years (Harvard Business Review).

In addition to her participation in the RER, she is a member of the Business Council and serves on the board of PNC Financial Services Group Inc. She is an owner and member of the Management Committee of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

Kathy Givens named sales and marketing director of The Lighthouse at Lincoln

Kathy Givens has been named sales and marketing director of The Lighthouse at Lincoln, an LCB Senior Living memory care assisted living community in Lincoln, RI.  

Givens brings more than 20 years of human services and sales experience to her new role. Before joining The Lighthouse at Lincoln, she was the transition account manager at Medical Resources Home Health Care. Givens also has held the community director role at Brookdale at Dartmouth Village and Epoch on Blackstone Boulevard (now called Wingate Residences on Blackstone Boulevard).

She has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology with a minor in nursing from the University of Lowell.

Ramon Santiago-Ortiz named executive chef at Watercrest Lake Nona

Ramon Santiago-Ortiz has been named executive chef at Watercrest Lake Nona, a Watercrest Senior Living Group community in Lake Nona, FL.

Santiago-Ortiz brings more than 20 years of experience, serving a variety of cuisines, including Latin-American Fusion, Mexican, Mediterranean and Italian. He previously was a prep cook at a fine-dining Chinese restaurant and assisted a saucier at a prestigious Italian restaurant.

Santiago-Ortiz has a sales and marketing degree and graduated with high honors in Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu College Orlando.

“I enjoy mentoring and providing my team with new ideas and techniques to utilize essential nutrients and prepare delicious foods which ensure a vibrant, active dining experience for our residents and guests,” Santiago-Ortiz said.

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