People in the news, July 31

Kim Kay has been named executive director at independent living community Flatirons Terrace, a Dial Retirement Community in Boulder, CO. 

Kay previously served as executive director of Arbors of San Marino in Westminster, CO, and director of in-home services for Midstate Independent Living Consultants In Stevens Point, WI. She began working in senior living in 2004 as a caregiver. 

Kay has an Associate of Arts degree in healthcare administration and management. 

April Slesinski named executive director at The Residence at Watertown Square

April Slesinski has been named executive director at The Residence at Watertown Square, an LCB Senior Living community in Watertown, MA.

Slesinski has almost seven years of senior housing sales experience. Most recently, she was executive director at Sunrise Senior Living.

She has an undergraduate degree in disability studies from Springfield College and an MBA in human resource management at Colorado Technical University.

Mark Amuso named executive director at Wingate Residences at MelbournePlace

Mark Amuso has been named executive director at Wingate Residences at Melbourne Place, a Wingate Healthcare community in Pittsfield, MA.

Amuso is the former director of Crothall Healthcare and the former executive director of Sweetwood Retirement Community. He was named director of community development for the city of Pittsfield, a mayoral-appointed position, in 2003. As director, Amuso was charged with enhancing the viability of the community.

Amuso’s professional experience also includes time as business manager of the Mount Greylock Regional School District and as director of operations for Holyoke Public Schools. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Massachusetts and an undergraduate degree in business management from Southern Vermont College.

Jacqueline Claessens named marketing and sales director at Emerald Heights

Jacqueline Claessens has been named marketing and sales director at Emerald Heights, an Emerald Communities life plan community in Redmond, WA. In her new role, she will oversee day-to-day marketing, public relations and sales programming.

Claessens has 25 years of marketing and operations experience. Most recently, she served as marketing director and community relations officer for Horizon House, a not-for-profit life plan community in Seattle.

Claessens has been a presenter at LeadingAge National Conferences as well as served on the LeadingAge Washington Marketing Forum.

Lauren Schlicht named director of sales and marketing at Travanse Living at Grayslake

Lauren Schlicht has been named director of sales and marketing at Travanse Living at Grayslake, a senior living community in Grayslake, IL.

In her new role, Schlicht will develop relationships between the senior living community and the businesses and organizations in and around Grayslake. In addition to attending various community events and networking functions, her day-to-day responsibilities include coordinating all aspects of the move-in process for Travanse Living at Grayslake residents and their families, developing annual marketing plans and organizing marketing visits to the community.

“Lauren comes to us with more than six years of health care experience, and she made an instant impact on our team,” said Heather Haley, regional director of sales and marketing for Integral Senior Living. “We know her knowledge of both marketing and patient care will make her a valuable asset for not just our community but also the entire Travanse Living family.”

Before joining Travanse Living at Grayslake, Schlicht held various marketing and patient care positions at Crystal Pines Health Care, Northwestern Medicine and Fairhaven Senior Services. She has an undergraduate degree in both biology and psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.

J. Dayton Caddy named director of sales and marketing at Integrace Fairhaven

J. Dayton Caddy has been named director of sales and marketing at Integrace Fairhaven, an Integrace community in Sykesville, MD. In his new role, Caddy will be responsible for introducing prospective new residents to Fairhaven’s independent living options while highlighting the full continuum of care the community offers.

An experienced sales counselor in the senior living and healthcare fields, Caddy joins Fairhaven from The Village at Orchard Ridge in Winchester, VA, where he worked as a sales counselor for five years, selling almost 70% of the homes at the new start-up community and helping almost 350 residents find their new homes.

Juliet Holt Klinger named chair of Dementia Care Provider Roundtable

Juliet Holt Klinger has been named chair of the Dementia Care Provider Roundtable, a new group of dementia care providers and thought leaders from across the country working to advance care and support services for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Holt Klinger, Brookdale Senior Living’s senior director of Alzheimer’s and dementia care, was named roundtable chair at the first meeting July 26 in Chicago during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

“I am honored to chair the AADCPR, as I am a passionate advocate for person-centered care and Brookdale has a long history of providing care that aligns with both these new practice recommendations and those that were released in the past,” Holt Klinger said.

Andrew Berman assumes role as chair of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Jewish Home

Andrew Berman has assumed a two-year term as chairman of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Jewish Home. In his new role, which began on July 1, Berman will focus on expanding programs and services to cover Los Angeles’ growing senior population.

Berman, an entertainment industry veteran, has more than 35 years of experience in global sales, marketing and content acquisition. He has volunteered with organizations including the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (past president, board of trustees), Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services (Capital Campaign Committee), Stephen Wise Temple (board of directors) and Connecting to Cure (board member.)

He graduated from California State University, Northridge with an undergraduate degree in radio, television and film.

Melanie K. Perry named to Alzheimer’s Association Greater Indiana Chapter Board

Melanie K. Perry has been named to the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Indiana Chapter Board of Directors. Perry is the American Senior Communities’ director of memory care support services.

Her responsibilities at American Senior Communities include Auguste’s Cottage Memory Care Centers at most of the company’s 90 senior health communities statewide. She designed and implemented the original Auguste’s Cottage program.

Perry was named as one of four Distinguished Educators of the Year by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners in 2018 and is a certified dementia practitioner and certified Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care trainer. She has been a speaker at the Alzheimer’s Association’s state conferences and chairs the Education Committee for the Indiana Person Directed Care Coalition.

Perry has two master’s degrees, one in general psychology from the University of St. Francis in Ft. Wayne and the other in mental health counseling, with an emphasis in gerontology, from Nova Southeastern University.

Matthew Stephen named Executive Director of the Year by Florida Senior Living Association

Matthew Stephen, executive director at Brookdale Ocoee, has been named Executive Director of the Year by the Florida Senior Living Association. Stephen accepted the award July 25 at the association’s annual Senior Living Conference in Ft. Lauderdale.

Stephen has been the executive director at the Brookdale Senior Living assisted living and memory care community in Ocoee, FL, since September, 2017, but he has served as an executive director for eight years. Under Stephen, Brookdale Ocoee’s occupancy grew from 80% to 100%.

“Matt is an extraordinary leader in all ways,” Brookdale District Director of Operations Jamie Merrill said. “He regularly mentors new EDs and stays on top of his community results and resident satisfaction to ensure they continue to improve.” 

Eric Sklar named CEO at NuStep

Eric Sklar has been named CEO at NuStep, a global provider of recumbent cross trainers used in senior living, healthcare and fitness settings. Sklar will succeed founder and CEO Dick Sarns, who is retiring.

Sklar, who joined NuStep in June, previously was president and CEO of A&E Medical Corp. and also has held senior executive positions at other medical product companies, including Gelman Sciences, Pall Corp. and Terumo Cardiovascular.

“Eric is a seasoned leader in the medical products industry with an extensive background in engineering, new product development and sales and marketing,” Sarns said.

Jim Rosenthal named CEO at Caring

Jim Rosenthal has been named CEO at Caring.com, a senior care referral service. Rosenthal was previously the executive chairman for Caring. In his new role, Rosenthal will work with the team to expand Caring.

Rosenthal has experience in attracting, developing and motivating teams. H epreviously worked for Booz Allen & Hamilton as a strategy consultant. He also has held executive decisions at New Line Cinema, Kaplan and Performance Matters.

Rosenthal graduated from Harvard University.

Todd Hudgins named senior vice president–senior living at Erdman

Todd Hudgins has been named senior vice president–senior living at Erdman. In his new role, Hudgins will lead the development and execution of Erdman’s senior living strategy.

Hudgins has served as an owner and investor, an operator and as a technology consultant during his career. He has influenced mergers and acquisitions, promoting emergency call technology and resident monitoring and overall development of new communities and health systems.

Before his career in senior living, Hudgins was a recognized leader in the sailing community as he led the Old Dominion Sailing Team, the Hampton University Sailing Team and the USVI Olympic Sailing Team.

Kuldip Pabla named senior vice president of engineering at K4Connect

Kuldip Pabla has been named senior vice president of engineering at technology company K4Connect. In his new role, Pabla will oversee the continued development of K4Community, as well as future solutions planned for the home.

Pabla has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, having worked with both startups and global companies. Most recently, Pabla served as the co-founder and chief technology officer of Cooldimi, an applied AI startup. Before Cooldimi, Pabla was the head of innovations and cloud platform engineering at CloudCar, a connected car PaaS startup. Pabla previously served as the senior director of innovations and engineering at Samsung’s Cloud Services Innovation Lab and as part of the managed cloud solutions team at Yahoo!. He has also held numerous engineering and management positions at Sun Microsystems and Sun Labs.

Pabla has an undergraduate degree in physics and a master’s degree in computer science from Gujarat University. He also completed the Engineering Leadership Professional Program from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Jennifer Dixon named chief customer officer at Sherpa CRM

Jennifer Dixon has been named chief customer officer at Sherpa CRM. In her new role, which is based outside of Boston, Dixon will travel to many of Sherpa’s client-customers for training and implementation of Sherpa’s CRM software and Prospect-Centered Sales philosophy.

Dixon has more than 10 years of experience in the senior housing industry. Most recently, she was vice president of sales for Benchmark Senior Living, based outside of Boston, where she led a culture shift for the organization that resulted in the stabilization of under-performing properties, an increase in monthly move-ins and a decrease in sales team turnover.

Send personnel news to Senior Editor Lois A. Bowers. Please include a high-quality photo.