People in the news, July 12 – Companies

Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at [email protected].

Sonata Senior Living reorganization brings new titles, addition to C-suite

As part of a corporate reorganization plan by Orlando, FL-based Sonata Senior Living to position the company for future expansion, Stuart Beebe, co-founder, former president and CEO, has been named managing partner of Sonata Senior Living.

Also, co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer Shelley Esden has assumed the role of president and CEO. In her new role, Esden will focus on exploring growth opportunities and oversee all strategic initiatives related to product and service innovation in senior living.

Jamie Merrill will succeed Esden as Sonata’s COO. Merrill comes to Sonata from Brookdale Senior Living, where she was regional vice president of operations for 72 senior living communities across Florida. Merrill was also named a 2022 McKnight’s Woman of Distinction Rising Star. 

At Sonata, Merrill’s top priorities will be to steward the company’s service-oriented culture and develop leadership to support sustained growth at a level of high performance.

Cadence Living hires Mark Krystopa as SVP of culinary services 

Mark Krystopa has joined Cadence Living as senior vice president of culinary services. He will manage the company’s Encore Dining Program across the Cadence portfolio of communities.

Krystopa’s 25 years of experience in hospitality and senior living dining services will help bring “top level residence experience culture” to the dining program, according to Cadence Principal Eric Gruber.

Before joining Cadence, Krystopa spent three years as the vice president of food and beverage at Allegro Management Co. and eight years with Hyatt hotels, where he led culinary operations for two Hyatt hotel brands. 

Cypress Living promotes Jeff Dunkle to VP of financial services

Jeff Dunkle has been promoted from director of financial services at Cypress Cove to vice president of financial services for Cypress Living. In his new role, Dunkle will have direct accountability and oversight for the financial services of Lee Healthcare Resources and its subsidiaries. 

Prior to joining Cypress Cove in 2013, Dunkle was chief financial officer for Wesley Enhanced Living in Pennsylvania.

Dunkle holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, and is a graduate of the Chamber of Southwest Florida Leadership Lee program.

Lifespace Communities announces Tim Gorman as general counsel 

Tim Gorman has been named general counsel of Lifespace Communities. He will provide overall leadership, vision and direction of the legal function including governance, regulatory, risk and liability and transactional matters.

Gorman, who is a certified public accountant, most recently was senior attorney for Ascension, providing general counsel support for its senior living division, Ascension Living. Before that, he was a partner in the business, healthcare and corporate Law division of Lowenbaum Law and an associate at Dentons US LLP.

Ingleside promotes Kera Wooten to executive director of Westminster at Lake Ridge

Kera L. Wooten has been promoted to the position of executive director of Westminster at Lake Ridge, an Ingleside life plan community in Lake Ridge, VA.

Wooten has more than two decades of experience in the senior living field and previously was an independent living administrator at Westminster at Lake Ridge. Before Ingleside, Wooten worked for Erickson Senior Living and Sunrise Senior Living. 

Wooten has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Delaware State University and has received Train the Trainer, Foundations of Leadership, Erickson Tactical Leadership and Alzheimer’s certifications.

Monarch adds Kelley Arrington, Debbie Reilly to management team

Kelley Arrington has been appointed operations specialist overseeing regulatory compliance and quality assurance for Monarch Communities, bringing with her 27 years of senior living experience to the role.

Arrington previously was vice president of operations for Wickshire Senior Living, based in Brentwood, TN, where she was responsible for all operational aspects for 20 new communities.

Debbie Reilly has been named project manager for Monarch. She has worked on renovations and development of new facilities in various states for senior living companies, including Erickson Senior Living. She brings more than 27 years of construction management to the position and has completed work on 37 communities in 12 states.

Collington announces Paige Mills-Haag as director of philanthropy and community engagement

Paige Mills-Haag has joined Collington, a Kendal Corp.-affiliated life plan community, as the new director of philanthropy and community engagement.  

Mills-Haag will lead the Collington Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Collington, which works to improve the lives of residents, staff members and the wider community. She will work collaboratively with Collington’s stakeholders, including the foundation’s board, leadership, residents, employees and others outside the organization to develop and advance philanthropy and engagement programs in support of Collington’s mission. 

Before joining Collington, Mills-Haag worked in development for organizations in the field of senior living, as well as other nonprofits. She earned her undergraduate degree from Southern Nazarene University.

Waterstone of Westchester appoints Abby Stenzler senior adviser

Abby Stenzler has been appointed senior adviser at Waterstone of Westchester, an Epoch Senior Living community.

In her role as senior adviser at Waterstone, she will assist with marketing, community outreach and customer service at the senior living community, which opened its doors June 8. Stenzler will be responsible for all aspects of internal and external sales and marketing. She also will work to build relationships with families, clients and prospective families within the community.

Stenzler has more than 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience. Before joining Waterstone of Westchester, she was community sales director for a senior living community in Rye Brook, NY. There, she managed sales and marketing while cultivating relationships in the community.

Sagewood executive director celebrates 30 years with Life Care Services

Stewart Ingram celebrated 30 years as an employee with Life Care Services in May.

His tenure with the company began in 1984, right after he graduated from the University of Alabama. At the time, he worked with two LCS-managed communities.

He left LCS to join the Chicago-based Classic Residence by Hyatt, now called Vi Senior Living.

After an eight-year break, Ingram was invited to rejoin the company in 2006 as the executive director of Sagewood, a Phoenix-based property that was still in its early planning stage. Construction at Sagewood began in March 2008.

Kentucky Senior Living Association promotes Rebecca Pfalzgraf to executive director

Rebecca Pfalzgraf has been named executive director at the Kentucky Senior Living Association. She was promoted from the role of director of communications and member services.

Pfalzgraf has more than four years of experience with KSLA and also has 30 years of customer relations experience and 20 years of organizational management experience.

In her new role, Pfalzgraf will be responsible for the management of all KSLA daily operations. Those include technical and advocacy support of KSLA members, increasing KSLA membership and collaborating with industry leaders and representatives from state agencies.

Christian Horizons leader appointed to Alzheimer’s Disease International Global Review Panel

Cathy Krewer, RN, MS, vice president of clinical professional development at the faith-based Christan Horizons, has been named to the Global Review Panel of Alzheimer’s Disease International in London.

In this role, Krewer will support Alzheimer’s training programs through ADI’s new global accreditation scheme. Krewer is the second U.S. citizen appointed to the GRP and the first U.S. citizen to be from the senior living industry to serve in the role.

ADI provides accreditation to organizations offering professional and family training programs for caring for people living with dementia. Organizations that receive accreditation have met the high quality of care standards provided by appropriately trained professionals. 

Krewer practices as a community health nurse specialist with a focus on nursing care for older adults. She has worked in the long-term care industry for more 30 years, spanning a variety of roles and settings. Her more recent professional efforts have included a focus on development of education support training programs for direct care workers in memory support.

Ingleside CIO Dusanka Delovska-Trajkova named to top women leaders list 

Dusanka Delovska-Trajkova, chief information officer at Ingleside, has been named to the “Top 50 Women Leaders of DC” list by Women We Admire.

Delovska-Trajkova has more than 25 years of experience in computer science and automation in the corporate, government, educational and nonprofit worlds, in both the United States and Macedonia.

Chicago Pacific Founders promotes Shayan Masoudpour to principal, Sameer Mathur to partner

Sameer Mathur has been promoted to partner, and Shayan Masoudpour has been promoted to principal, at Chicago Pacific Founders, a private equity firm that specializes in investing in value-based care companies, senior living and healthcare services.

CPF said that Mathur has been instrumental in helping drive the firm’s growth since he joined the company, where he has led the deal teams focused on the firm’s investments, from origination to deal structuring, execution and post-investment portfolio management.  Since joining CPF, Mathur has co-led seven platform investments and has been instrumental in thesis development on several new investment platforms, according to the company. 

Masoudpour joined CPF in 2017 as a vice president. CPF said he has been a critical part of the firm’s success, making meaningful contributions to its portfolio investments. In his new role, Masoudpour will help CPF continue its mission in enabling “significant societal impact and investment returns from healthcare” in the next decade through “investment in delivery model innovation.”

National Capital Bank announces new SVP, VP

Bradley J. Duncan brings 29 years of real estate lending experience to his new role managing National Capital Banks’ construction portfolio as the senior vice president, construction lending director.

Dunan will be developing new lending opportunities focused on new construction, renovation and expansion for the home building, multi-family, office, retail and industrial sectors at NCB. Originally from Alabama, Duncanhas both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration from Auburn University and completed the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. He now resides in Northern Virginia.

Sean A. Biehl was also named vice president, commercial loan officer for NCB. Biehl’s banking career of over 16 years started with management positions in branch banking, before transitioning to a credit analyst and commercial loan officer. Building on his experience in the Northern Virginia market, Biehl will be responsible for cultivating new C&I client relationships. He has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting with a minor in Business Administration from University of Maryland. He is a graduate of Leadership Loudoun and Leadership Fairfax Emerging Leaders Program. 

Dining RD Hires Meagan Rohan as VP of sales

Meagan Rohan has joined Health Technologies Inc., also known as Dining RD, as vice president of sales. The company provides consulting dietitians, menus and food-service software to senior living communities.

In her new role, Rohan will manage all sales activities, explore enterprise opportunities and relationships in the senior living space and look into new opportunities to enhance and bundle Dining RD products and services.

Rohan has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and senior housing and is CARF/CCAC-accredited. Formerly, she was vice president of sales at Caremerge. She also previously held positions as business development manager at Care Purchasing Services, major accounts sales manager at Touchtown and director of sales at Smith Senior Living.

OneDay hires Phi Doan as VP of marketing

Phi Doan has joined OneDay as vice president of marketing, where he will oversee marketing strategies and efforts that strengthen the company’s position. He brings more than 19 years of experience in brand, product and digital marketing strategy to his new role. 

Before joining OneDay, Doan was the director of digital marketing and martech for StackPath. There, he executed new growth opportunities, augmented existing revenue and worked to strengthen the brand for company-wide growth. Doan also has senior-level marketing and strategy experience at Threadgill Agency, At Home Group, Ansira and Expedia Group. 

Doan holds an MBA in finance, marketing and management from the University of Texas at Dallas and undergraduate degrees in business economics and finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Seniorlink builds leadership team

Seniorlink, a Boston-based provider of family caregiving services, has announced new management team members.

Joining President and CEO Matt Marek, who took the helm of Seniorlink at the start of the year, are Cindy Hale as chief marketing and experience officer; Eric Daniels in the newly created position of chief growth officer; and Nathan Maehren as chief product and technology officer.

Hale most recently was vice president of brand, marketing, communications and sales enablement at AlerisLife (formerly Five Star Senior Living). She previously founded and led a New England advertising agency, working with brands such as Benchmark Senior Living, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Bermuda Department of Tourism, Fairmont Resorts, TJ Maxx and National Geographic. She also has worked in leadership positions at Boston Children’s Hospital and Walden Behavioral Care.

Daniels will oversee Seniorlink’s growth strategy. He has spent most of his career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, where he led the sales strategy to retain and grow membership in the commercial, Medicare and individual markets. Before joining Seniorlink, he was chief growth officer at Learn to Live and Further. He also served in the U.S. Navy and is a veteran of the Gulf War.

Maehren will oversee the development of innovative technical solutions to address barriers to care. Before joining Seniorlink, Maehren was chief strategy and innovation officer at the YMCA of the North in Minneapolis. He also has developed technology strategies for companies including Target, Carlson Marketing Worldwide, Deloitte Consulting and Cargill.

Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at [email protected]. High-quality color headshots are welcome but not required.