Movers & Shakers — People and Positions for November, Part I

Senior Tech Company Hires Vice President of Client Solutions

GeriJoy, a senior tech company that provides 24/7 dementia oversight and companionship, recently announced it has hired Jim Wambach as vice president of client solutions.

Prior to GeriJoy, Wambach founded Sesen Elder Care, a provider of in-home care and care hamangement. At Sesen, Wambach was a leader in utilizing emerging home care technologies to further improve quality of care while reducing overall cost of in-home care.

Wambach also serves as president of the Board for Foster City Village, a nonprofit organization focused on helping seniors successfully age in place. Foster City Village provides its senior members with services, activities and personal connections, enabling healthier aging and improved quality of life.

Earlier in his career, Wambach worked for 25 years as an executive leader in the information technology industry.

Maryland-Based Sunrise Community Appoints General Manager 

Fox Hill, a Sunrise Senior Living community in Bethesda, Md., has appointed David Denton as general manager.

Denton brings to the position nearly 30 years of experience in serving seniors.

As general manager, Denton is in charge of all aspects of leading and managing Fox Hill’s operations. The gated residence is for ages 60 and older and offers independent living condominium ownership, as well as access to assisted living and memory care.

Prior to his move to Fox Hill, Denton was executive director of Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Asbury Methodist Village, the 12th largest not-for-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in the country. For the past three years, Denton has served on the Board of Directors for the Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc., based in North Bethesda, Md.

SQLC Names Susan Carter to Board of Directors

Senior Quality Lifestyles Corporation, a Dallas-based senior living developer, has named Susan Carter to the SQLC Board of Directors for the Edgemere senior living community in Dallas.

Carter currently serves as CEO of the Arthritis Foundation’s South Central Region. In her role, she oversees the operations, fundraising and mission programs to help more than 5.5 million people, including 30,000 children, diagnosed with arthritis in the region.

Prior to leading the Arthritis Foundation, Carter served as a founding employee of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.

“Susan has an outstanding reputation for leading nonprofits to the next level,” said President and CEO Charles B. Brewer. “As SQLC is a nonprofit, Susan’s leadership and experience will fit right into our mission as we expand to help more seniors enjoy their golden years.”

Massachusetts CCRC Hires 2 New Team Members 

Vista Terrace, the latest addition to the campus of the North Hill CCRC, has hired Karen Prest as memory support manager and Terri Ivanoski as enhanced living program manager.

Prest most recently served as the memory care specialist at North Hill — located on the Needham/Wellesley town line in Massachusetts — where she developed and facilitated all aspects of memory care day programming. She began her career at North Hill in the Wellness department as an exercise specialist, teaching movement classes to those in need of memory support.

Prest brings to the position more than seven years of experience in memory care. She holds a Certificate in Habilitation Therapy from the Alzheimer’s Association of America and is an American Federation of Dementia Care Level 1 & 2 Certified Specialist.

She said she is excited for the opportunities afforded by Vista Terrace’s “small-house” design, in which residences are clustered around common spaces.

Ivanoski has been a leader within the North Hill Fitness/Wellness Center team since 2001. Prior to that, she was program director for Health Development Corporation. In that position, she supervised the fitness and wellness programming for more than 10 corporations, including the Bank of Boston and Harvard Business School.

She developed and led a series of exercise programs for Caritas Hospital for more than 15 years prior to joining North Hill.

Ivanoski is a certified exercise physiologist as well as a personal trainer and aquatic specialist.

LaSalle Group Names Executive Vice President 

The LaSalle Group, Inc., which designs, develops, builds, manages and owns 36 Autumn Leaves memory care communities, has promoted Christopher Rio to executive vice president of management.

In this capacity, Rio will lead the company’s management division, Constant Care Family Management, as its president and will participate as a key member of the executive leadership team, focusing on strategic initiatives for the overall company.

In this new position, Rio adds responsibility for sales, health care, hospice, training and assisting with the company’s diversification efforts. This is in addition to his responsibility of management operations for LaSalle’s senior living brands, including 36 Autumn Leaves memory care communities.

Rio has previously managed operations since joining The LaSalle Group in 2014 as vice president of management.

Rio brings to the position more than 25 years of experience at the executive level, including 12 years in senior living. He joined The LaSalle Group from Senior Living Communities in Charlotte, N.C., where he served as executive vice president of operations.

During his time at Senior Living Communities, he provided operational asset management and P&L oversight for the company’s CCRC portfolio, which included more than 1,800 units.

Rio’s prior senior living experience also includes serving as executive vice president of operations for Southern Assisted Living, Inc.’s 47-community portfolio. His corporate, multi-site operations and property development experience also includes varied leadership roles in the health care services, hospitality, commercial real estate and restaurant sectors.

Mainstreet Welcomes 6 New Hires

Carmel, Indiana-based Mainstreet, the nation’s largest developer of post-acute health care properties, has announced the latest round of new hires to its team.

Ryan Clark has joined Mainstreet as a development manager. He most recently worked for the city of Westfield as an associate planner in the Economic and Community Development department.

Clark has a bachelor’s degree from Miami University and a master’s degree from Ohio State University.

Jen Fries is Mainstreet’s newest development coordinator. She comes to Mainstreet after nearly 10 years in the escrow department at Meridian Title Corporation. Fries is a graduate of Purdue University.

Casey Harwood has joined Mainstreet as a graphic designer. She started her design career at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Ind. Harwood graduated magna cum laude from Taylor University.

Katie Rarick is a new associate counsel at Mainstreet. Her previous experience includes time at Stand for Children and Bose McKinney & Evans LLP. Rarick earned both her bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame.

Gary Smith is Mainstreet’s new vice president of health solutions. He has extensive experience in the health care industry, including time at Encore Healthcare, American Care Communities, Inc. and Beverly Enterprises/Golden Living.

Smith graduated from the University of Florida and studied business administration at Morehead State University.

Dylan Tarr has joined Mainstreet as another development manager. He comes to Indiana from Nashville, Tenn., where he most recently worked at Gresham, Smith and Partners in a variety of roles. Tarr is a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Joel Nelson Promoted to President, COO of LCS

LCS — whose family of companies provide development, management, marketing and sales, and strategic planning for senior living communities nationwide — has announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer Joel Nelson has been promoted to president and chief operating officer for the company.

Nelson will be responsible for leading the company’s operating activities, working with senior management to drive performance excellence and earnings across all business lines.

“LCS has grown significantly across all business lines and is now serving more than 33,000 seniors. Separating the CEO and president responsibilities was a natural evolution of that growth,” says Ed Kenny, chairman and CEO. “I am very pleased to have an individual of Joel’s caliber lead the company’s operating activities, while I focus on the strategic progression of LCS.”

Nelson joined LCS in 1986 as an administrator‐in‐training and rose through the organization serving as an executive director for several CCRCs. He also served in a number of regional managerial and company leadership roles.

Most recently, Nelson developed and grew the company’s investment portfolio by identifying opportunities for mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including ownership interests in 48 senior living assets, mergers of three smaller regional senior housing companies and various strategic alliances.

Nelson serves on the LCS Board of Managers as secretary and is an Audit Committee member.

Additionally, Nelson served on numerous for‐profit and not‐for‐profit boards. Most recently, he finished his term as president of ChildServe, the largest not‐for‐profit organization in Central Iowa for children and families.

And he currently serves on the Simpson College Advisory committee, which is charged with designing and starting a new Health Care Administration program.

Written by Emily Study