Movers & Shakers: Mount Miguel Covenant Village’s Culinary Shakeup

Lancaster Pollard Opens Chicago Office

Lancaster Pollard opened a new office in Chicago, with Brett Murphy serving as the firm’s primary health care banker for Illinois.

In Chicago, Murphy will provide seniors housing and health care clients with a range of investment banking, mortgage banking, private equity, balance sheet financing and M&A advisory services.

Murphy started with Lancaster Pollard as an associate in 2013 and has been a vice president with the firm since 2015. Before joining Lancaster Pollard, he worked in the credit division of Banco Santander during its acquisition of Sovereign Bank. He also held credit-based positions at Wells Fargo Bank and State Street Bank and Trust.

“We’re thrilled to have Brett open our Chicago office,” Steve Kennedy, Lancaster Pollard senior managing director, said in a statement. “Over the past decade, we have closed nearly 100 transactions totaling almost $1 billion in loan and par amounts for Illinois-based organizations. With this expansion, we are now positioned to provide even greater service to clients in Illinois and throughout the Midwest.”

Commonwealth Assisted Living Hires New Regional VP of Sales and Marketing

Commonwealth Assisted Living hired Kristy Ruppe Craddock as regional vice president of sales and marketing.

Ruppe Craddock will oversee the sales and marketing functions for Commonwealth’s seven communities in the eastern region of Virginia. She comes to Commonwealth from Kisco Senior Living, where she was the national sales leader. She has more than 10 years of experience in training and coaching of sales teams, new business growth, marketing and brand awareness and sales leadership.

“Kristy will be an amazing asset to our sales and marketing team,” David Dodson, senior vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement. “Her experience in management and training provides our team in the eastern region with a variety of new resources and skills.”

Mount Miguel Covenant Village Adds New Executive Chef, Shuffles Culinary Team

Mount Miguel Covenant Village, a faith-based, not-for-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) administered by Covenant Retirement Communities in Spring Valley, California, added Miles Stillwell as its executive chef. He replaces Geoffrey Perley, who was promoted to dining services director.

Additionally, Heidi Larson was promoted to dining room manager after formerly serving as Mount Miguel’s dining services supervisor. All three are employed by the community’s dining services provider, Sodexo.

Perley oversees dining operations for the 400-person residential community, as well as the assisted living and health care settings. He was Mount Miguel’s executive chef for three years before the promotion. He has worked in the culinary industry for more than 25 years, 13 of which have been spent in the senior living industry.

As executive chef, Stillwell manages day-to-day food operations for the community, including casual and formal dining in the residential, assisted living and health care settings. He oversees and trains a kitchen staff of 25, creates menus and manages the community’s catering services.

Larson directs and trains a dining staff of 20 as Mount Miguel’s dining room manager. She joined the Mount Miguel culinary team as a server in 2009 and has worked in hospitality for more than a decade.

Covenant Village Retirement Communities serves 5,000 residents at 15 retirement communities nationwide.

EPOCH Senior Living Names New Wellness Director at Massachusetts Community

EPOCH Senior Living named Mary O’Sullivan as wellness director of Bridges by EPOCH at Hingham, a 48-suite memory care assisted living community located in Hingham, Massachusetts.

O’Sullivan began at the community as a wellness nurse in 2015. In her new role, she will be responsible for the management, development and organization of the wellness team, facilitation of resident move-ins and development and maintenance of individual resident service plans.

Before joining Bridges by EPOCH, O’Sullivan worked as a nurse for five years, serving in a subacute unit in Milton, Massachusetts, as well as a long-term care community, where she also worked with residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Bridges by EPOCH is a joint development between Newton, Massachusetts-based National Development and Waltham, Massachusetts-based EPOCH Senior Living, a regional provider of independent and assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation and memory care.

Seabrook Appoints New Director of Human Resources

Seabrook, an Erickson Living CCRC in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, appointed Jim MacDonald as director of human resources.

MacDonald will oversee all aspects of the department of human resources at Seabrook and direct daily activities. Before joining Seabrook, he was the regional human resources manager with Genesis Healthcare, where he had oversight for the HR functions at multiple skilled nursing facilities throughout New Jersey. MacDonald also served as vice president of human resources—Americas operations for Hilton World Wide and held several other human resources positions in hotels throughout the area.

“Jim joins our team with tremendous experience in both the health care and hospitality industries serving in executive human resources leadership roles,” Seabrook Executive Director Todd DeLaney said in a statement. “In his new leadership role at Seabrook, he will be focused on enhancing our employee experience and workplace culture, developing a high-performing leadership team and continuing to improve our employee systems and processes.”

Seabrook is one of 18 CCRCs managed by Erickson Living. The community sits on a 98-acre campus and is home to more than 1,400 residents.

Legend Senior Living Welcomes Kansas/Colorado Operations Manager

Legend Senior Living welcomed Lorrie Britton as the director of operations for its Kansas and Colorado properties. Legend operates eight senior living campuses in Kansas and Colorado and has others in development.

Britton worked for Legend earlier in her career as a member of the company’s Florida leadership team. She also worked in assisted living and memory care residences across the country.

Britton is one of four operations directors at Legend. Others oversee campuses in Oklahoma, Texas and Florida. Legend operates 10 senior living properties in Florida, nine in Oklahoma and six in Texas, in addition to the Kansas/Colorado operations.

Written by Kourtney Liepelt