Commonwealth Senior Living Names Parker as CEO in Planned Leadership Change

Commonwealth Senior Living has appointed former COO Earl Parker to the role of CEO as part of a planned succession that was delayed by the pandemic.

Richard Brewer, the company’s founder, chairman and former CEO, will continue to work as chairman and support the company’s strategic vision and direction, but on a part-time basis. He is relinquishing many of his day-to-day responsibilities to Parker, giving him more time to find and invest in other senior housing opportunities, according to the company.

“At Commonwealth, our product is our people, and even under the most trying circumstances this year, our people have performed,” Brewer said in a statement on Parker’s move to CEO. “I have great confidence in Earl’s ability to continue to drive our Core Values, performance and growth in the years ahead.”

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Commonwealth also appointed former Senior Vice President of Operations Michelle Hamilton to the role of COO.

As CEO, Parker is taking on a more direct role in supporting efforts to build out Commonwealth’s workforce, implement technology into its operations and maintain its financial results. His first priorities include guiding the provider’s Covid-19 response and helping the company navigate through its vaccination clinics.

Parker, who joined Commonwealth in 2013, has helped the Charlottesville, Virginia-based provider amass a portfolio of 33 communities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. He was also with the operator during Invesque’s $340 million acquisition in 2019.

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“Richard has been a fantastic leader and will continue to be an important part of the team,” Invesque Chairman and CEO Scott White told Senior Housing News. “We are very excited to promote Earl to the CEO role and Michelle to the COO role. Both will continue to be very strong leaders and this will help us navigate the post-pandemic world and for many years to come.”

Before joining Commonwealth, Parker worked in leadership roles at Kisco Senior Living and Bell Senior Living. He also founded and led his own management company, ELMS Group, for more than five years. Overall, he has about 30 years of leadership experience in the hospitality and senior living industries.

“Since I joined the company in 2013, Commonwealth has grown considerably into one of the largest senior living providers in the mid-Atlantic, including Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania,” Parker said in a statement. “We plan to continue to selectively grow our footprint across our marketplace, in places where we can add value, bring our award-winning care and programming to more seniors and create new opportunities for growth to our associates.”

As COO, Hamilton is tasked with overseeing day-to-day community operations for Commonwealth’s entire portfolio. Her previous experience includes senior living operations, sales and marketing, branding, technology implementation, risk management and team-building.

“Commonwealth has built a reputation for innovative programming and award-winning focus on its associates and care of its residents that attracted me to the company in the first place,” Hamilton said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with Earl and develop the talented professionals here who strive every day to improve the lives of seniors and the senior living industry as well as attract new leaders to our team.”

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