Cogir Senior Living appoints Gottfried Ernst chief operating officer

Gottfried Ernst has been named the new chief operating officer at Sacramento, CA-based Cogir Senior Living.

He joins the Cogir team from Discovery Senior Living Management, bringing more than 20 years of experience within the senior living and hospitality industries. Prior to his tenure at Discovery, he held executive leadership roles at Brookdale Senior Living, Harbor Retirement Associates and Green Courte Partners. Ernst was inducted into Brookdale’s President Circle in 2005.

Cogir develops, owns and/or operates almost 70 senior living communities throughout the United States. Recognized as one of ASHA’s top 25 senior living providers. Ernst is joining the company about a year after its US operations marked a milestone with the acquisition of Cadence Living. The integration of the two entities was fully completed during 2023.  The combined company now has more than 8,300 senior living units under management and/or development in the United States and is engaged in six new development projects. Additional growth in the United States is ongoing through management agreements and acquisitions.

LCS names David Mercugliano VP of business development

David Mercugliano has been named the vice president of business development at Chicago-based LCS. In his new role, he will lead business development initiatives to expand management and development opportunities that grow top-line revenue for the LCS family of companies.

Mercugliano joined LCS in June as the director of business development for Care Purchasing Services. He has experience across the care continuum in executive leadership, operations management, strategy and business development.

Silverado names Dawn Wolda national VP of sales for hospice, palliative care team

Dawn Wolda has been named the national vice president of sales for Silverado Hospice & Palliative Care, part of Irvine, CA-based memory care community operator Silverado. 

Wolda comes to Silverado with a track record in hospice and home healthcare that spans more than 25 years. She previously was the senior vice president of sales at Choice Health at Home. 

Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland names Paige Mills-Haag VP of philanthropy

Paige Mills-Haag has been named vice president of philanthropy at Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland. She will spearhead the organization’s philanthropic efforts, including designing strategic and innovative philanthropic initiatives that advance the organization’s mission and overseeing charitable programs and initiatives in its life plan communities, Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, MD, and Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant in Ellicott City, MD.

With more than 17 years of expertise in philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Mills-Haag has held executive roles in two senior living communities. She earned an undergraduate degree in organizational leadership from Southern Nazarene University and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Association for Christian Fundraisers, formerly the Association of Lutheran Development Executives.

Watercrest adds Diana Chavis as executive director 

Diana Chavis has been appointed executive director of Watercrest Columbia Assisted Living and Memory Care, Columbia, SC. 

Chavis brings more than 40 years of healthcare experience to her role, holding a dual license in South Carolina as an assisted living and nursing home administrator as well as being a licensed preceptor for long-term care. She has been an executive director of continuing care retirement communities and was CEO for several inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Indiana and South Carolina. Additionally, she previously was a director in compliance, skilled nursing, acute care and outpatient rehabilitation for a healthcare system in South Carolina.

Waterstone of Westchester names Helayne Scheier senior adviser

Helayne Scheier has been named senior adviser at Waterstone of Westchester, White Plains, NY.

She will be responsible for all aspects of internal and external sales and marketing. She also will build relationships with families, clients and prospective families within the community and referral sources.

Scheier has more than 18 years of experience in the senior living industry.

Ageless Innovation hires new chief marketing officer,  appoints two more to leadership positions 

Ageless Innovation has promoted cofounder Meghan Gamboa to chief marketing officer. Additinally, Celica Costantino has been hired as vice president of retail, and Khadijah Lewis has been named senior director of healthcare. 

Gamboa most recently was the company’s senior vice president of marketing and retail sales. Before co-founding Ageless Innovation, she spent 15 years on the marketing team at toy and game company Hasbro.

Constantino has more than two decades of experience in the consumer product goods industry. Most recently, she was senior national sales manager at Funko.

Lewis has more than a decade of experience across home care, business development, operations and product development. 

Glenmeadow announces new board leadership, members

Glenmeadow, Longmeadow, MA, recently elected new leadership and new members to its board of directors.

Michael Tremble, chief executive officer of Valley Communications, will serve as chair. Kelly Koch, probate and family law attorney with Raipher, will serve as vice chair. Erin Koebler, executive director of the East Longmeadow Council on Aging, will serve as clerk. Retired banking executive Mary Meehan serves as treasurer.

The board of directors also welcomed three new members: Barbara Buddington, Glenmeadow resident; Rory O’Brien, vice president, chief compliance officer and assistant portfolio manager with Schwerin Boyle Capital Management; and Meredith Wise, retired president of the Employers Association of New England.

LeadingAge Florida promotes Nick Van Der Linden to senior director of operations

Nick Van Der Linden has been promoted to the position of senior director of operations at LeadingAge Florida. 

He also will continue the responsibilities he formerly had as the organization’s director of communications, now overseeing the day-to-day operations and communication functions and collaborating with stakeholders to ensure that the organization’s goals are met.

He earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in communications from Auburn University.

LeadingAge Florida promotes Kasey Anderson to director of administrative services and executive support

Kasey Anderson has been promoted to the position of director of administrative services and executive support at LeadingAge Florida. She most recently served as the association’s executive assistant.

In her new role, Anderson will oversee administrative services critical to the smooth operation of the association. She also is expected to play a pivotal role in providing executive support, managing key administrative priorities and executing strategic projects.

She is a graduate of Emory University.

ATI Advisory adds Brian Fuller as managing director

Brian Fuller has been named managing director at ATI Advisory. He will lead the firm’s value-based care design and delivery practice.

Enseo announces new Senior Living Advisory Committee

Enseo has formed a Senior Living Advisory Committee to help explore the current technology challenges communities are facing and potential areas of growth where technology can positively influence the resident experience as well as community operations. 

The committee will meet regularly to provide feedback on experiences, best practices and future technology needs as communities work to meet expectations of seniors. Committee members: 

• Brad Adams, vice president of IT, Merrill Gardens
• Albert Castaneda, chief development officer, Arete Living
• Susie Finley, principal, Ascent Living Communities
• Jon Kelter Gehrig, director, research and analytics, ISL Ventures
• Gary White, president, GCW Consulting

Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at lois.bowers@mcknights.com. High-quality color headshots are welcome but not required.

“It’s a great day for the industry as a whole,” Silverado President, CEO and Chairman Loren Shook said Thursday in response to the dismissal of all criminal charges against the senior living operator regarding 14 deaths that occurred early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shook called the charges leveled by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office “baseless” and “egregious,” and the dropping of the case a “vindication for the industry.”

“We were all doing our best to take care of people at a time when nobody know what was going with COVID, what it was, let alone how to defend against it,” Shook told McKnight’s Senior Living, adding that it could have been any company in the broader healthcare industry defending itself.

Silverado’s transparency of communications companywide with staff members, families and residents built trust, which landed the company near the top of Great Place to Work rankings prior to the pandemic, Shook said. The CEO said that he expects the dismissal of the case to allow Silverado to once again retain its spot on the list, adding that the company’s Glassdoor rankings have increased since the pandemic.

“One of the biggest resources we have is trust,” Shook said. “We all just communicated often and deep in the organization. We were constantly trying to look for answers and pivoting sometimes twice a day, tapping all the resources of public policy leaders, universities and other colleagues in the field. It was a time where you had to be nimble.”

Silverado, Shook, Vice President of Clinical Services Kimberly Butrum and former Silverado Beverly Place Administrator Jason Russo were charged earlier this year by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office with 13 felony counts of elder endangerment and five felony counts of violation causing deaths tied to 14 COVID-19-related deaths that occurred in Silverado Beverly Place, a Los Angeles memory care community. The company denied all charges.

“The baseless, egregious claims unfairly attacked our caregivers, who selflessly and courageously served our residents, worked to provide essential life-sustaining services and quality of life throughout a 100-year pandemic,” Shook said in a release. “We are proud of the loving and compassionate care they demonstrated during the most trying circumstances.”

The company further said that the judge questioned why the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had filed the case to begin with, consuming “valuable resources in an already overloaded legal system.”

“We’re just excited to be past this and be able to continue to work on the innovations our company is so well known for,” Shook said. “We haven’t let this get us down.”

Shook said that Silverado, which operates 28 memory care communities across 10 states, improved census more than 11% in the face of the charges, with the company coming out stronger than when it went into the situation. He said his message to Silverado’s employees was a “love greater than fear” operating point of view, and that even when things happen that are out of one’s control, people can control their responses and weather the storm.

“That’s what we did,” Shook said.

Silverado said that the company’s caregivers “bravely prioritized” the news of residents during the pandemic. The company said it established protocols adopted by memory care providers and referenced by public health departments, licensing and other agencies throughout the country for employers and healthcare environments. Those protocols, Silverado said, helped senior living providers protect residents and staff members and ensured that memory care residents “continued to be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

“We honor the courageous among us who met the challenge and saved others through their dedication and service,” Butrum said in the press release. “It does not go too far to call them heroes.”

A spokesperson from the District Attorney’s Office told McKnight’s Senior Living that it is considering its next moves.

“We are obviously very disappointed at the court’s ruling,” the spokesperson said. “Our believe in the strength of the case has not changed. In the coming days, our team will convene to determine next steps.”

The charges

The original complaint alleged that in March 2020, Silverado broke its own protocols by admitting a new resident from New York, a then-COVID hotspot, into Silverado Beverly Place. The complaint also alleged that the community did not test the man for COVID-19 and did not quarantine him once he began showing signs of illness.

New York was considered the epicenter of the pandemic at the time the man moved into the community. The complaint alleged the community experienced a COVID-19 outbreak as a result, and 45 employees and 60 residents were infected with the virus. Fourteen people died.

Investigators with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health conducted an almost three-year investigation into the memory care community following the death of Brittany Ringo, a 32-year-old nurse. District Attorney George Gascon said that the investigation revealed that the Silverado management team was aware of the risks of admitting the new resident, failed to follow protocols to protect employees and residents, and admitted the man due to financial considerations.

Shook said that Cal/OSHA’s decision came after the California Department of Social Services found no deficiencies during three investigations related to the admission in question. He added that the judge cited that decision from the “licensing authority with expertise to evaluate whether it was a proper admission or not.”

Relatives of some of the deceased residents and Ringo, who helped move the man into his room, filed lawsuits in December 2020 against the community.

A senior living provider’s employee arbitration agreement is “unenforceable” because the company reserved the right to unilaterally alter the policy without advance notice, a court has ruled.

The decision advances a former manager’s lawsuit against Silverado that alleges she was fired after she complained about unpaid wages.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled Wednesday against the Irvine, CA-based memory care provider’s arbitration policy, calling it “illusory and unenforceable” under Texas law because the company reserved the right to unilaterally alter the policy without advance notice.

Sabra Egbert, a former manager, filed a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit in November, saying that Silverado terminated her employment in retaliation for her complaining about unpaid regular wages and overtime pay. Egbert said that the organization required managers to work on-call for one-week periods every four to six weeks to address after-hours issues. Egbert said she was not paid for the after-hours work.

Silverado contended that Egbert was compelled to settle the matter through arbitration because she accepted the terms of the company’s mutual arbitration dispute resolution policy by signing an acknowledgement form in the organization’s employee handbook.

The court sided with Egbert, however, finding that language in the handbook stating that Silverado “may change, rescind, or add to any policies or practices described in the handbook” at its discretion at any time rendered the arbitration policy unenforceable. 

In Texas, an arbitration clause is considered illusory if it can be retroactively modified by one party that retains the power to end the agreement. 

Silverado argued that its arbitration policy fell within the “unless stated otherwise” exception to the handbook’s default rule that policy changes are effective upon notice to employees. But the court found that, as far as the arbitration policy was concerned, no such exception appears in the handbook, the arbitration policy or the acknowledgement form.

Silverado had not replied to a request for comment from McKnight’s Senior Living as of the production deadline.

Read more arbitration-related articles here.

WesleyLife names Allison Pendroy COO

Allison Pendroy has been named chief operating officer of Johnston, IA-based WesleyLife. 

Pendroy joins WesleyLife after more than 14 years with the Des Moines, IA-based Life Care Services, where she most recently was senior vice president, life plan communities, with accountability for 26 communities throughout the United States.

Pendroy began her senior living career in finance and real estate, then expanded her expertise in operations. Her other previous titles with LCS included finance director–asset management and VP–director of asset management.

Trilogy Health Services appoints Wendy Dowd as chief human resources and inclusion officer

Wendy Dowd has been appointed chief human resources and inclusion officer at Louisville, KY-based Trilogy Health Services.

In her new role, she will provide strategic leadership in the areas of talent acquisition; diversity, equity and inclusion; training; leadership development; total rewards; policy development and human resources information systems. Her role will also influence and lead operational and technical HR change management initiatives that support the company’s continued growth agenda.

Dowd most recently was the CHRO adviser for the Funds of New York City and a member of the Deloitte Human Experience Advisory Board. Prior to those roles, she was chief talent officer and head of consumer experience at Guardian Life Insurance. She also spent 12 years in multiple leadership roles at Humana.

United Methodist Communities adds three to leadership team

Gary Engelstad, David Glenn and Cindy Jacques have been promoted at Neptune, NJ-based United Methodist Communities.

Glenn has been promoted to the position of senior vice president for people and culture. He has served UMC for nine years as vice president of human resources. Glenn has more than 40 years of experience in generalist and executive human resources, maintains a SHRM-SCP certification, and holds an MBA in management from Monmouth University.

Jacques has been promoted to the position of senior vice president for programs and services. She began her career with UMC in 2000 and most recently has served on the senior leadership team as vice president of housing and community initiatives.

Engelstad has been promoted to director of transformational opportunities. He has 20 years of experience in senior living sales, philanthropy, community outreach and volunteer programming.

Silverado names Kristina Hulsey VP, legal and risk, and chief compliance officer

Kristina Hulsey has been named vice president, legal and risk, and chief compliance officer at Irvine, CA-based Silverado. 

While associate general counsel at Ensign Services, Hulsey provided counsel and guidance to The Ensign Group’s network of more than 200 affiliated senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities. She is an expert on employment litigation, including wrongful termination claims, agency investigations and class and representative wage-and-hour claims. Hulsey also served as chief counsel to Ensign’s network of senior living communities, handling all claims and risk management issues.

Amy Brown, Nicole Jemming named VPs at Springs Living

Amy Brown and Nicole Jemming, two regional directors at McMinnville, OR-based  The Springs Living, have been named to newly created senior leadership positions. Brown has been promoted vice president of operational excellence, and Jemming has been appointed vice president of operations.

Brown has been with The Springs Living for nine years, first as executive director of The Springs at Carman Oaks in Lake Oswego, OR, and, since 2020, as regional director of operations. Prior to her time at The Springs Living, she served more than a decade in multiple administrator roles in the senior living field. 

Brown currently is the vice chair of the Oregon Long-Term Care Administrators Board. She graduated from Oregon State University with an undergraduate degree in healthcare administration and holds a certificate in gerontology from Oregon State. 

Jemming started with The Springs Living as executive director of The Springs at Whitefish in 2017 before moving into the regional director of operations role in 2020, serving all Montana  communities as well as several Oregon communities. Before joining The Springs Living, Jemming was a licensed administrator of a skilled nursing facility, and she also held several senior housing roles in Idaho, Montana and Nebraska.

Jemming has an undergraduate degree in healthcare administration from Montana State University–Billings, and she recently was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Montana, where she will pursue her MBA.

SenCare Management names Monique Spruill VP of operations

Monique Spruill has been promoted to the position of vice president of operations at Clearwater, FL-based SenCare Management, which provides management services to senior living communities that offer assisted living, independent living and memory care services in locations throughout Florida. 

Spruill has more than 20 years of sales and operations experience in healthcare. In her previous position as the regional director of operations, she focused on all areas of operations, including maximizing financial opportunities, delivering above standard regulatory compliance, obtaining five-star resident and staff satisfaction reviews, and developing leadership teams within the communities for which she was responsible. 

In addition to serving as the vice chair for the Florida Assisted Living Association Board of Directors, Spruill also has served as chair for the FALA conference for the past four years and is the chair for the FALA Political Action Committee. In 2022, FALA honored her with the Sid Rosenblatt Excellence in Leadership Award.

She has an undergraduate degree in healthcare administration and is a certified dementia practitioner and an approved trainer for the state of Florida.

Commonwealth Senior Living announces VP of operations, regional leaders

Kim Hurt has been promoted to vice president of operations at Charlottesville, VA-based Commonwealth Senior Living. Additionally, Rick Barley, Reuben Canty and Mark Kane have been named regional vice presidents.

Hurt, a licensed practical nurse, joined Commonwealth in November 2020 as a regional vice president. She has more than 28 years of experience in the assisted living industry and is a licensed Virginia assisted living administrator and a licensed preceptor among a lengthy list of other training credentials.

Barley has joined the company as regional vice president of Commonwealth Senior Living’s North region. He has over 18 years of experience in health care having started his career in nursing after receiving his bachelor of science degree in nursing from York College in Pennsylvania.

Canty joined Commonwealth in 2015 as a resident care director. He was promoted to executive director, where he served at both Commonwealth at Chesterfield and Commonwealth at the West End, both in the Richmond, VA, market. He holds an undergraduate degree in health science from Virginia Commonwealth University and is an LPN.

Kane will join Commonwealth as regional vice president of the company’s Southwest region. He most recently was the regional director of operations at Navion Senior Solutions in Raleigh, NC. Kane has his undergraduate degree in physical education from the University of New York and is a licensed administrator in North Carolina and South Carolina.

National Church Residences names Angie Hug VP of property management

Angie Hug has been named vice president of property management at Columbus, OH-based National Church Residences.

In this position, she will focus on operational success, revenue growth, expense management and regulatory compliance across the organization’s affordable housing portfolio, consisting of more than 350 communities in 24 states. She will be based in the organization’s home office.

Hug comes to the organization from Kittle Property Group of Indianapolis, where she had served in senior management and operations roles since 2014, most recently as senior vice president of property operations. Before her time with Kittle, she worked in strategic property and financial management roles, increasing occupancy, overseeing capital improvements and implementing operational efficiencies for a range of Midwest-based property management firms.

Hug holds an undergraduate degree from Purdue University as well as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Harvard Business School Executive Education certification n leading in the digital era.

Erickson announces Woodleigh Chase’s first executive director, Will Nance

Will Nance has been named the first executive director of Woodleigh Chase, an Erickson Senior Living continuing care retirement community scheduled to open in early 2024 in Fairfax, VA. He will oversee management and operations.

Nance joined Erickson in 1998 with a background in sales, politics and nonprofits. Most recently, he was executive director of Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, VA. Prior to that position, he was regional vice president of sales for Erickson. At Greenspring, a CCCR in northern Virginia, he began as a sales director before moving into operations, serving as associate executive director for two years and as executive director for four years.

Nance holds degrees from Auburn University and Strathclyde University in Scotland.

Enso Village names John McEntee facilities director 

John McEntee has been named facilities director at Enso Village, a Zen-inspired senior living community developed by the Kendal Corp. and the San Francisco Zen Center.

McEntee brings more than 15 years of experience in facilities and maintenance operations and more than 30 years of experience as a licensed California contractor in construction and remodeling. Before joining Enso Village, he was the director of facilities with a homelessness advocacy organization in Petaluma, CA. He is a certified facility manager, a credential issued by the International Facility Management Association.

The Preserve hires Kelsey Daniell as life enrichment director

Kelsey Daniell has been hired as the life enrichment director at The Preserve, an assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing community operated by Volunteers of America National Services in Fort Myers, FL.

In this position, Daniell will develop and deliver daily programs of individual and group activities so residents can engage in cultural, spiritual, environmental, physical, intellectual, emotional, social and civic activities to sustain and promote their potential, happiness and sense of usefulness to themselves and others.

Daniell graduated from Florida International University and is a certified recreational therapist, which has led her to equestrian work, dance and fitness training. She has more than seven years of experience working in healthcare.

Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at lois.bowers@mcknights.com. High-quality color headshots are welcome but not required.

A California-based senior living operator and three of its executives have been charged with felony elder abuse tied to 14 COVID-19-related deaths that occurred at one of the company’s memory care communities at the beginning of the pandemic.

Silverado; Silverado CEO Loren Shook; Jason Russo, former administrator of Silverado Beverly Place, a Los Angeles memory care community; and Kimberly Butrum, Silverado vice president of clinical services, have been charged by the Los Angele County District Attorney’s office with 13 felony counts of elder endangerment and five felony counts of violation causing death.

The company denies all charges.

The complaint alleges that in March 2020, Silverado broke its own protocols by admitting a retired Manhattan surgeon from a New York City psychiatric unit into Silverado Beverly Place. The complaint also alleges that the community did not test the man for COVID-19 and did not quarantine him once he began showing signs of illness. Additionally, Silverado is accused of failing to prohibit entry of individuals who had traveled within 14 days to or from confirmed COVID-19 hot spots; New York was considered the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time the man moved in.

As a result, according to the complaint, the community experienced a COVID-19 outbreak; 45 employees and 60 residents were infected with the virus, and 14 people died. 

Investigators with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health began conducting an almost three-year investigation into Silverado Beverly Place following the death of a 32-year-old nurse, Brittany Ringo.

“The investigation revealed that the Silverado management team was aware of the risks associated with admitting a new resident from a high-risk area and failed to follow the appropriate procedures to protect their employees and the vulnerable people in their care,” District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. “These careless decisions created conditions that needlessly exposed Silverado staff and its residents to serious injury and, tragically, death.”

Prosecutors maintain that the community admitted the man from New York due to financial considerations.

Silverado had not responded to a request for comment from McKnight’s Senior Living as of the production deadline, but Jeff Frum, Silverado senior vice president and spokesman, told ABC News that the company denies all charges. 

“Silverado’s top priority is and always has been providing world-class care, respect and dignity to people living with dementia and a caring environment for our associates,” Frum said. “We deny all charges filed against us. They are baseless and egregiously contradict the facts.”

Frum said the company looks forward to presenting its case and that Silverado will “always grieve the loss of the residents to the pandemic and the frontline hero who cared for them.”

“We have taken the pandemic extremely seriously since the start,” Frum said. “We recognized COVID-19’s unprecedented threat to society, particularly for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Silverado was a leader in developing protocols for people living with dementia, and many of these same protocols became standards for the entire memory care industry.”

Relatives of some of the deceased residents and Ringo, who helped move the infected man into his room, filed lawsuits in December 2020 against the community, alleging that the owners placed residents and staff members at risk by admitting the man from New York. 

Forty-three recommendations stemming from a new study represent “an initial step” to filling a gap in guidance regarding medical and mental healthcare in assisted living, according to the study’s authors, who said that such guidance “has been long-awaited.”

“The recommendations provide a guide for practice and policy,” said Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty member who led the research effort. “They’re also largely feasible and pragmatic, because data show many are already in practice.”

Zimmerman was among the 19 experts who made the recommendations after rating 183 items of potential importance to medical and mental healthcare in assisted living. Their findings were published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The recommendations were grouped into five categories:

• Staffing and staff training,
• Nursing and related services,
• Resident assessment and care planning,
• Policies and practices, and
• Medical and mental health clinicians and care.

The most-recommended item came in the area of staff training: provide training in person-centered care.

The highest-scoring recommendations in the other categories, respectively: provide routine toenail care on-site, have residents present during assessment and care planning, have a policy/procedure regarding aggressive or other behaviors, and include post-visit notes for all off-site medical and mental healthcare visits.

“Assisted living is the largest residential provider of long-term dementia care, so we’re pleased that these recommendations reflect the specific needs of these individuals,” said panelist Douglas Pace, senior director of long-term and community-based care for the Alzheimer’s Association. The authors also noted that assisted living is the largest provider of residential long-term care in general in the United States.

As the field has grown, the medical and mental healthcare needs of assisted living residents have been increasing, according to the research. That assisted living residents have major healthcare needs is a point that was reinforced by a separate recent study by NORC at the University of Chicago that was funded by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.

The NORC study found a mean of 14.4 chronic medical conditions among assisted living residents. It also found that 71% of assisted living residents have a mental or behavioral health diagnosis, which NORC researchers defined as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other conduct disorders, autism, schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders, mood disorders (bipolar disorder, depression, major depressive affective disorder), anxiety disorders (anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), personality disorders, and substance use disorders (drug use disorder, opioid use disorder, tobacco use disorder, alcohol use disorder).

The 43 new recommendations, said panelist Christopher Laxton, CAE, executive director of AMDA–The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, will help ensure consistency in medical and mental healthcare across assisted living communities, which “have enormous variability in terms of size and variety of services.”

Lindsay Schwartz, PhD, board chair of the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living and founder and principal of Workforce & Quality Innovations LLC, said that the new recommendations will help CEAL promote person-centered care in assisted living.

Among the other experts on the 19-member panel:

• Kim Butrum, RN, MS, senior vice president of clinical services at Silverado;
• Pat Giorgio, MPS, president and CEO of Evergreen Estates and former board chair of the National Center for Assisted Living;
• Juliet Holt Klinger, MA, senior director of dementia care and programs for Brookdale Senior Living and 2021 McKnight’s Women of Distinction honoree;
• Margo Kunze, RN, treasurer and secretary of the American Assisted Living Nurses Association;
• Vicki McNealy, PhD, MN, RN, director of assisted living for the Washington Health Care Association, a state affiliate of NCAL and a state partner of Argentum; and
• Kevin O’Neil, MD, chief medical officer at ALG Senior.

The work was funded by the National Institute on Aging. 

Fifty companies providing residential senior living and care are in the spotlight this morning after Fortune announced its Best Workplaces for Aging Services lists for 2022, the fifth round of such lists Fortune has published in partnership with people analytics firm Great Place to Work and Activated Insights, the senior care affiliate of Great Place to Work.

Once again this year, Baltimore-based Brightview Senior Living topped the list for large-sized companies (1,000 or more employees), matching its performance in 2021, 2020 and 2019. New to the top spot on the list of small-to-medium-sized companies (10 to 999 employees) is Skokie, IL-based Legacy Healthcare.

In all, Fortune recognized a total of 65 workplaces in long-term care this year: 25 large senior living and care employers, 25 small to medium-sized senior living and care employers, and 15 home care companies. All told, the 2022 Best Workplaces in Aging Services lists feature 30 returning companies that also received recognition in 2021, as well as 35 honorees new for 2022.

To determine all of the 2022 lists, a total of more than 243,000 employees were invited to be surveyed across 4,220 locations. The rankings come after an analysis of the survey responses of more than 140,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies in senior housing and care and at-home care in the aging services industry.

To be certified as a Great Place to Work, operators must survey all of their employees using a “trust index survey” including 60 questions. Providers earn Great Place to Work certification if at least 70% employees surveyed confirm that an employer is a great place to work. Once certified, operators automatically are included in Fortune’s ranking process. Fortune and Great Place to Work then take the employee certification data and run it through an algorithm that adjusts for factors such as company size and consistency of all employee experience. The adjusted scores of each operator are then ranked.

This year’s rankings appear below. For more information about the lists, visit Fortune’s website.

Large senior living and care employers:

This year’s list contains many familiar names, with only six companies on this list not on the 2021 list.

1. Brightview Senior Living, Baltimore*

2. Citadel Healthcare, Rockford, IL*

3. Vi Living, Chicago*

4. Trilogy Health Services, Louisville, KY*

5. WesleyLife, Johnston, IA*

6. Silverado Senior Living, Irvine, CA*

7. Legend Senior Living, Wichita, KS*

8. Americare Senior Living, Sikeston, MO*

9. Sunrise Senior Living, McLean, VA*

10. Carlton Senior Living, Concord, CA*

11. MBK Senior Living, Irvine, CA*

12. The Arbor Co., Atlanta*

13. Leisure Care, Seattle

14. Holiday by Atria (formerly Holiday Retirement), Louisville, KY*

15. Sagora Senior Living, Fort Worth, TX*

16. The Springs Living, McMinnville, OR*

17. Benchmark Senior Living, Waltham, MA*

18. The Aspenwood Co. (formerly Retirement Center Management), Houston*

19. Benton House, Roswell, GA

20. Artis Senior Living, McLean, VA

21. Belmont Village Senior Living, San Jose, CA

22. Frontier Management, Portland, OR

23. Ohio Living, Westerville, OH*

24. Vetter Senior Living, Elkhorn, NE*

25. Harbor Retirement Associates, Vero Beach, FL

Small and medium-sized senior living and care employers:

There are lots of new names on this list, with 17 newcomers of the 25 communities named compared with 2021.

1. Legacy Healthcare, Skokie, IL*

2. Van Dyk Health Care, Hawthorn, NJ

3. Sun Health, Surprise, AZ*

4. Cascadia Senior Living and Fieldstone Communities, Yakima, WA*

5. Senior Star, Tulsa, OK

6. Embrace Living Communities, Oak Brook, IL*

7. MorseLife, West Palm Beach, FL

8. Keystone Senior, Springfield, IL

9. Buckner Retirement Services, Dallas

10. Galloway Ridge, Pittsboro, NC

11. Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL

12. Carol Woods Retirement Community, Chapel Hill, NC*

13. EveryAge, Newton, NC

14. Thrive Senior Living, Atlanta

15. Tel Hai Retirement Community, Honey Brook, PA

16. Arcadia Communities, Louisville, KY*

17. Waterford Senior Living / Memory Care, Waterford, WI

18. Solvere Living, St. Petersburg, FL

19. John Knox Village, Orange City, FL

20. Christian Care Communities & Services, Mesquite, TX

21. Mansions Senior Living, Oklahoma City, OK

22. Agemark, Berkeley, CA*

23. Lutheran Society Ministries of New Jersey, Burlington, NJ

24. 12 Oaks Senior Living, Dallas

25. Wesley Woods, Atlanta*

* On the 2021 list

See additional information about each organization on the Great Place to Work website.

The mandate was announced Aug. 27, about two weeks before President Biden announced that employers of 100 or more workers will be required to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce a negative test at least weekly before coming to work.

The announcement, made in a letter to employees and an online post by Integral Senior Living and Solstice Senior Living President and CEO Collette Gray, also comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine for people with weakened immune systems and President Biden announced a desired rollout of booster shots the week of Sept. 20 for most Americans, although the timing may change. 

ISL’s/Solstice’s booster shot mandate applies only to employees who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, for now, although the Moderna vaccine probably will not be ready by Sept. 20, the Associated Press reported. If a recommendation is made for a Johnson & Johnson booster shot, the company said, it will share that information with staff. 

Employees will need to show proof of their booster shot within two weeks of their eligibility date — as of now, that would be eight months after they received the second dose of either vaccine.

In a message to employees, Gray emphasized that the booster “is not a new vaccine” and that the third dose is expected to help extend the duration of effectiveness and protection against COVID-19.

“Most importantly, the vaccine is safe and effective at reducing the risk of serious illness, even against the delta variant,” she wrote. “It is our responsibility as a company to safeguard the health and well-being of our associates and residents, as well as the community at large, from risks associated with COVID-19.”

The company indicated that it is working to coordinate booster shots for residents.

Another company, Eventide Senior Living, In its employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate said that under its policy, all employees are required to get the COVID-19 vaccine “and any boosters” as advised by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AP reported that the FDA’s scientific advisers will publicly debate Sept. 17 whether to approve a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for a larger group of people. That’s three days before the Biden administration’s target to begin booster shots. If the FDA approves a booster dose, then CDC advisers will recommend who should get one, although the agency already is considering prioritizing long-term care residents and frontline healthcare workers, according to the news outlet.

LeadingAge is tracking COVID-19 vaccine mandate trends in each state. As of Aug. 25, 24 states had vaccine mandates, and nine states had vaccine mandate bans. 

Senior living companies requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees include Aegis Living, ALG Senior, American House Senior Living Communities, The Arbor Co., Ascension Living, Atria Senior Living, Benchmark Senior Living, Brightview Senior Living, Brookdale Senior Living, CareOne, Civitas Senior Living, Enlivant, Episcopal Homes, Episcopal Retirement Services, ER Senior Management, Eventide Senior Living, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, Five Star Senior Living, Genesis HealthCare, Harbor Retirement Associates, Homestead Assisted Living, Immanuel Senior Living, IntegraCare, Integral Senior Living, JEA Senior Living (now known as Sinceri Senior Living), Jewish Home Family, Juniper Communities, LCS, Masonicare, Meridian Senior Living, Pacific Retirement Services, Pegasus Senior Living, Phoebe Ministries, Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina, Presbyterian Senior Living, PruittHealth, Retirement Center Management, Silverado, Sun Health, Sunrise Senior Living, Transforming Age, Trilogy Health Services, Trinity Health, United Methodist Communities, Vi Living, Wesley Enhanced Living and Western Home Communities.

Industry groups — including AMDA–The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, the American College of Health Care Administrators, the American Health Care Association / National Center for Senior Living, the American Seniors Housing Association, Argentum and LeadingAge — either have encouraged vaccination or announced their support for vaccine mandates for all long-term care and healthcare employers.