Movers and Shakers: Gurwin Jewish, TripleCare

Friedman Steps Down as CEO of Gurwin Jewish, Almer Named Successor

Herbert H. Friedman, founder of Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, is resigning from his post as CEO, Newsday reports. The Commack, N.Y.-based community is a non-profit provider of skilled nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living services.

Stuart B. Almer, administrator and chief operating officer, will succeed Friedman, taking on the role of president and CEO on January 1, 2018.

As part of the transition, Friedman will become president and CEO of a newly created parent entity, Gurwin Healthcare System, and of Fountaingate Gardens, Gurwin’s proposed 176-unit independent housing community in Commack. In this post, Friedman will oversee non-operational elements of Gurwin, while Almer runs operations and reports to the board of directors.

The proposed Fountaingate unit is designed as a component of a health-care community that allows residents to move to other areas of the 67-acre Gurwin Jewish campus as their care needs change.

Almer, who joined Gurwin in 2015 from Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in Queens, has been running operations at Gurwin’s 460-bed nursing and rehabilitation center, and also led the creation of a 60-bed memory-care unit.

Pollan Assumes Senior Project Manage Role for Triplecare

Long Island City, N.Y.-based TripleCare, a national provider of telemedicine-based healthcare services to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), has appointed Brett Pollan as its new senior project manager.

In his new role, Pollan serves as the team lead for the firm’s telemedicine implementations and efforts across the various SNFs with which it works, involving the management of all the technical requirements necessary for integrating TripleCare’s system with electronic health records (EHRs) and other technology components.

Prior to joining TripleCare, he was a senior project manager at Sunrise, Fla.-based MDLIVE, a telehealth provider, where he managed multiple healthcare technology projects. He was promoted to this post from client operations analyst, a role in which he forecasted and tracked key account metrics, evaluated key performance indicators and monitored potential risks.

He also served as an area manager and regional training manager for Healthcare Services Group, which provides housekeeping, laundry, dining and nutrition services to the healthcare industry.

Pollan is based at TripleCare’s Long Island City headquarters.

Katz Assumes Administrator Role at Wingate at Weston

Wingate at Weston, a Weston, Mass.-based skilled nursing community offering short-term rehab, long-term care and respite care, has welcomed Michelle Katz as its new administrator. The community is operated and managed by Needham, Mass.-based Wingate Healthcare.

In her new role, Katz will oversee the entire skilled nursing community and work with the team at Wingate Residences at Weston, a memory care assisted living community situated on the same continuum of care campus, to ensure all residents receive needed care. Katz will also ensure that the community meets all state and federal regulations.

She brings more than 10 years of experience in long-term care. Previously, Katz served as administrator and executive director at senior living communities throughout Massachusetts. Most recently, she served as administrator of senior care community CareOne.

Wiffler Steps Up to Executive Role for Villa Healthcare

Skokie, Ill.-based Villa Healthcare, a provider of long-term skilled nursing care, has named Paxton Wiffler its new executive vice president.

Wiffler brings more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare field to Villa Healthcare. Most recently, he served as a principal at Accountable Care Consulting based in Minneapolis.

Along with healthcare consulting, Wiffler served as interim chief operating officer and COO at American Senior Communities and Skilled Healthcare LLC, respectively.

In addition, Wiffler worked at Golden Living — formerly Beverly Healthcare — for more than 15 years, serving as executive director and then regional director of operations. He then became the community’s senior vice president of operations and, finally, division president.

Welcome to Movers & Shakers, a new feature on Skilled Nursing News that runs down the latest in hirings, promotions, and other personnel moves in the industry. Got an employee you’d like to show off? Drop us a line at [email protected] with information.

Written by Carlo Calma