Piñon

Jeff Jerebker, President & Chief Executive Officer

Jeff’s unique vision of developing facilities that offer quality of life and profitable financial returns has made Piñon Management Colorado’s premiere independently–owned management company. Seen as a visionary for long–term care, Jeff has been in the forefront of many of Colorado’s healthcare trends, helping to effectuate changes that benefit residents and providers alike. His extensive expertise in program management and comprehensive accounting services is complemented by his strong commitment to the delivery of quality services in long–term care. Jeff earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Syracuse University and holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin. Jeff is the recipient of the Colorado Health Care Association’s “Vesta Bowden Award” for excellence, the “Distinguished Veteran Advocate Award” from the United Veterans Committee of Colorado and serves on the national boards of Directors for the Eden Alternative™ and Pioneer Network. Jeff has served as a consultant to the Colorado Department of Health and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance. With appointments to professional bodies addressing care issues for the elderly, Jeff has demonstrated his leadership, experience and expertise. Those committees include the Ombudsman Advisory Committee, Colorado Case Mix Review Reimbursement Task Force, Health Facility Review Council, Colorado Culture Change Coalition and provider Committees of the Colorado Department of Health and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance.

John D. Brammeier, CPA, FHFMA, Chief Financial Officer

John Brammeier, Chief Financial Officer for Piñon Management, is a Certified Public Accountant and a Fellow of the Colorado Healthcare Financial Management Association. John has over 20 years of healthcare financial management experience and expertise, having worked for the Medicare Fiscal Intermediary, and “Big Six” healthcare audit and consulting experience. Since earning his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado, John has acquired the practical knowledge and financial expertise necessary for anticipating and understanding the changes occurring within the healthcare industry today. His experiences have equipped him with a working knowledge of Worker’s Compensation rules and Medicaid and Medicare regulations for more than twenty states. He is a former President of the Colorado Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), is currently the Treasurer for the Board of Directors for Colorado Health Care Association (CHCA), and served as Treasurer for the Colorado Homes and Services for the Aging. John is an Eden Alternative™ Associate and serves on the CHCA Payment for Governmental Services Committee, often leading subcommittees as Chairperson. He is a member of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) Finance Committee. In addition, John is a member of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) National Financial Advisory Panel (FAP). As the Chief Financial Officer for Piñon Management, John oversees a staff of corporate controllers, budget and reimbursement specialists, staff accountants and field analysts. He is responsible for reviewing the monthly financial reports, annual budget projections, and overseeing Piñon’s corporate development and information systems.

Nancy K. Schwalm, NHA, BSW, Chief Business Operations Officer

Nancy brings over 25 years of long–term care leadership expertise to her role at Piñon Management in business development, operations management, marketing and public relations, nursing home administration and social work. Receiving her social work degree at the University of Nebraska, Nancy also holds Management and Organizational Development certificates from the University of Denver and the University of Alabama. Nancy heads up Piñon’s business operations, project management, marketing, admissions and public relations services. She is a national public speaker on business and leadership topics affecting today’s long–term care provider and consumer. Nancy is Past President of the Board of the Colorado Culture Change Coalition, serves on the Public Policy Committee for the Rocky Mountain Alzheimer’s Association and is active within the Colorado Health Care Association. With over 15 years as a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and Assisted Living Director, Nancy’s teams have won numerous community and association awards and recognitions for quality–of–life programs for residents, including her receipt of the “2006 Distinguished Service Award” from the United Veterans Committee of Colorado and the Colorado Health Care Association’s “Administrator of the Year” award in 2000. Nancy has served as a key Piñon project consultant for special turnaround work and brings a strong resident–centered focus to her work in developing innovative and recognized facility leadership and operational programs and services. Nancy co–authored “The Consumer’s Guide to Colorado Nursing Homes” and served as a resident, family and community advocate as a private geriatric care manager. Nancy is an Eden Alternative™ Associate and Mentor.

Karyn Leible, MD, Chief Clinical Services Officer

Karyn earned her bachelor’s in biology from Boston University while still working as a nurse in various positions—mostly intensive care—with both adults and premature infants.. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and then attended medical school in Colorado where she also graduated with honors. Karyn did an internal medicine residency and a two–year geriatric fellowship. While in her fellowship, she developed her own learning tract concentrating on long–term care and hospice. Her career in medicine has brought her to three different states where she has been a part of each state’s chapter of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) and instrumental in setting up standards for the chapters’ annual meetings. Dr. Leible is very active with the AMDA where she has been on many committees and chair of the public policy committee. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the organization and a faculty member in the AMDA Core Curriculum. Locally she is vice president of the Colorado Medical Directors Association. She was recently appointed by Governor Ritter to be a member of the Commission on Aging for the state of Colorado. Dr. Leible joined Piñon in May 2008 as the Chief Clinical Officer. She works closely with the Piñon clinical staff to maintain quality of care for the elders entrusted to the Piñon team.

Nancy Fox, Chief Life Enhancement Officer

Nancy began her career in long–term care in the mid 1980s and has served at both the facility and regional levels, with her last position as Administrator of the Arboretum of San Marcos, a skilled facility in central Texas. After attending the first Eden Associate training in May 1996, Nancy became committed to the process of culture change using The Eden Alternative™ as an operating philosophy. Her facility was featured as a model Eden facility on ABC’s World News tonight with Peter Jennings and in an article published in Southwest Airline’s “Spirit Magazine.” In December 1999, Nancy was named the first Eden Alternative™ Mentor in the nation. In May, 2002, The Eden Board of Directors hired her as the first Executive Director for the organization. In this role, she brought the organization to national and international prominence, enlarged the Eden network of Educators and Mentors, and expanded the influence of the Eden philosophy to impact Elders living at home, as well as those requiring life–long supportive living environments. Nancy is recognized as a leader and pioneer in the culture change movement. She is a well–known speaker and educator and has presented at many major conferences. She is the author of “The Journey of a Lifetime: Leadership Pathways to Culture Change in Long–Term Care,” published in March 2007. She continues her positions as an Eden Mentor and Educator and volunteers her help with the Pioneer Network. A native–born Texan, Nancy is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University with an undergraduate degree in applied arts and sciences and post baccalaureate certificate in long–term care administration. She is a licensed nursing home administrator in Texas. In her role at Piñon, Nancy serves as a member of the Executive Council and helps in strategic planning and visioning for the organization, as well as mentoring some members of the Vice President team. She also oversees the organization’s culture change efforts and develops and provides education and consulting in person–centered care, the Eden Alternative™, leadership, conflict management, and team building. Nancy continues her role as a national speaker and educator on culture change. She is completely committed to the transformation of eldercare, and looks forward to the day when person–centered care becomes the model for long–term care, instead of the exception. “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.” — Unknown

Mary Fuentes, CPA, Vice President of Financial Services

Mary is a certified public accountant with over eighteen years of experience in the areas of financial accounting, auditing, budgeting, management and planning. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Denver before beginning her accounting career at Deloitte & Touche LLP, where her clients included a broad range of for–profit and not–for–profit service organizations. Prior to joining Piñon, she worked for six years as the North American Accounting Manager of a global technology company. Currently, Mary oversees financial reporting and budgeting for the facilities managed by Piñon. Her responsibilities include oversight of external and managerial financial statements and budgets, management of the professional accounting staff, and collaboration with external auditors, facility owners and Boards of Directors. She also performs consulting services that address risk assessment and internal control compliance. Mary is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Jefferson Symphony Association. She was formerly the Treasurer of the Colorado Culture Change Coalition and is a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is committed to increasing the transparency of financial reporting and to enhance the provision of key information in order to support integrated operational decision making.

Bruce Odenthal, Vice President of Operations

Piñon Management welcomes well-known Colorado long-term care expert, Bruce Odenthal, to its senior management team. Bruce brings over 20 years of proven experience to Piñon Management working with national, publicly-traded chains in a management role and having a strong background in successful multi-state operational leadership. In his role at Piñon, Bruce will provide operational oversight for Piñon’s thirteen managed properties in Colorado and New Mexico, and serve as Team Leader for Piñon’s interdisciplinary Operations Team. Bruce is active in the long-term care community of providers and is a past Board member of the Colorado Health Care Association. Bruce stated that he was “looking forward to working with Piñon as a Colorado-based company with local roots and focus,” and is excited to be a part of Piñon’s national leadership in person-directed care and culture change service models. In addition to serving as a Regional Vice President of Operations and Nursing Home Administrator, Bruce has degrees in Nursing and Human Services. Bruce and his family have been in Colorado since 1988 and call Loveland, Colorado home.

Pam Rios-Menter, Vice President of Psychosocial Services

Pam brings over 12 years of experience as a clinical social worker and clinical leader in long–term care, psychiatric and hospice settings in addition to 16 years of professional management experience with a nationally recognized telecommunications company. Pam previously worked in Houston as one of the lead clinicians for an outpatient mental health clinic that served over 1500 patients in Harris County. She has worked extensively with both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services as a psychotherapist and case manager at University Health Systems affiliated with the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio, Texas, where she was fortunate to receive her psychiatric training from the chief of psychiatry. Pam worked as a Social Service Director for a long–term care facility and a nationally recognized hospice company which delivered services to residents of the Texas hill country and the San Antonio area. She owned and operated a private geriatric consulting business which served families in the Texas hill country for over three years. Pam obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Social Work from the Worden School of Social Service at Our Lady of The Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. Pam is licensed as a clinical master’s level Social Worker and holds a Certificate in Professional Mediation from the University of Denver. She is a past member of Toastmasters and is a certified instructor of Crisis Prevention Management. She is also an Eden Alternative™associate. She previously served on the Janseen Pharmaceutical Case Managers advisory board, Alzheimer’s Association Texas Hill Country chapter and was a continuing education speaker in the state of Texas regarding Alzheimer’s and mental illness issues. Pam is currently an agency liaison for the MSW program at the University of Denver and an active speaker⁄trainer for the Colorado Health Care Association Social Service certification program. She has been a past presenter for the CHCA assisted living conference. She continues her participation as an active committee member for the Colorado Pay–for–Performance program and co–authored the state behavioral programming criteria for Colorado House Bill 1114. Pam’s strengths are primarily in program design and implementation and training and mentoring of psychosocial staff. She oversees psychosocial consulting and management services for all Piñon–managed homes.

Marge McConnell, Vice President of Clinical Services

Marge has over 30 years of health care experience with extensive knowledge of, and experience in, long–term care as well as in a hospital setting. Marge holds a Colorado Nursing Home Administrator license. She has held positions in health care administration including Assistant Vice President of nursing in a hospital setting as well as DON, NHA, Regional Director of Operations and Regional Clinical Director in long–term care. In addition, Marge has worked as the Director of the Quality Improvement committee for a 100–bed hospital and also as a grief and loss counselor.She has previously worked as an RN in various hospital settings including ICU, CCU, oncology and med–surg. She received her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. Marge is committed to quality and resident–centered care.

Mary A. Gillette, MSN, RN, CNS, Vice President of Clinical Services

Mary is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Primary Healthcare of Adults and shares her 30 plus years experience in her current role. Her diversified background encompasses hospital, academia, research, long term care and public speaking. She has successfully worked for all sized companies, both privately owned and national chains and has had regional responsibilities that reached across the country. Mary’s passion and expertise lie in both the Clinical and Performance Improvement/Quality Assurance areas. She develops solutions to problems which improve the quality of life for residents. This is exemplified in a product she developed in collaboration with a manufacturing company to reduce the risk of siderail entrapment. She has extensive knowledge and experience in Long Term Care and in particular, State and Federal Regulations and Standards. As, a certified Eden Associate she promotes the Culture Change Philosophy and emphasizes resident centered care. Mary participates in special projects with outside organizations such as the University of Denver and Nursing Home Quality, LLC. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services recognized Mary in 2008 for Excellence in Nursing. Mary earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing degrees from Seton Hall University in So. Orange, New Jersey. Mary is a graduate from the Leadership for Resilience fellowship in advanced leadership development and teamwork program, Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership, Denver, Colorado, November 2009.

Robyn Herman, Director of Information Systems

Robyn has been the Director of Information Technologies for Piñon Management since 1998. She is responsible for the design, implementation, and continued successful operation of Information Technology (IT) programs and initiatives throughout the Piñon Network. Prior to joining Piñon, Robyn was employed as Information System Manager by an international engineering corporation, providing technology support to companies located as far away as Taipei and Singapore. She has provided information technology services for over 25 years, working with the very first network operating system released, Novell 1.0. Under Robyn’s guidance, Piñon’s network infrastructure is state–of–the–art, using the latest technologies and setting a standard for health information security. Robyn attended Southwest Texas State University.

Mary Koretke, Director of Reimbursement

Mary brings 25 years of long–term care business office and regional manager experience to her role at Piñon Management. Expertise in accounts receivable includes collections, auditing of A⁄R, training and Medicare, Medicaid and Insurance billing. She has worked with two other national companies in her career which has taken her into numerous states across the country as a Regional Account Manager. Mary has experience in new A⁄R system design and policy implementation. In her current role as Director of Reimbursement, she is responsible for preparing Medicare and Medicaid cost reports and analyzes the detail of the financial data to ensure that the facility receives accurate reimbursement. Mary has Associates degrees in Accounting and Management as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from North Central College in Illinois.

Heather Terhark, Director of Sales and Marketing

Heather has over 16 years experience in healthcare marketing, business development and management. Prior to joining Piñon, Heather served in many roles in healthcare, including California–licensed Assisted Living Administrator, Marketing Director for a group of assisted living communities in Southern California and Regional Marketing Director for skilled nursing facilities in Missouri, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. She also worked for a home health agency developing Medicare, private duty and geriatric case management business. Heather has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Healthcare Administration from Frederick Taylor University and attended Missouri State University at Springfield, where her focus of study was Recreation Leisure Studies with an emphasis on Wellness. After joining the Piñon team, Heather guided North Star Community to achieving 100% capacity. In her current role, Heather provides marketing and business development oversight, guidance and direction to the Admission⁄Marketing Directors of the Piñon–managed homes.

Sarah Bogucki, PHR, Human Resources Coordinator

Sarah has nearly 20 years of finance and accounting experience with an education in Human Resource Management. After spending her first years at Piñon as an Accounting Manager, she was promoted to Human Resources Coordinator. Sarah has a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resource Management from the University of Colorado at Denver, a Management Certificate from the University of Denver and a Business Certificate from the International Business College. Sarah is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Colorado Human Resource Association. In her previous jobs, she won several awards for outstanding service and for surpassing management expectations. As Piñon’s Human Resourcees Coordinator, Sarah provides consultant services to Piñon–managed homes and Piñon corporate on HR–related issues, assists in developing recruitment and retention strategies, HR policies and procedures and researching and implementing employee benefit programs. She provides a variety of training sessions on topics including employee relations, effective hiring and compliance issues such as FMLA, ADA and COBRA. Sarah’s passion is HR and she works diligently to keep up to date on the constant changes within the world of Human Resource Management.