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Better
Together
February 10, 2015
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to our first joint edition of our Kindred/Gentiva Better
Together newsletter!
Last week, our organizations officially came together to create
the largest home and health hospice system in the United States.
After months of planning and preparation, we’re excited to celebrate
this milestone accomplishment.
KINDRED HEALTHCARE’S
MISSION is to promote healing,
provide hope, preserve dignity
and produce value for each
patient, resident, family member,
customer, employee and
shareholder we serve.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to work closely together
to identify best practices from our organizations that will enable
us to create a new platform for patient care transitions. This is
an ambitious goal that will take dedication, collaboration and
commitment from each of you.
A critical component to our success will come from the direction and
forward-thinking actions of an exceptional leadership team.
I wanted to make sure to announce our new Kindred at Home
Executive Leadership Team and Regional Presidents:
OUR KEY SUCCESS
FACTORS
• Take Care of Our People
• Take Care of Our Patients,
Residents and Customers
• Grow
• Be Efficient
• Manage Our Capital Wisely
• Organizational Excellence
Through Performance
Improvement
Kindred at Home Executive Committee
• Brandon Ballew, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative
Officer
• Todd Higgins, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• Susan Sender, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
• David Pearce, Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel
• Dean Johnson, Senior Vice President, Sales
continued
CONTINUE THE CARE
Our patient-centered, integrated
approach to managing care
transitions to support patients
recovery from an illness or injury.
• Dr. Ronald Crossno, Vice President, Medical
Affairs, and Chief Medical Officer
We hope you had a chance to listen to the Kindred
at Home employee call last Tuesday, February 3.
• Chris Mitchell, Vice President, Hospice Operations
If you were unable to dial in at the scheduled time or
• Kristen Nearhood, Vice President, Strategic
would like to listen to the call again, you can access
Initiatives
• Jason Owen, Southeast Region President
the recording at http://edge.media-server.com/m/go/
KAHG-20150203.
• Chris Gerard, South Central Region President
• Todd Sexe, North Central Region President
With any transition, there will be changes, ongoing
• Paul VerHoeve, West Region President
decisions and new information. We truly appreciate
• Susan Benoit, Mid Atlantic Region President
your patience and thoughtful questions throughout
• John Aurelio, Community Care President
the Kindred/Gentiva integration effort. While we
don’t have all the answers at this time, we wanted to
Shared Services
provide you with some additional responses to your
• Kelly Priegnitz, Senior Vice President and Chief
questions and encourage you to continue sending your
Compliance Officer
• Michael Tatelbame, Senior Director, Human
Resources
questions to the [email protected]
email address. Again, we are committed providing
you with information and decisions as soon as they
are available.
As a part of the integration, we are also beginning
to transition to our new regional structure. We are
Congratulations on a great start. We look forward to
confident that these changes will better support our
working with each of you.
future growth opportunities and expect there will be
minimal impact to our daily operations. Attached you
will find the map that outlines the regional structure
and leadership by division.
David Causby
continued
Kindred at Home Executive Committee
David Causby
Executive Vice President and President
Since joining Gentiva in 2003, David Causby has served in various senior leadership
roles including Senior Vice President of Operations and President for the Home
Health Division. Starting in May 2014, David assumed the role of Gentiva’s President
after serving as the COO and Executive Vice President. Prior to joining Gentiva, he
was the COO of Millennium Health Care Resources. David holds a nursing degree
from Presbyterian College and a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration from
the University of Phoenix.
Brandon Ballew
Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
Brandon Ballew joined Gentiva in 2001 as the Vice President of Finance and most
recently served as the Senior Vice President of Financial Operations for Gentiva
Healthcare. Brandon brings deep experience with financial and operational functions
within the healthcare space. Prior to joining Gentiva, Brandon served as the Vice
President of Finance for the Healthfield Group, a provider of home care services
in the southeast. Brandon also has past experience as an analyst for Navigant
Consulting, a multinational consulting firm. He holds a B.S. and an M.B.A. from
Florida State University.
Todd Higgins
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Prior to his current role, Todd Higgins served as Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer for the Care Management Division. Todd joined Kindred in 2008 as Senior
Director of Finance for the Rehabilitation Division. In 2011, he became an officer of
the company and was appointed Vice President and Controller for RehabCare. Prior
to coming to Kindred, Todd spent five years at KFC Corporation, a subsidiary of Yum!
Brands. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Louisville
and an M.B.A. from Bellarmine University.
Susan Sender
Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
Susan Sender joined the company in July 2013, bringing nearly three decades of
clinical experience to Kindred. Prior to Kindred, Susan spent five years working as
the Chief Clinical Officer and Vice President of Pediatric Operations for Loving Care
Agency. Susan has a breadth of clinical management experience, including serving
as the Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive for Gentiva and the Corporate
Director of Clinical Practice for Olsten Health Services. Susan has a B.S.N. from
Adelphi University and has published several articles on home care policy, pain
management and rehospitalization reduction.
continued
David Pearce
Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel
David Pearce is a seasoned and entrepreneurial lawyer and business executive with more
than 20 years of experience in the health care industry. His past experience includes
working as a partner for Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP and as General Counsel, Chief
Compliance Officer and Assistant Corporate Secretary for Extendicare Health Services,
Inc. David also served as Kindred Healthcare’s Vice President and chief counsel for
the nursing center division from 1999-2010 and was awarded the President and CEO’s
Service Excellence Award in 2009. Prior to entering the health care industry, David
served as general counsel for two high-ranking naval officers and provided general legal
services to an air station with over 1300 military and 1000 civilian personnel.
Dean Johnson
Senior Vice President, Sales
In his previous role as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Gentiva
Health Services, a position he held since 2012, Dean Johnson led Hospice and Home
Health Sales and Marketing teams. Prior to that, Dean was the Division Vice President
of Sales for Gentiva’s Home Health Division. Dean has 23 years of domestic and
international sales leadership experience in the post-acute care service environment.
He holds an Economics degree from the University of Colorado.
Dr. Ronald Crossno
Vice President, Medical Affairs, and Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Ronald Crossno became involved in hospice in 1993, as a part-time medical
director in Temple, Texas, a program that has since evolved through several mergers
and acquisitions to now become part of Kindred at Home. During that time, Dr.
Crossno became more involved with various aspects of hospice and palliative care
administration, becoming first a regional and later national medical director, for
VistaCare, Odyssey, and Gentiva. He is board certified in Family Medicine, Geriatric
Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Dr. Crossno was president of the
American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) in 2011, and in
2014, AAHPM honored him with the Josefina B Magno Distinguished Hospice
Physician Award.
Chris Mitchell
Vice President, Hospice Operations
Since 2014, Chris Mitchell has served as the Vice President of Hospice Operations
for Kindred’s Care Management Division. Prior to joining Kindred, Chris served
as President and CEO of Life Care Home Health and Hospice. Chris has extensive
experience leading hospice operations including Chief Operating Officer for the
Skilled Nursing Division of Life Care Centers of America, and Area Vice President,
Chief of Support Operations and Hospice Agency Executive Director for Gentiva
Health Services. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University
and a master’s degree from the University of Louisville. He is a retired U.S. Army
Lieutenant Colonel with distinguished service spanning 20 years.
continued
Kristen Nearhood
Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
Kristen Nearhood has over 18 years of experience in healthcare. Prior to her new
role, Kristen served as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Gentiva Health
Services. She joined Gentiva in 1997 as a Senior Financial Analyst and since that
time has served Gentiva in multiple financial capacities. Kristen went on to serve
as a Director of Finance in Gentiva’s consulting division, Assistant Vice President
of Finance and later Vice President of Corporate Finance. Kristen holds her B.S. in
Finance from Canisius College.
Jason Owen
Southeast Region President
Jason Owen has worked in the healthcare industry for over 15 years. Most recently he
served as Gentiva’s Southeast Region President monitoring home health and hospice
operations. Additionally, from January 2012 through August 2013 he supported
Gentiva’s Hospice Division as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of
Operations. Prior to joining Gentiva, Jason led various healthcare companies across
the country as the Senior Vice President. He holds an M.B.A., with a focus in Finance,
from Georgia State University.
Chris Gerard
South Central Region President
Chris Gerard has served as Chief Operating Officer of Kindred at Home since January
2014. Prior to joining Kindred, Chris was one of the original founders of IntegraCare.
IntegraCare, founded in 1998, was a single Home Health start-up location, but Chris’
vision to provide community service and hospice care turned the company into a
comprehensive, multi-location, industry-leading provider. As a result, IntegraCare was
purchased by Kindred Healthcare in October 2012, at which time Chris became Vice
President of the Central Region of Kindred at Home. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in
Finance from Texas Tech University.
Todd Sexe
North Central Region President
Since joining Gentiva in 1992, Todd Sexe has served as Branch Director, Market
Manager, Area Vice President, Vice President and Regional Vice President in multiple
locations across the country. Prior to entering the healthcare industry, Todd worked
in finance as an investment representative and financial planner at Edward Jones
& Company and ACS Financial Group, respectively. Todd holds a B.B.A. from the
University of Iowa.
Paul VerHoeve
West Region President
Paul VerHoeve is responsible for the overall home health, hospice, inpatient units
and physician house call operations and development for more than 60 locations
throughout 15 states. Paul joined Gentiva in 2012 and has more than 16 years of
experience in healthcare management. Paul served as the Senior Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer of Haven Hospice, a non-profit hospice provider in North
Florida. Paul also served as a Senior General Manager of Vitas Healthcare. He holds a
B.S. in Business from the University of Phoenix.
continued
Susan Benoit
Mid-Atlantic Region President
Susan Benoit has more than 13 years of operational experience and 24 years of sales
management. Susan joined Gentiva in 2008 as the Regional Vice President of Sales
for North and South Carolina. From 2012 through 2013, she served as Interim Vice
President of Sales for the Home Health Division while still leading the sales team of
the Carolinas Region. Prior to joining Gentiva, Susan was Regional Vice President for
the Adecco Group and Regional Vice President for Experian. Susan holds a B.S.B.A.
with a concentration in Marketing from Meredith College.
John Aurelio
Community Care President
John Aurelio has been with Gentiva for 27 years and has served as President of Home
Health and Hospice for Gentiva Health Services’ West Region. From 2013 to present,
John served as the President for the South Central Region. John began his tenure
with Gentiva as the First Division Controller and was responsible for several support
departments in the Central Support Kansas facility before he became Vice President
of Operations for the Western States in 1996. He holds a B.S. in Finance from
St. Joseph’s College.
Shared Services
Kelly Priegnitz
Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer
Kelly Priegnitz served as Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel for the Nursing
Center Division for more than three years before moving to her current role in July
2014. She has extensive experience and expertise in providing legal and regulatory
guidance related to healthcare operations, quality assurance, compliance/risk
management, and manages state, federal and internal investigations. Prior to joining
Kindred, Kelly held the role of Assistant General Counsel for Sun Healthcare for
seven years, along with providing counsel and compliance oversight for several other
organizations. Kelly is a leading authority among her peers, serving on the Legal
Subcommittee for the American Health Care Association and as an active member of
the American Health Lawyers Association. She is also a proud veteran of the United
States Air Force.
Michael Tatelbame
Senior Director, Human Resources
Michael Tatelbame joined Kindred five years ago and has held District and Regional
Director roles in the Human Resources division. As Senior Director of Human
Resources, Michael has been instrumental for a number of Company-wide initiatives,
including Kindred’s renewed Service Excellence Program, Culture of Service, and
the succession planning initiative for mid-level clinical managers, Executive Nurse
Leadership Program. Michael has over 20 years of human resources leadership
experience and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources and a Master’s in
Organization Development from Loyola University. Prior to Kindred, Michael held
Human Resources leadership roles for the University of Chicago Medical Center,
Columbia/HCA Healthcare, Rush Medical Center and United Airlines.
continued
Kindred at Home
Gentiva Home Health
Kindred Home Health
Gentiva Hospice
Kindred Hospice
West Region
South Central Region
North Central Region
Southeast Region
Mid-Atlantic Region
Frequently Asked Qustions
As a part of our ongoing effort to provide you with
resources and information related to the integration,
please see the following Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs). Our goal is provide you with transparent and
open communications as decisions are made. These
FAQs provide answers to questions from both our
new and legacy Kindred at Home employees. Moving
forward, we will continue to answer your questions
and provide information regarding our combined
organization through the Better Together newsletters.
MARKETING AND BRANDING
Will the Gentiva name change to Kindred now that
the transaction is complete?
At Kindred, we understand the importance of an
organization’s brand and have worked hard to promote and
build the Kindred brand over the years. We are planning
on slowly integrating Gentiva into the Kindred brand. We
want to ease our customers through this transition and help
them understand that the care and services they received
with Gentiva will be the same with Kindred.
continued
Since we will be such a large and geographically dispersed
organization, we feel strongly about all sites adopting
the unified Kindred brand once it is appropriate. We are
currently developing marketing and branding strategies
for areas throughout the country to help educate the
public and promote the unmatched strength of our
combined company.
How do we answer the phones now?
As mentioned previously, we plan to slowly integrate
Gentiva into the Kindred brand. Gentiva has an esteemed
reputation and we want to ensure our patients and their
families understand the level and standard of care they
received with Gentiva will remain the same with Kindred
at Home. When answering the phones, please continue to
remain professional and friendly. We ask that when you
refer to Gentiva you say, “Gentiva, an affiliate of Kindred
at Home.” Our ultimate goal is to merge the entire
organization under the Kindred at Home brand once our
company and the market is ready.
INTEGRATION ACTIVITIES
Do you plan to perform site visits as part of the
integration?
We understand the importance of site visits and want to
take the time to meet and connect with individuals in the
field. While we have traveled to a few locations already,
we are still working to determine how site visits will be
scheduled in 2015. We hope to have more information in
the coming weeks.
PROGRAMS AND POLICIES
Will the Gentiva branch continue to order patient
supplies from Medline and maintain a medical
supply room with Pay/Bill codes for each item used
loaded into Unity for the Medicare patients?
At this time, the process for ordering patient supplies will
not change. In the near future, we plan to enact a plan
to standardize contracts and analyze the Unity Software
System. As a combined company, it is important that
we use the most agile and effective systems and provide
standardized offerings to our patients.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Gentiva has been looking at new telemonitoring
equipment. What type of telemonitoring system/
equipment is Kindred currently using in patients’
homes? Is this equipment up-to-date in today’s
technology-driven world (wireless, Bluetooth
enabled monitors)?
Kindred understands the importance of investing in easyto-use, up-to-date telemonitoring equipment for the benefit
of both our employees and patients. For this reason, we
have invested in six different electronic information and
telecommunications systems at Kindred at Home. These
systems range from telemonitoring via phone calls to
technology solutions that enable our employees to record
and monitor vitals such as blood pressure, weight, and
pulse. As a part of the integration effort, we will continue
to evaluate which telemonitoring equipment best meets the
needs of our combined organization.