Member News

	Scott Cairns, Executive Director, Indian River Estates East	George R. Bryan, Executive Director, Indian River Estates

Scott Cairns Named Executive Director and George R. Bryan Promoted to Campus Executive Director at Indian River Estates – (press release) Indian River Estates East, an ACTS Retirement-Life Community in Vero Beach, Florida, recently announced the appointment of Scott Cairns as Executive Director. Indian River Estates is a continuing care retirement community that offers a continuum of independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care. Cairns will have day to
day operational responsibilities for the eastside of the campus, OakBridge Terrace, campus resident nursing offices and campus environmental services in addition to the chaplain, culinary and resident services departments.

Cairns obtained his Florida Nursing Home Administrator’s license in 2009 and was most recently employed by Cypress Health Group, Inc. in the Vero Beach area as an Administrator. During his tenure, he achieved numerous operational accomplishments and has extensive experience in the senior living industry.  

Cairns has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Michigan State University. He is a current committee member of LeadingAge CCRC as well as a member of the 2013 Florida Healthcare Association Florida Leader’s Class. Cairns also served on the American Healthcare Association’s national customer experience committee.

In related news, George R. Bryan has been promoted to the new campus executive director of Indian River Estates and will be based in the west community. Bryan joined ACTS in 1994, serving in such roles as a nursing home administrator and, most recently, as executive director of Indian River Estates East. In his new role, he will oversee the daily operations of the community including campus-wide maintenance; transportation, landscaping and security departments. He will also be responsible for managing all aspects of WillowBrooke Court.

Bryan is licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator in Florida and Pennsylvania. He holds a Bachelor’s in Health Service Administration from the University of Central Florida and as well as a Master’s from Florida Atlantic University. He serves as the President of the Alzheimer-Parkinson Association of Indian River County, as well as an At Large Trustee Board Member and Chair of the Membership Committee of LeadingAge Florida. 

Indian River Estates is a continuing care retirement community located Vero Beach that offers a continuum of independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care. For more information please click here.

The Storied Lives of the People We Serve – These stories appeared in the November/December 2013 issue of LeadingAge Magazine and features inspiring residents and their community staff members from LeadingAge Florida members, Fleet Landing and Westminster Gardens.

Richard and Alice Stratton – Fleet Landing, Atlantic Beach

In May, Alice and Richard Stratton participated in the 40th anniversary celebration of the White House welcome home dinner for returning Vietnam Prisoners of War. Over 200 RPOWs and their spouses attended the event, held over two days at the Richard M. Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA. The re-creation of the formal dinner was held in the Library’s reproduction of the White House East Wing Gold Room, and presented the same menu as used at the White House in 1973. Alice Stratton, the former vice president of the Fleet Landing CCRC and as such the organizer of Fleet Landing’s patriotic holiday celebrations for the last two years, accompanied her husband at both the 1973 and 2013 events.

Alice, a clinical social worker, was the first deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for personnel and family matters under President Reagan from 1985 to 1989. Richard, also a clinical social worker, is a retired Navy captain, a naval aviator and was a prisoner of war from 1967 to 1973.

The Strattons moved to Fleet Landing in 1993. Alice became involved in the Daughters of the American Revolution and was active in organizations such as the Beaches Women’s Partnership, Pattern Changing for Abused Women, Rainbows for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents, Children with Deployed Parents and the Alpha Chi Omega alumni. Richard’s only complaint is that Alice is busier in retirement than when she was working full time!

– Olivia Luker Bush, director charitable gift planning, Fleet Landing

Valter Lewis – Westminster Gardens, Tallahassee

Valter Lewis has a kind, cheerful disposition that is enjoyed by all residents and staff. He’s the kind of resident who lives to help others and makes life at Westminster Gardens better for everyone.

His volunteer hours for the numerous agencies—Meals on Wheels, a soup kitchen, and the Westminster Gardens Elder care lunch program—are admirable. He is in charge of the popcorn machine and sets up distribution for our movie/bingo nights. He has also been employed with Publix for 39 years.

One story is typical of Lewis: A resident who sits on the lobby bench each afternoon had a puzzled look on her face due to a squeaky and dragging wheel on her walker. Lewis asked if he could examine the walker. Lewis spent quality time trying to find the cause of the problem, going to his apartment for tools. He finally resolved the problem which resulted in the return of the resident’s warm smiling face.

Lewis displays his collection of beautifully modeled cars, each completed to perfection. He also makes beautiful macramé pot holders, which he will customize to match people’s favorite sports team colors. The examples of what Valter Lewis provides to the Tallahassee community as well Westminster Gardens are far too many to list. We are happy to have him as part of our Westminster Gardens family.

– Gina Mora, administrator, Westminster Gardens

Miami Jewish Partners with Managed Care Plans – This is an excerpt from a story titled, “Providers Find Their Place in Managed Care for Medicaid and Dual-Eligibles from the November/December 2013 issue of  LeadingAge Magazine. Rather than simply providing services for managed-care plans, long-term care providers can partner with them, as Miami Jewish Health Systems in Miami, FL, has done with Molina Healthcare of Florida. The partnership begins Dec. 1, 2013, and includes case management services for current participants of home- and community-based Medicaid waiver or diversion programs, as well as nursing home residents who choose Molina as their long-term managed care plan provider in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, FL.

Miami Jewish has about 2,500 community-based clients moving into managed-care plans. As the current case manager for those people and residents of its nursing community, Miami Jewish is responsible for helping them enroll in the managed-care plan of their choice. Clients not selecting Molina will receive a new case-management provider.

“We were highly motivated to find a partner who would allow us to work with them to use the skills we had built up over 25 years to keep nursing-home eligible individuals living in the community,” says Cliff Bauer, senior vice president at Miami Jewish. He expects people happy with current services will choose Molina and stay with Miami Jewish.

Miami Jewish subcontracts with other organizations to provide most of the hands-on personal care, home health services, assisted living and adult day services. But it will also contract with Molina to provide some of those services as well as skilled nursing and hospital care. Molina will continue working with Miami Jewish’s provider network.

"We want to make this as seamless a transition for the frail elderly as possible,” Bauer says.

Additionally, anyone in certain geographic areas of the community choosing Molina will be assigned for case management to Miami Jewish. Case managers will assess each client’s needs, during a home visit within 72 hours of enrollment, and arrange services, such as homemaker or meals services, which will allow the resident to live safely in a non-institutional setting. They try to reduce clients’ declines in health.

“Case management is the critical factor,” Bauer says. “Case managers are the quarterbacks and gatekeepers.”

Moving forward, Bauer expects providers will have to assume more financial risk associated with providing services in a cost-effective manner.

“We encourage others to look at managed care with a partner, not just as a contracted provider,” Bauer advises. “If an organization is not familiar with managing risk, do it in a conservative manner. Don’t jump in head first; walk into the shallow end and as you get more comfortable, it may make more sense.” To read the full article, please click here.