Corporate Leadership. Executive Bios
Rowan Farber – President & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Farber is the founder of LifeHOUSE. Mr. Farber has significant experience in investment management and investment banking, including leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions and private and public company financings. To date, Mr. Farber has worked on several billion dollars of financings, leveraged buyout and merger & acquisition transactions for sovereign and corporate clients, including several Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Farber formerly was a Managing Director at Wharton Equity Partners in New York, a venture capital firm focused on technology and biotechnology investments. Mr. Farber previously worked at Berenson Minella & Company (“BMC”) an M&A boutique, providing a wide range of investment banking activities including M&A, LBOs, recapitalizations, and debt and equity-related financings in the private markets. BMC was founded in 1988 by Jeffrey Berenson, former Head of Merrill Lynch’s M&A Group, and Ray Minella, former Head of Merrill Lynch’s Leverage Finance Group. Certain principals also co-headed Merrill Lynch’s Merchant Banking Group. Previous to BMC, Mr. Farber worked for the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking of Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, where he worked on some of the most high profile corporate and project finance deals on Wall Street. Mr. Farber has a bachelor’s of commerce degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Tracy Clark – Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Clark is a highly respected and trusted executive manager with over 25 years of experience and a thorough knowledge of all aspects of general business operations. He brings expertise in strategic planning, financial analysis, business development, accounting controls, organizational structure, cost containment, and information systems. He was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for several successful companies and has provided start-up and management consulting for outside businesses. As a commercial loan officer, Mr. Clark played a key role in assessing new business ventures from both accounting and general business perspectives. In his work with federal and state government agencies, he has successfully obtained changes to significant regulations. His university education was in finance and accounting.
Bruce Ward – Senior Vice President, Administration
Mr. Ward joined LifeHOUSE as it’s Corporate Controller with over 25 years of audit, finance, information technologies and consulting experience with moderate to large entities primarily in the insurance and professional services industries. Mr. Ward’s experience ranges from strategic planning, financial analysis, budgeting, cost containment, treasury operations, payroll, regulatory compliance, internal controls, and risk management to financial systems development, and systems administration. As an external consultant, Mr. Ward has provided management advice for multiple Fortune 500 companies. He has been a Director of Finance and the CFO for many successful companies. His university education is in accounting and finance.
Ruben King-Shaw – Board Member
Mr. King-Shaw has served on numerous boards of directors and advisory boards for many companies and government agencies in healthcare over the past 25 years. Mr. King-Shaw’s previous experience includes serving as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Mr. King-Shaw also serves as Trustee of the University of Massachusetts, Director of Scripps Florida Corporation and Board of Directors for several government agencies and companies.
Jack Aronauer – Vice President of Quality Management
Mr. Aronauer joined LifeHOUSE as Vice President of Clinical Operations. Mr. Aronauer brings over 20 years of nursing knowledge and clinical skills to the Company. Mr. Aronauer has over 18 years of Executive Level Management in single facility and multi-facility management. Prior to LifeHOUSE, he has progressed from a Director of Nurses to Regional Clinical Consultant, Corporate Compliance Officer, Vice President of Clinical Services and Senior Vice President of Operations for various healthcare companies and organizations. Mr. Aronauer has extensive knowledge base regarding federal, state and long-term care regulations, California’s Title XXII, clinical operations of SNFs, ALFs, CCRC’s PPS and Medicaid, Medicare reimbursements. Mr. Aronauer is also a highly skilled Registered Nurse whose expertise encompasses Quality Assurance, Staff Development, Systems Implementation, Marketing, Team Building and Policy Development. He has a proven track record of solid regulatory compliance, quality census development and employee relations. Mr. Aronauer possesses excellent communication skills, thrives at motivating others and committed to providing exceptional care and services to resident he serves. He has a true passion for the senior care industry and an impeccable record of success.
Mark Blazer, Vice President of Operations
Mr. Blazer joined LifeHOUSE as Vice President of Compliance and Corporate Compliance Officer. He has 28 years of operational expertise in Long Term Care including Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living, Dementia Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities. Mr. Blazer has held multiple positions of Vice President of Operations, Regional Vice President, Director of Operations, Regional Operations, and Executive Director for 84 facilities within both regionalized and national corporations. An experienced operator, he has been responsible for multiple new start ups and acquisitions. Mr. Blazer is a graduate of Minnesota State University in Health Science and Business Administration.
Scott Meppen – Vice President of Rehabilitation
Mr. Meppen graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with his B.S. degree in Health Science and went on to complete his M.S. degree in Physical Therapy from the same university. He completed his MBA from Mercer University in Atlanta, GA. Scott has worked in a variety of settings including acute care, home health, outpatient and LTC. Over the past 6 years, he worked as a Divisional VP of Rehab and Director of Rehab Development for Sava Senior Care. He has developed clinical training for therapists related to treatment planning, Medicare guidelines, documentation, falls and balance, and Dementia management strategies. Scott has also conducted continuing education courses for therapists related to dementia. He is a patient advocate and loves working with the geriatric population. In May, 2009, he joined LifeHOUSE Health Services as the VP of Rehabilitation.
Richard Swartzbaugh – Vice President of Human Capital and Culture
Mr. Swartzbaugh joined LifeHOUSE as Vice President, Human Capital and Culture. Mr. Swartzbaugh is an experienced, results-oriented Human Resources business leader & doer (MA, JD) with a 16 year track record of success in fast paced, rapidly changing environments (including start ups, ramp ups, sustaining, turn-arounds, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, integration (MADI), business process insourcing & outsourcing) delivering measurable business results through strong leadership, process & fact-based problem solving, Best-in-Class business practices, talent strategies, talent management programs, enabling human resources core competencies, execution & continuous improvement in both union-free & unionized workplaces. Mr. Swartzbaugh’s employment & consulting experience has included domestic, international, Fortune 500 & privately held companies (single site, multi-site, multi-state, international) in multiple industry sectors including long term care, biotech, pharma, life sciences, healthcare, high tech, manufacturing, and professional services. Prior to LifeHOUSE, Mr. Swartzbaugh was Vice President, Human Resources at Kisco Senior Living (AL, IL, ALZ, CCRC) serving 3,500 residents, 1,500 employees, in 6 states.
Daniel Charpentier – Vice President of Operations
Mr. Charpentier is Vice President of Operations of the Michigan and Illinois portfolio for LifeHouse Management Services. His operational acumen in the long-term care industry has been proven throughout his 30-year career, as Chief Operating Officer for Senior Care Group, Inc. With consistent success in the areas of customer service, risk management, budgeting, and survey compliance, his reputation as a “turn-around specialist” in operations management is known throughout Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia, states in which he is currently licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator. Mr. Charpentier began his career in the long-term care industry as an owner operator of healthcare facilities in South Carolina, which were developed, operated, and subsequently sold. As former, Chief Executive Officer for Johnson Ezell Corporation, he was responsible for the total operations of three continuing care retirement communities in Florida, which were comprised of 1200 independent units, 300 skilled nursing beds, 250 assisted living units, and 3 home health agencies prior to the scale of the portfolio.