| Cornerstone Hospice’s Leadership Team consists of the officers, directors, managers, and specialists who provide day-to-day guidance for the organization; under direction of our President / Chief Executive Officer, Pat Lehotsky. Directors
Pat Lehotsky Pat’s experience in Hospice care began in 1985 when she served as Financial Manager for an Orlando-area hospice. She joined Cornerstone in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer and was named Chief Executive Officer the following year. She provides overall management and guidance for the organization and reports to the Operations and Foundation Boards of Directors. In addition, she is a past President of Florida Hospices and Palliative Care, a statewide support organization for Florida’s 41 hospices, and currently is its Treasurer. Pat won the National Heart of Hospice Award in 2005 from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Ellen Bristol, MSN Ellen has more than 25 years of experience in various hospice and palliative care settings and joined Cornerstone Hospice in 2001. She is a member of the Oncology Nurses Society, Imperial Polk Chapter Oncology Nurses, and Case management Society of America. As Access Director, she provides oversight to all aspects of the patient admission process including referral and intake and supervises the Hospice Clinicians as they provide care and admission of hospitalized patients. She also plans and directs the activities of the organization's Community Liaisons, Community Relations, Public Information, and specialized outreach representatives working with Hispanic, African American, and diverse cultural communities.
Nick Buchholz In 2009, Nick came to Cornerstone Hospice after 25 years of fundraising experience at the American Heart Association and, more recently, with the University of Miami, School of Medicine. He has been extremely involved in community organizations, civic groups and activities in the many communities he has served. He feels his position is very rewarding and his way of serving the community.
Lucy W. Ertenberg, MD Dr. Lucy W. Ertenberg is board certified in both Hospice and Palliative Medicine as well as Family Medicine. A graduate of Indiana University Medical School, Indianapolis, Indiana, she completed her Family Practice Residency at St Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a family physician at the Bond Clinic in Winter Haven for fifteen years. In addition, she had five years experience as a hospice medical director before becoming the Cornerstone Hospice Medical Director for Polk County in 2005. In 2006 she was named Medical Director for all areas of Cornerstone Hospice's operations. While her expertise in leadership and strategic planning will help guide our hospice into the future, her main focus is quality, end-of-life care.
Tom Grimmer Tom joined Cornerstone Hospice in November, 2002, after having served as CFO and Vice President of Finance for Hospice of Metro Denver. Tom works closely with the Chief Executive Officer and Boards of Directors in developing and implementing financial plans and policies to guide the Hospice organization and the Hospice Foundation. He also directs the activities of Hospice’s Finance, HR and Information Technology departments.
Deb Harley
Deb Harley joined Cornerstone Hospice in early 2010 with a great deal of Hospice experience. Previously, she was the CEO for Hospice of Volusia Flagler for many years, and then held the position of Executive Director for Good Shepherd Hospice. After working with Tidewell Hospice, she left the state of Florida to join a Hospice in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She brings a great deal of experience in developing new programs and business within Hospice. In collaboration with the Senior Leadership team, Deb will help determine new avenues to produce additional revenue to complement our strategic goals. Cindi Harris-Panning, RN, BBA Cindi came to Cornerstone Hospice in January of 2005 with 20 years of hospice experience. She oversaw the operation of the Lake and Sumter patient teams, volunteer program, education program, medical records, the supplemental pool and our Pathways program. As Regional CEO, she now manages the Cornerstone Hospice division serving patients and families in Orange, Osceola, Polk, Hardee and Highlands Counties.
Mary Manrique, BA, BSN, MA Drawing on her more than 15 years of Hospice experience before coming to Cornerstone Hospice in 1999, Mary provides overall direction and administration for all of Cornerstone Hospice’s clinical personnel and programs for patients and families. These include nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains, and trained volunteers.
Dan McCormick Dan joined Cornerstone Hospice in March 2005. He has over 30 years experience in management in addition to overseeing commercial, residential construction and facilities management. Since 2000, Dan has put his experience in the non-profit community in management, community relations and fund development.
Rhonda White Rhonda had 10 years of experience in hospice and palliative care when she came to Cornerstone Hospice in 2008. She first began her career as a Social Worker then moved to the field of Compliance in 2001. As the VP of Quality & Compliance, she oversees the organization's efforts to comply with the Laws and Regulations. She monitors and evaluates our performance improvement efforts and helps the organization find new and creative ways to constantly improve quality. She supervises the Health Information Management, Education, Quality, and Risk Management Departments. Senior Management Team Sharon joined Cornerstone Hospice in 1999 and has served in various clinical positions. As Senior Manager for Hospice houses, she is responsible for recruiting, hiring, training new staff and start up operations for hospice houses. She works with house supervisors/managers for all the hospices houses. In addition as The Villages Regional Team Manager, she oversees hospice services throughout northern Lake and Sumter counties as well as manages The Villages Hospice House. Neil Christie Neil's background in social services spans both management and fieldwork. Since coming to Hospice in 1994 he has worked in both fields of social work and bereavement counseling. Currently he is managing a professional staff of Social Workers/Counselors who provide services in homes, long term care facilities, hospitals, admissions and other areas as needed. Barbara Lengemann, RN, BSN, CHPN Barbara was a Hospice nurse, Clinician, Admissions Manager and Education Coordinator before assuming her current role as Senior Manager of Services. Her job responsibilities include managing the Pathways program, PRN Pool and On-Call services. Management Team Lou Acuff, RN, CHPN Lou joined Cornerstone Hospice in 2001 as a Primary Care Nurse. Later she worked as both a Liaison and a Clinician before becoming Cornerstone's first Clinical Liaison in 2003. In 2006 she gained additional recognition when the Florida Hospices and Palliative Care organization named her its first-ever Hospice Spirit Award recipient. In early 2007 Lou was selected Cornerstone's first Clinical Liaison Manager. In this position she supervises the activities of all Clinical Liaisons throughout the seven counties served by Cornerstone Hospice. Julia A. Allen Julia was named to the Operations Board of Directors of Hospice of Lake and Sumter in 2001 and served as its Executive Secretary in 2003. At the time she had been the Physician Relations and Services Director for The Villages Regional Medical Center for five years. In February 2004 she joined the Hospice team as a Community Liaison and in February 2005 she was named Community Relations Manager. She is responsible for governmental relations and designated public and community relations’ activities as well as community education, audio/video production and market research in all seven counties served by Cornerstone Hospice. Lisa Gray D. J. Hamilton, CSM DJ came to Cornerstone Hospice with fifteen years of experience in the computer technology field in 2000. The Information Technology department is charged with the responsibility of supporting and providing the organization with solutions to effectively and efficiently meet its current and future computer and related needs. Ann Harr, R.N. Ann has been an RN for over 20 years with experience in Internal Medicine, Dialysis, Blood Banking and hospice. Prior to joining Cornerstone in 2005, she was with VITAS for 9 years. During her hospice tenure, she has held a variety of positions including Admissions Nurse, Admissions Manager, Primary RN, Team Manager, Crisis Care Manager and, most recently, Patient Care Supervisor for Cornerstone Hospice. Manny P. Hernandez Don Hires, BA, CPBC Don has over 19 years of experience as a Chaplain and Bereavement Counselor. He joined Cornerstone Hospice in 2000. His department, which consists of professional Bereavement Counselors and Chaplains, provides bereavement and spiritual care to Hospice patients and families. He also oversees our community bereavement program for families and individuals who have experienced the loss of a loved one, but did not have an affiliation with Hospice. Cindy Hoover Cindy joined the Hospice staff in 2000 as Executive Assistant to the CEO. She has more than 16 years of experience in hospice development and administration. She is past Membership Chair of the Grant Professionals Network and a past Ambassador of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. Patricia Ludemann, RN Patricia came to Cornerstone Hospice in November 2004. For sixteen years prior she had been the Manager for Home Health United in Wisconsin. As the Regional Team Manager in Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties, she is responsible for team staffing and education, patient care, coordination with community activities, and ensures her team is fiscally responsible. Jill McKinnie, RN, BS, CHPN Jill joined Hospice in 1987 and has served as a Nurse, Regional Team Manager and Education Coordinator. She now uses her clinical skills combined with her expertise in information technology to train field staff in clinically documenting patient activity via laptop computers. Mary Anne Meeker Mary Anne came to Cornerstone Hospice in 1992 as a staff accountant in the Finance Department. She earned her bachelor's degree in business from Stetson University. In response to Hospice's continued growth and complexity, Mary Anne has continually increased and broadened both her technical and managerial skills. She now supervises the work of all Finance Department personnel and is the Chief Financial Officer's direct assistant. Michael E. Metcalf, BA, PHR Mike has 13 years experience in the Human Resources field. Prior to joining Cornerstone Hospice he was the Human Resources Director with Presbyterian Village North, a Continuous Care Retirement Center in Dallas, Texas. Mike is the Diversity Chair with the Lake-Sumter Society for Human Resources Management as well as serving as a member of the Cornerstone Hospice Diversity Council. Mike has fiduciary responsibility for the Cornerstone Hospice 403(b) Employee Retirement Plan. Among his other responsibilities are oversight of compensation, benefits, employee relations, recruitment and workforce planning and employment.
Loretta Pruett, RN CHPN Loretta’s career with Cornerstone began in 1991 as a case manager. Prior to coming to hospice she worked in home health, assisted living facilities, hospital and office settings. She made the transition from field staff to supervisor in 2004 when she took the position of Supervisor of the Pool. She is now Manager of the Cornerstone Hospice Staffing Pool.
Donna Shafar, RN, CHPN Donna graduated from Kettering College of Medical Arts, Kettering, Ohio in May 1993 and began working at Kettering Memorial Hospital on the Oncology floor. In November 1993 she came to Cornerstone Hospice as a field nurse for The Villages team. In 2005 she became a Patient Care Supervisor for The Villages Hospice House. In October 2008 she was named Regional Team manager for The Villages Hospice House and the Lane Purcell Hospice House. She is a Certified Hospice Palliative Nurse. Fran Sykora, RN, CHPN Fran has a background in home health and medical office management. She has been with Cornerstone Hospice since 1994, first as a primary care nurse, then as a Regional Team Manager. Her team provides care for patients and families in south Lake and Sumter counties. Emilie Van Dusen, CHPN Emilie began her hospice career in 1988 and is a certified hospice nurse. She came to Cornerstone Hospice in 2001 and has been the Medical Records/QI/Compliance Manager and On-call Manager. She is now the Regional Team Manager for the Blue/Aqua homecare teams located in central Lake County.
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| Our Leadership Team |
