Next Step Healthcare to Manage MA Synergy Health Centers

From Denterlein: Synergy Health Centers, the owners of several Massachusetts nursing homes, announced that it has chosen Next Step Healthcare to manage operations of its facilities, which are located from Salem to Sunderland, Mass. The team was chosen for its history in operating skilled nursing facilities, understanding of the regulatory environment and ability to recruit and retain talented, committed staff.

“From the outset, our goal has been to provide a high quality, patient-centric care experience at each of our health centers,” said Zisha Lipschutz, the Chief Executive Officer of Synergy Health. “We engaged Next Step to conduct a full assessment of each center and create a consistent set of best practices. It did not take us long to recognize that they were the right long-term operating partner to help us implement industry-leading systems in delivery of care, center leadership, employee training and business management.”

Next Step has an accomplished history of operating facilities that have provided high-quality, skilled nursing care and is highly-regarded for their experienced management team, which includes its Massachusetts-based co-founders, CEO Damian N. Dell’Anno and CFO William H. Stephan. Both have spent their careers in the healthcare industry both operating facilities and providing advisory and consulting expertise in the long-term care sector.

Prior to founding Next Step, Dell’Anno and Stephan were executives at Boston-based Harborside Healthcare Corporation, whose subsidiaries owned, operated, and managed long-term care facilities across the United States, including 75 skilled nursing facilities, a nurse practioner service, a hospice and a home health care company.

Next Step will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the health centers, with full operational decision making authority. As part of its six-month assessment, Next Step identified several areas of focus in its leadership of the Massachusetts health centers:

• Developing standardized best practices across all areas of patient care;
• Supporting individual health center leaders in recruiting and retaining staff;
• Enhancing staff development across health centers;
• Matching caring staff with technological innovations to provide the highest quality rehabilitation service, pared with outstanding customer experience;
• Ensuring seamless care transitions as patients arrive from the hospital and return to their homes;
• Communicating each facility's specialized capabilities to the community

“Building on a more than $5 million investment in the physical plants, electronic medical record systems and patient quality of life programs, we plan to enhance the overall patient experience until it is the best in the state,” said Dell’Anno, who has 33 years of experience working in healthcare. “Over the past 10 years, we have seen a changing patient population which has caused a ripple effect in every aspect of the healthcare sector.”

“We are committed to adapting our practices, staff and facilities to meet these changes head on, all with the primary goals of maximizing our patients’ and our employees' well-being,” added Dell'Anno.

The Massachusetts nursing homes to be managed by Next Step include: Braemoor Health Center (Brockton); Grosvenor Park (Salem); Merrimack Valley Health Center (Amesbury); New England Health Center (Sunderland); Park Avenue Health Center (Arlington); Waban Health Center (Newton); Watertown Health Center; West Revere Health Center; Woodbriar Health Center (Wilmington) and Worcester Health Center.

About the Next Step Healthcare Management Team

Damian N. Dell'Anno, Chief Executive Officer: Damian Dell’Anno co-founded Next Step Healthcare in 2007. Prior to Next Step, he served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Genoa Healthcare, Chief Operating Officer of Formation Capital, and CEO, President and Chairman of Harborside Healthcare. Mr. Dell’Anno joined Harborside in 1989, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 1994, President in 2000, and was named CEO and Chairman in 2005.

Prior to that, he held several other positions in the health care services sector. Mr. Dell’Anno is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, Inc., and the Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio State Nursing Home Associations. Mr. Dell’Anno holds a B.S.B.A. degree in accounting from Suffolk University.

Mr. Dell’Anno previously served on the Board of Directors of Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PMTI) and was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Millennium Pharmacy Systems, Inc.

William H. Stephan, Chief Financial Officer: Prior to co-founding Next Step Healthcare in 2007, William Stephan had been Chief Financial Officer of Harborside Healthcare since 1994. Prior to joining Harborside, he was a senior manager in the healthcare practice of Coopers and Lybrand. Mr. Stephan’s clients at Coopers encompassed the full spectrum of the healthcare industry, from long-term care facilities and continuing care retirement centers to physician practices and acute-care hospitals. Mr. Stephan holds an AB degree from Hamilton College and an MBA from Cornell University.

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