The Pennant Group announced a reorganization of its executive team on Tuesday, starting with a search for a new chief financial officer.
In addition to the CFO position, the Eagle, ID-based parent company of a group of affiliated senior living, home health and hospice companies announced that Derek Bunker, chief investment officer, executive vice president and secretary, will resign from his position effective Dec. 31.
“As we chart the course for Pennant’s future and continue our growth story, we are focused on investing in our leadership in the field and service center,” CEO Brent Guerisoli said in a statement. “As part of this effort, we are excited to add strength to our leadership team and deep bench of finance and accounting talent by adding a CFO with unique experience and perspective, who will build on our solid foundation and help drive Pennant’s growth.”
Current CFO Jennifer Freeman will serve as interim CFO during the search process and will continue to “play an important leadership role” on the Pennant finance team, according to the company.
“As Pennant’s first chief financial officer, Jenn has played a critical role in executing the spinoff transaction, building a strong finance team and supporting the development of our service center,” Guerisoli said.
President John Gochnour said that Pennant’s “unique operating model” emphasizes local ownership by operational and clinical leaders supported by a service center.
“As we accelerate growth in our home health and hospice segment and continue to build operational momentum in our senior living segment, we continue to strengthen our leadership infrastructure through disciplined investment,” Gochnour said. “Our entire leadership team will continue to be laser focused on operational excellence and adherence to the unique operating model that has driven our success over the last decade.”
The Pennant Group spun off from The Ensign Group, based in San Juan Capistrano, CA, in 2019 to include substantially all of Ensign’s independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, plus its home health and hospice operations. Earlier this year, however, Ensign announced that several of the spun-off senior living communities returned to Ensign.
“After several years of operating independent of Ensign, both Pennant and Ensign determined that due to the nature of these buildings, most of which are part of healthcare campuses that include Ensign-affiliated skilled nursing operations, the operational efficiencies and other strategic advantages justified returning these operations to Ensign,” Ensign said at the time.
Pennant’s independent operating subsidiaries provide services in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
During a third-quarter earnings call earlier this month, Gochnour and Guerisoli said the company’s focus is on attracting and developing CEO-level leaders to accelerate the turnaround of its senior living segment.
