Mary Sue Patchett (file photo)
Mary Sue Patchett has been named Brookdale Senior Living’s chief operating officer, a position in which she will continue to play a central role in the company’s new regional operating structure, the country’s largest senior living company announced Tuesday afternoon.
Patchett will begin serving in the role Dec. 1. The 62-year-old also will have the title of executive vice president, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It’s the first time in more than 10 years that the company has hired a COO, with the last offer being made in October 2015,to Labeed Diab. He began serving in the role in November 2015 and stayed in the position for about two years.
Since September, Patchett has been serving as interim executive vice president – community and field operations, reporting to CEO Nick Stengle. Reporting to her are six regional vice presidents as well as leaders in clinical, dementia care, service alignment, resident and family engagement and experience and dining.
“It has been over 10 years since Brookdale formally appointed a COO, and Mary Sue is the right leader during this transformative time at Brookdale,” Stengle said Tuesday in a statement. “We are focused on improving operating performance and continue to build upon the momentum that began earlier this year. With Mary Sue’s experience, competency and passion for our mission, she’s the right person for this position. I’m excited to partner alongside her each day and accomplish our goals as a team.”
The CEO, who joined the company in October, detailed Brookdale’s move to a regional operations model Nov. 7 on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
“The new structure is designed to focus the entire company, from our headquarters down to each of our communities, on delivering operational excellence,” he said at the time. “One concern we sometimes hear is that Brookdale is a national company that does not have the ability to be as nimble and focused as smaller regional companies.”
The organizational change, which Brookdale said Patchett helped design and implement, established six regions, each including approximately 100 senior living communities and headed by a regional vice president.
“In effect, these six regional leaders act similarly to a general manager, having direct ownership of their specific business,” Stengle said on the call. “We are, in practice, six operating companies of roughly 100 communities each that are tied together with the resources provided by a central support team in the form of our community support center,” which is the company’s Brentwood, TN, headquarters.
Patchett brings 40 years of senior living operations experience to the COO position.
“I’m honored to step into this role,” she said Tuesday in a statement. “We have an incredibly talented team in place, and together, I’m confident we will continue enriching the lives of seniors and their families. I’m grateful for the trust Nick and the company has placed in me as we continue our progress toward operational excellence.”
Patchett, inducted into the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor in 2021, rejoined Brookdale in August but previously spent 25 years with the company. She formerly had worked in various senior leadership positions at Brookdale — executive vice president of strategic operations, executive vice president of community and field operations, and president of the Southeast Division — from 2011 until retiring in 2021.
She also held the position of chief operating officer at Horizon Bay Realty and, prior to that, was senior vice president of operations at the company. Horizon Bay was acquired by Brookdale in 2011.
Before joining Horizon Bay, Patchett was president and owner of Patchett & Associates, a management consulting firm for senior housing and other healthcare companies. She also was divisional vice president for Alterra for more than six years. Patchett started her career at Sunrise Senior living, where she spent nine years in several leadership positions.
Patchett earned her Bachelor of Science in business management from George Mason University. Among other industry involvement, she has been active on the advisory board of the Florida Senior Living Association, on the Guardian Pharmacy Services board and its Audit and Compensation committees, and on the board of Angels in Action.