MOVERS & SHAKERS

The Contact Community Services (Contact) board of directors recently announced that Antara Mitra has been named as its new executive director, effective April 11. Contact is a non-profit devoted to crisis management, suicide prevention and awareness, and school-based support services. She will succeed Patricia (Pat) R. Leone, who is retiring at the beginning of April, after 16 years leading the organization. Mitra will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of administration, financial operations, programs and strategic planning of the agency. Other key duties include grants management, fundraising and community outreach.

Mitra brings with her over 20 years of non-profit experience. Most recently, she served as executive director for Community Action Program for Madison County, Inc. since 2016, where she oversaw all aspects of the agency’s business and financial operations. Her extensive background includes experience in local government, higher education and hospital administration.

A resident of Onondaga County, Mitra has a master of public health degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University and a master of business administration from the University of Miami. She is also a Fellow of Health Leadership of the Health Foundation of Western & Central New York.

Sakalas named COO at Loretto

Loretto has hired Lori Sakalas as chief operations officer. In her new role, Sakalas will oversee the day-to-day operations of Loretto’s skilled nursing facilities – Loretto Health and Rehabilitation, The Nottingham Residential Healthcare Facility and the Commons on St. Anthony. Sakalas brings over two decades of experience in long-term care operations management to Loretto. She started her career as a nursing assistant over 25 years ago and progressed into various management positions over the years. She has prior management and consulting experience with Genesis Healthcare and Golden Living.

Prior to joining Loretto, Sakalas was the vice president of operations, for Guardian Healthcare in Brockway, Penn. In that role, she led her division team with services that included clinical, financial, human resources, reimbursement and rehabilitation to support twenty-six skilled nursing facilities, four assisted living centers and one CCRC. Sakalas holds a bachelor’s degree in health and administrations from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. She also volunteers at her local parish and is on the board of directors for her local ambulance department.

“I am very excited and grateful to be become a member of the Loretto family,” said Sakalas, chief operations officer. “I look forward to working with the teams of talented and caring individuals at Loretto in making sure our residents receive the best quality of services.”

Joins St. Joe’s psychiatric team

Dr. Sarah Rosner has joined St. Joseph’s Health Hospital in Syracuse. In her new role, Rosner joins a team of diverse physicians who provide a comprehensive and high-quality psychiatric care and mental health services to the Syracuse community. Rosner is a certified psychiatrist with experience treating children and adolescents as well as adults. Before joining St. Joseph’s Health, she served as an attending psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx where she managed new admissions, provided psychiatric evaluations and emergency care to the psychiatric unit.

Rosner is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY Geneseo and a medical degree from University of Vermont. She completed her medical training with a residency at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx during which she was elected to the Quality Improvement Committee of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.

Rosner is also currently an adjunct clinical associate professor at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Named administrator at Sedgwick Heights

Loretto has promoted Molly Messinger to the position of administrator at Sedgwick Heights. Formerly the assistant administrator of The Bernardine, Messinger started at Loretto in 2018. She holds a bachelor of arts in psychology and a minor in music from Le Moyne College. She has worked in long-term care with the geriatric population in social work and administration for six years. In her previous experience working at The Bernardine Assisted Living Facility, Messinger was responsible for overseeing various functions of the organization – initially as a care team manager and then as assistant administrator.

In her new role, Messinger is responsible for overseeing all functions of the assisted living program at Sedgwick Heights, including direct care, food service, maintenance, operations, and marketing. Messinger will be responsible for the safety and well-being of all residents and staff while ensuring compliance with Department of Health regulations, company policies, and procedures.

“I am most looking forward to building rapport with the staff and residents and promoting the mission, vision, and values of the Loretto organization,” she said. “Ultimately, our goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of the people whom we serve.”