Meet Our Leadership Team

Lawrence R. Deering

Lawrence R. Deering, Chairman, CEO
Mr. Deering has had more than 30 years of operating experience in the health care services sector and is widely respected in the long term care industry. Mr. Deering is currently CEO and Chairman of the Board of Ark Holding Company, Inc. Previously he served as Chairman and CEO of Tandem Health Care, which he co-founded and built from start-up to almost $600 million in revenue over an eight year period. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and COO of Mariner Health Care, Inc., a public long-term care company with more than $700 million in revenue. In this capacity, Mr. Deering was responsible for day-to-day operations of the business. He also has both a BA (1978) and Masters degree (1980) in Public Administration in Health Care Services from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Christopher Murphy

Christopher Murphy, EVP, COO
Mr. Murphy has over 20 years of experience in long term care. He currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to joining the Covenant Dove team he served as Senior Vice President of Kindred Healthcare responsible for the operation of 81 facilities in 7 states and approximately 1 billion dollars in revenue. Mr. Murphy also has worked extensively in market development, clinical programming, sales strategy, and has experience developing care pathways to assist acute providers with ACO development. Prior to Kindred Healthcare, Mr. Murphy was with Beverly Healthcare for 10 years and served as the Director of Operations.   He has also been a member of several associations in various states and participated in the pilot for the informal dispute resolution committee in Boston Massachusetts.  Most recently he was Chairman of the Standards Committee with the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facility.  He holds a Masters degree in Health Care Administration from Webster University and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Salem State University.

C. Michael Bagley

C. Michael Bagley, EVP, CFO
Mr. Bagley has more than 30 years of experience in financial leadership, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, financing, turnarounds and operational strategies for organizations in various industry segments. Prior to joining Covenant Dove, he spent eleven years as a partner with Tatum, LLC, working with numerous small, entrepreneurial organizations. Prior to joining Tatum, he served as VP, CFO and Treasurer of a physician network management company. Before that, he was SVP and CFO for the nation's second largest provider of comprehensive contract rehabilitation services. He began his career with Price Waterhouse. Mr. Bagley holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Michael J. Hutton

Michael J. Hutton, EVP, CIO
Prior to joining Covenant Dove, Mr. Hutton was Sr. Vice President, Information Systems & Technology/CIO for Harborside Healthcare Corp. and co-founder of ElderCare Technologies, a start-up software development company focused on developing an enterprise Customer Relationship Management software solution for the Senior Living/Long-Term Care (LTC) profession. Mr. Hutton has 30 years work experience in the healthcare field. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Information Technology and Health Services Administration/Accounting from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters in Business Administration from Boston University.

Rosemary L. Corsetti

Rosemary L. Corsetti, EVP, General Counsel
Ms. Corsetti has been practicing law full time for over 30 years. The majority of her practice years have been in health care law, and the majority of those years in long term care law, primarily at the national law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Ms. Corsetti was outside counsel to Tandem Health Care, where she worked with Lawrence Deering since 1997. She was invited to serve as General Counsel of Tandem, a position she held until the successful sale of Tandem in 2006. Since 2008, she has served as General Counsel to Ark Holding Company, where she oversees all of the legal matters of the system. Ms. Corsetti received her BA, summa cum laude, from Seton Hill University, and her JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She has been named as one of the Best Lawyers in America in Health Care and she is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating for peer review.

Cindy Ledford

Cindy Ledford, VP, Chief Compliance Officer
Ms. Ledford serves as Chief Compliance Officer and has over 35 years of experience in the long term care industry.  She most recently worked for Health Care Navigator as the VP of Compliance and provided Compliance Program oversight to 96 facilities at Cypress Health Care, LLC and Gulf Coast Health Care, LLC (formerly Delta Health Group).  She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from the University of West Florida.   

Robert W. Fowler

Robert W. Fowler, VP of Human Resources
Mr. Fowler serves as the Vice President of Human Resources for Covenant Dove.  He has over 30 years of experience in all areas of Human Resources. Prior to joining Covenant Dove, he was Vice President, Human Resources for Constant Care Management Company in Dallas, Texas. Constant Care Management operates Alzheimer’s and Dementia care facilities in six states. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Human Resources for Trinity Hospice, the third largest hospice company in the United States, operating hospices in 18 states.  Prior, he also served as Vice President, Human Resources for Medco Medical in Houston, Texas.   Mr. Fowler holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Penn State, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management from Columbia State.  

Lourdes Montero

Lourdes Montero, BSN, VP of Clinical Services
Ms. Montero, serves as the Vice President of Clinical Services.  She has 30 + years of nursing experience in the acute and long term care settings.  She most recently worked for SunBridge Healthcare as Vice President of Clinical Services for over 6 years and provided clinical oversight for as many as 104 long term care centers.  Prior to SunBridge, Ms. Montero worked for Delta Health Group as a regional nurse for 7 years and at Beverly Healthcare as a Director of Nursing for 5 years.  She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Miami and takes pride in developing clinical programs that enhance the lives of residents, their families, and staff.

Monica W. Pappas

Monica W. Pappas, VP of Clinical Reimbursement and Case Management
Ms. Pappas serves as the Vice President of Clinical Reimbursement and Case Management.  She has 30 years of experience in healthcare, 17 years in long term care and 13 years educating and analyzing the MDS/reimbursement systems and case management processes at a corporate level.  Most recently, she lead Encore Healthcare’s Reimbursement Department and as Project Director planned and implemented  MDS 3.0/RUGs IV.  Prior to joining Encore Ms. Pappas spent 10 years at Beverly Healthcare both as a Clinical Reimbursement Specialist overseeing 89 facilities and as a Compliance Auditor.  Ms. Pappas is a trained Physical Therapist and a graduate of  the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland.

Jan Paul Storey

Jan Paul Storey, VP of Sales and Business Development                                       Mr. Storey serves as the Vice President of Sales and Business Development.  He has over 25 years of experience in skilled nursing and post acute settings.  Prior to joining the Covenant Dove team he was the Regional Director of Business Development for Kindred Healthcare.  As the Regional Director Mr. Storey led the development of the 17 Kindred transitional care units in the Central Region. He was instrumental  in developing integrated partnerships with short term acute care hospitals, managed care organizations, physicians and a Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations.  Mr. Storey owned Storey Strategic Marketing prior to employment with Kindred Healthcare which consulted with for-profit corporations and non-profit organizations to develop sales strategies, transitional care programs, acquisitions and De Novo developments.  He has also served as Vice President for Sales with Life Care Centers of American and American Senior Communities. Mr. Storey graduated with a degree in Philosophy from Indiana Wesleyan University.  

Keith M. Long

Keith M. Long, VP of Facilities Management
Mr. Long is currently the Vice President of Facilities Management for Covenant Dove and has been part of the executive team since 2012. Mr. Long has over 28 years of experience in the health care environment of facilities management including hospitals, assisted living, and long term care. He has been a leader in the healthcare industry in developing new and innovative programs which enhance and enrich the lives of the seniors we care for in our facilities. He has been a keynote speaker at several state long term care conferences including Kentucky and Ohio. Keith earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University. Mr. Long is a native of Michigan and currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee.  

Brian Brinkerhoff

Brian Brinkerhoff, LNHA, VP of Operations- West Division
Mr. Brinkerhoff serves as Vice President of Operations for the West Division. In this role, he provides leadership and strategic direction for 27 LTC facilities and 1 ICMR facility located in Washington, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and South Carolina. With 20 years of healthcare experience, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations that include the management of $202 million in revenue and over 2,500 employees. Prior to joining Covenant Dove, Mr. Brinkerhoff was named Regional Director of Operations for a multi-facility level company that included states such as Oklahoma and northwestern states. He has successfully operated LTC facilities in Montana, Oklahoma, Idaho and Utah, where he was instrumental in financial management, clinical outcome management, and organizational behavior management. Mr. Brinkerhoff is a graduate of the University of Utah. 

Bill Birmingham

Bill Birmingham, LNHA, VP of Operations- East Division
Mr. Birmingham serves as Vice President of Operations for the East Division covering 29 facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. He is responsible for the daily operations, to include identifying, managing and maximizing the business impact of numerous partnerships and programs worth more than $223 million in revenue. Celebrating his 30th anniversary in the long term care and rehabilitation profession in 2012, Mr. Birmingham has owned, operated and worked with many of the top health care provider companies in the country and held various senior management positions. He has served on the State Healthcare Boards and various committees in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. In 2010, he was honored with the Order of the Palmetto Patriot, the highest civilian honor given by the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina for his years of service and outstanding contributions to the elderly citizens of the state. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Care Management from the University of Alabama.

Jill Birmingham

Jill Birmingham, COO, Ark Hospice
Ms. Birmingham has over 20 years of healthcare experience in Social Work, Patient Management, Outreach Development, Marketing, Financial Planning , Geriatric Education, Insurance/HMO facilitation,  and Hospice. Starting her career in large healthcare companies, she went on to grow her skills in healthcare management and hospital liaison relations through her family-owned skilled facility. She also acted as Regional Marketing Director for  eight facilities as this company grew in GA and SC.  In 2007, she joined HMR and became founding director of  their hospice program known today as Ark Hospice, LLC. She works closely with  community, state, and federal organizations such as Carolina Centers, NHPCO, SCHCA, VP of Upstate USN, Committee Chair for Alzheimer’s Assoc, and various hospital committees and action groups. She earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree from  Baylor University.