Saint Anne Communities is restructuring its organizational chart to better accommodate its recent expansion. In July, Saint Anne added a second campus, the former Catholic Charities Villa of the Woods retirement community.
David Deffenbaugh, the current administrator for Saint Anne, is being promoted to the dual role of administrator and chief operating officer.
Corrina Rees, R.N., the current director of nursing, is being promoted to the dual role of director of nursing and chief nursing officer.
Mike Rorick, the current controller, is being promoted to chief financial officer.
“These changes reflect the growth and development of Saint Anne,” says Deacon James Fitzpatrick, a member of the Saint Anne corporate board. “Saint Anne has been a very stable, care-driven organization for many years. With the addition of Villa of the Woods, Saint Anne has the opportunity to expand its mission, and this restructuring of responsibilities will better facilitate that.
“From a nursing standpoint, Saint Anne provides a high level of care, and maintaining those high standards is a lot of hard work,” Fitzpatrick continues. “As Corrina Rees leads the expansion of nursing services to a second campus, she’ll need time to focus on the big picture, and that will give Saint Anne’s other talented nursing professionals a chance to shine.
“It’s also important that Saint Anne maintains strong financial planning,” Fitzpatrick adds. “New rules and regulations have made the world of reimbursement and managed care so much more complex, creating a greater challenge to maintaining a plan that will responsibly meet the needs of our current and future residents.”
Deffenbaugh says he’s energized by the current changes at Saint Anne. “This is an invigorating time to be part of Saint Anne as we reach out to serve an even larger segment of older adults in the area. I know that Corrina and Mike share my commitment to building upon Saint Anne’s reputation for excellence as we grow.”
Rees is enthusiastic about the opportunity to bring Saint Anne’s high-quality senior care to Villa of the Woods. “I’m very excited about these changes—I think we’re on the right track,” she says. “I’m especially looking forward to helping the staff at our new Luers campus establish their nursing services.”
In his new role, Rorick will also have more time see the big picture. “Changes to health-care coverage over the last few years, including the Affordable Care Act, have made it necessary to do more with less,” he says. “We have to keep a close eye on costs as we balance being a faith-based organization. In my new position, I’ll have more time for planning.”
A native of Moline, Illinois, Deffenbaugh earned a bachelor’s degree in health-care administration at Indiana University. He came to Fort Wayne in 1999 and served as the administrator at an assisted-living community and a skilled-nursing community before being named administrator at Saint Anne in April 2014.
Originally from Chennai, India, Rees earned a teaching degree at a private Catholic college in India before coming to the United States in 1983. She then earned a nursing degree at IPFW. Rees served as director of nursing for another area retirement community and as a nurse at Parkview Hospital before joining Saint Anne in 1992.
Rorick grew up in New Haven and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Saint Francis. After a 25-year career as a cost accountant, he served as controller for a long-term care facility for 14 years. He joined Saint Anne in 2012.
A ministry of the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, Saint Anne Communities is a state-licensed provider of health care and retirement-living options. With campuses at 1900 Randallia Drive and 5610 Noll Avenue in Fort Wayne, Saint Anne offers a continuum of care that includes independent and assisted living, skilled nursing care, memory care, adult day services, and rehabilitation services.
