Executive Team
Jolene Roberts, MSW, LNHA
Jolene Roberts is President and CEO of Hillcrest Health Services, a company she took over in 1988. With a 30-year history of passionate work ethics, her excellent visionary, networking, analytic, creative and decision-making skills give her the proven ability to conceptualize, implement and direct systems from strategic planning through development to daily operation.
Ms. Roberts has been a pioneer in healthcare for most of her career. Among other accomplishments, she has developed and opened Sarpy County’s first… Assisted Living Facility in 1998 (Hillcrest Mable Rose), Post-acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Center in 2002 (Hillcrest Health & Rehab), Medicare-certified Home Health Agency in 2007 (Hillcrest Home Care), and Nebraska’s first household-model long-term care cottages in 2008 (Hillcrest Country Estates). Additionally, Ms. Roberts has helped open Sarpy County’s only Adult Day Services program (The Club) and the only Balance Therapy Program (at Hillcrest Physical Therapy).
Prior to founding Hillcrest Health Services, Ms. Roberts was a Social Worker for the State of Iowa and taught Long Term Care Administration for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Ms. Roberts has sat on several Board of Directors including Alzheimer’s Association Midlands Chapter, Child Savings Institute, Visiting Nurses Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Nebraska Health Care Association, and Immanuel Health Systems Retirement Communities.
Ms. Roberts received her Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Nebraska – Omaha, specializing in gerontology. She received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from University of Northern Iowa. Ms. Roberts has been personally recognized with several awards including the Ten Outstanding Young Omahans award, Bellevue Person of the Year, Distinguished Alumni from the Bellevue Chamber, American Red Cross Volunteer of the Year, and the University of Nebraska Award for Outstanding Public Service.
Under her leadership, Hillcrest Health Services has been recognized for Sarpy Chamber Small Business Award (2005), the Bellevue Silver Arrow Award, the Sarpy Country Business of the Year (2008), the Omaha Chamber Golden Spike Award (2009), and the Sarpy County Economic Development Corporation Business of the Year Award (2011).
Tracie Ballmer, CFO
Tracie Ballmer is the Chief Financial Office at Hillcrest Health Services. With more than 25 years of professional experience in healthcare finance, Ms. Ballmer leads the banking and finance, billing and accounting, auditing, purchasing and information technology functions of the entire health system.
Ms. Ballmer joined the Hillcrest organization in 2002 and has helped guide the company toward becoming one of the Midwest’s largest continuum of care providers for aging adults.
Prior to joining Hillcrest, Ms Ballmer served as controller for Riverside Hospital in Wichita, KS; Financial Analyst for St John’s Mercy Medical Center in St Louis, MO; Regional Controller for LAB Home Health, St Louis, MO; and Director of Finances for Nurses and Company, St Peters, MO.
Ms. Ballmer received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University.
Brendan Bishop, MHA, LNHA
Brendan Bishop joined Hillcrest in 2006 as Administrator of Home Care and was elevated to Vice President of Home & Community Services in 2011. Since joining the Hillcrest organization, Mr. Bishop, has been principally responsible for the planning, development, launch and operation of Hillcrest Home Care (both Medicare-certified home health and private duty personal care services) and Hillcrest Hospice Care. Under his leadership, both agencies became Medicare-certified and have been among the fastest-growing home and community services providers in the Midwest.
Mr. Bishop’s experience includes serving as an Administrator at an international franchise company developing and implementing a new service line that provided non-medical assistance to individuals in their home. He previously worked extensively helping troubled youth in both Lincoln and Omaha.
Mr. Bishop received his undergraduate degree in Business Management and his Masters of Healthcare Administration. He is also a certified nursing assistant (CNA), a certified homecare and hospice executive (CHCE) with the National Association of Homecare and Hospice, a licensed Assisted Living Administrator in Nebraska and a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator (LNHA) in Nebraska.
Tim Irwin
Tim Irwin relocated to Nebraska and joined Hillcrest in 2012 as Vice President for Facility-based Operations. He is responsible for the overall operations and performance of Hillcrest Health & Rehab, Hillcrest Country Estates, Hillcrest Mable Rose & The Club, and HillcrestVictoriaGardens. Prior to joining the organization, he served as Regional Vice President of Operations for Michigan-based Sava Senior Care, where he managed the strategic development and operations of 13 skilled nursing facilities in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Mr. Irwin’s previous experience includes serving as Regional Vice President for Sava in MI and WI as well as Director of Operations and Senior Administrator for HCR Manor Care, Inc. in Michigan and Itex Company in Illinois. He is a licensed administrator in both Illinois and Nebraska, and has served as a Senior Examiner for the American Health Care Association Quality Awards.
Mr. Irwin holds a B.A. degree in business administration and management from Western Michigan University. He currently lives in Papillion with his wife Michelle and their three children.
Martha Zubke
Martha Zubke is Vice President of Quality Improvement & Administration. She joined the organization in 2006 and is principally responsible for quality improvement, education, corporate compliance, risk management and human resources for Hillcrest Health Services.
Ms. Zubke’s previous experience includes serving as Vice President of Human Resources at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, IA. She served as Director of Human Resources for Hillcrest before being promoted to the Executive Team as a Vice President in 2011.
Ms. Zubke received her undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and her MBA from BellevueUniversity.
Jim Janicki, APR
Jim Janicki is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Hillcrest Health Services. He is responsible for marketing, advertising, public relations, market research, admissions and business development for all Hillcrest service lines.
Prior to joining Hillcrest, Mr. Janicki served as Executive Director of Marketing for Riverside Health System in Newport News, Virginia, a $950-million, physician-led not-for-profit organization that served over 5,000 older adults every day.
In the past, Mr. Janicki worked as a Senior Account Manager and national consultant for SB&A in Richmond, Virginia. In that role, he helped clients in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada and Oregon build new CCRCs and Active Adult Communities, as well as reposition failing CCRCs for successful turnarounds.
Mr. Janicki is a native of Buffalo, New York, where he served as Director of Marketing and Communications for ElderWood Senior Care for six years and as an Account Executive with ad agency Eric Mower and Associates for five years. He is a BA graduate of SUNY Geneseo, near Rochester, NY, and he is an accredited public relations professional (APR) through PRSA. He currently lives in Papillion, Nebraska with his two daughters.
Administrative Team
Cindy Klein, RN, LNHA
Cindy Klein joined Hillcrest Health Services in 1999 and is currently the Administrator of the Cottages at Hillcrest County Estates. A licensed administrator and a Registered Nurse with more than 30 years experience in geriatric health care management and consulting, Ms. Klein oversees a very innovative community of eight “household model” long-term care cottages. Previously, Ms. Klein served nine years as a regional nurse consultant, with expertise in regulatory compliance and clinical outcomes. She is active in the Nebraska Health Care Association (NHCA), serving on several committees including the leadership team of the Nebraska Culture Change Coalition. Ms. Klein received her bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management from Bellevue University.
Helen Crunk, RN
Helen Crunk is the Administrator of Hillcrest Mable Rose (HMR) and has earned national recognition as Administrator of the Year in 2007 and 2012 by the National Center for Assisted Living Chair- NCAL Quality Committee. She is the first administrator ever to win this honor twice.
With more than fifteen years of experience in senior care, Ms. Crunk is responsible for all operations at HMR, including assisted living, memory support and adult day services.
As one of the region’s foremost experts in Alzheimer’s and dementia care, Ms. Crunk helps educates Hillcrest team members in best practice standards. Additionally, she serves on several committees and boards throughout the state including the Nebraska Assisted Living Association (President), Nebraska Health Care Association (Executive Board Member), National Center for Assisted Living (Board Member) and the American Health Care Association (Clinical Practice Committee).
Ms. Crunk was named Bellevue Business Woman of the Year (2010), received Honorable Mention as Nebraska Nurse of the Year (2010), and was a Midlands Business Journal “40 under 40″ award recipient in 2011.
Matt Oestmann, DPT
Matt Oestmann is Administrator of Hillcrest Home Care. Prior to joining Hillcrest in 2007, Dr. Oestmann worked with an outpatient orthopedic clinic in Council Bluffs, IA. He was originally hired as a staff therapist for Hillcrest before being promoted to the Director of Therapy Services in 2009 and then Administrator in 2011. His accomplishments have included building a strong team of dedicated therapists with decades of experience in home health and orthopedics. Dr. Oestmann received both his Masters in Physical Therapy and his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from UNMC. Outside of his role at Hillcrest, Dr. Oestmann conducts mission work in Latin American countries.
Debra Lemmerman
Debra Lemmerman joined Hillcrest Health Services in July 2008 as a marketing professional and was quickly promoted to Administrator of Hillcrest Hospice Care. Having owned and operated Medicare-certified home health and hospice agencies, and having managed another large hospice agency, Ms. Lemmerman’s extensive experience enable Hillcrest to quickly establish itself as a leading provider of Hospice services in eastern Nebraska. Today, Hillcrest Hospice Care is one of the Midwest’s fastest growing hospice agencies. Ms. Lemmerman is a past board member of both the American Heart Association and Omaha Widowed Persons Services. Additional professional activities including working with the Midlands Eldercare Network, American Red Cross, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the American Cancer Society. Ms. Lemmerman attended the University of Missouri.
Grace Knott PT, GCS
Grace Knott serves as Administrator of Hillcrest Physical Therapy, overseeing all inpatient and outpatient therapy services and directly supervising the Hillcrest highly-skilled team of therapists. She is board-certified in geriatric physical therapy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. Ms. Knott is a graduate of Kansas University and has extensive experience in acute, skilled nursing and outpatient settings as both a clinician and a manager.
Ms. Knott has logged many hours of training and education in the areas of fall risk assessment, balance evaluation and program implementation. She has successfully implemented programs for fall risk assessments and fall reductions, in acute, skilled and community settings. She is involved nationally in the American Physical Therapy Association serving as Program Chair for the Health Policy and Administration section. Her passion is helping people successfully navigate the aging process.
Kevin Sauberzweig. LNHA
Kevin Sauberzweig is Administrator of Hillcrest Health & Rehab, a 114-patient post-hospital rehabilitation facility. He entered the long-term care field over 25 years ago when his wife, who at the time was a director of nursing, encouraged him to leave his career in business education to become a nursing home administrator. Mr. Sauberzweig started with a facility in central Nebraska and moved to Eastern Nebraska to serve as a regional manager for a 32-facility system based out of Evansville, IN. He traveled extensively and worked to turnaround troubled facilities.
After a brief tenure as executive director of a larger Omaha-based facility, Mr. Sauberzweig joined Hillcrest Health & Rehab in January 2008. He successfully led the conversion from a combined long-term care and post-acute facility to a fully dedicated post-hospital rehabilitation setting. In addition, Mr. Sauberzweig’s experienced leadership is facilitating the completion of a multi-million dollar renovation with minimal interruption for patients and families. A resident of Omaha, he and his wife, Kristin, are very proud grandparents to seven grandchildren.
Laura Mayer
Laura Mayer joined Hillcrest Victoria Gardens in 2007 and was named administrator in 2010. She has vast experience working with residents with cognitive disorders. A native of Omaha, she is working toward her bachelor’s degree, with a concentration in geriatric studies, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.