BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
Thomas Chase EDISON — The $40 million new look Roosevelt Care Center is getting right now isn’t the only change in the works.
A little shuffling is going on again in top administrative positions.
New Chief Executive Officer Thomas Chase is leaving the job that was recently created for him. And former Chief Operations Officer Frank Damiani is assuming the top spot, again, with a different title: director of resident care.
“Mr. Chase has told us he is leaving for personal reasons,” said Jane Leal, director of administration for the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA), the agency that operates Roosevelt.
Dr. Frank Damiani “I can’t speak for him, but I do know that he is from the Pittsburgh, Pa., area and his family has stayed there while he has been here,” she said. “He will stay on, working from Pittsburgh, until August.”
Chase was not available for comment.
It was only last summer when he took over as top administrator of the center, for a salary of $115,000, after it had been socked with state Department of Health and Senior Services fines for allegedly jeopardizing patients.
Now, months after he started, Chase is leaving and Damiani — who was held accountable for the lapses and reprimanded by the MCIA board for them last year — is taking on some of his duties.
“The incidents Mr. Damiani was held responsible for last year were very isolated incidents,” Leal said. “We see them as completely in the past. The patients love Frank, and our very high rating from the state’s survey earlier this year — higher than we’ve ever gotten — can be directly attributed to his skills. Out of about 20 categories, we far exceeded state standards in 17.”
When Chase came on board at Roosevelt, Damiani took over as director of resident care, keeping his $113,000 salary. He will retain that title, but will also take on some of Chase’s fiscal responsibilities.
“We have two certified public accountants on staff, so the financial responsibility is reduced,” Leal said. “Frank Damiani specializes in resident care. Initially, the consultants who were overseeing the transition caused by the remodeling and additions to Roosevelt thought it would be a good idea to split the administrators’ responsibilities, focusing Mr. Chase’s on the fiscal and Mr. Damiani’s on the residents. But it’ll work fine this way.”
Chase was hired to fill what was a newly created position of chief executive officer, responsible for managing its finances and operation. Damiani had been the center’s chief operating officer and, before Chase, handled both financial and clinical supervision. He was then relegated to the director of resident care spot.
The staff switches last year were suggested by transition consultant Kohl Partners, Teaneck — hired by the MCIA for a flat rate of $368,000 for eight months — to ease the transition into the new and revamped buildings.
Chase came to Roosevelt Care Center from Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Lutheran Affiliated Services, which runs a nursing home in Cranberry Township in Pennsylvania and manages other senior services.
Leal said the hiring of Chase last year had nothing to do with the reprimand Damiani was given by MCIA board members over the incidents that cost the care center more than $15,000 in violation fines.
A Roosevelt resident who was an amputee was left at a social services office in New Brunswick on Feb. 9, with no way back to the center. He was there making living arrangements for his impending discharge.
The incident involving the amputee was an isolated lapse of judgment, the MCIA has said.
“Ironically, Mr. Damiani grew up in Pittsburgh,” Leal said. “So, he’s staying here and Mr. Chase is going back.”