Jerome Bagaporo Gets Nod as New Head of Clinical Services, Jennifer Tan Moves Up Into Chief Nursing Officer Role
Our award-winning facility is expanding its clinical executive team with the appointment of Jerome Bagaporo as our new head of clinical services, and Jennifer Tan as our new chief nursing officer.
“With exceptional staff like Jerome and Jennifer on our team, Westchester families can continue to expect the best possible care for their loved ones on our campus,” noted United Hebrew’s president/CEO, Rita Mabli, in her announcement.
Bagaporo, who has been blazing new trails in resident care here at United Hebrew since 2014, when he joined our skilled nursing facility, will oversee 340 staff across nine departments: nursing, social services, rehabilitation, recreation, dietary, medicine, medical records, clinical reimbursement and quality assurance improvement. Jennifer Tan will manage the (nearly) 300 nurses we have on staff, oversee day-to-day resident care, and report directly to Bagaporo.
During his tenure at United Hebrew, Bagaporo helped transition our skilled nursing facility to electronic health records, improving care with easily accessible accurate, complete, and up-to-date information about each resident. Appointed as the organization’s first Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) four years ago, he oversaw a 280-person nursing staff and provided leadership and training to ensure the organization provided the highest quality of care. During this time, he earned a MBA in business administration from Iona College with a focus on healthcare management, and has begun working on his nursing home administrator’s license.
“I can’t think of a better person to take on this role,” notes Mabli. “Jerome brings out the best in our staff and he will be instrumental in ensuring the services we provide to the seniors in our care clinically excellent, operationally efficient, and focused on the best possible health outcomes for each resident.”
Focusing on individualized care
Bagaporo’s new position role was created, in part, because of new patient-driven reimbursement rules set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The new approach, called the Patient-Driven Payment Model, focuses on individual patient needs rather than volume-based services.
“The new system is aimed at improving overall healthcare outcomes by focusing in individualized care,” notes Mabli. “So, the way we track and report our interactions with residents may change, but the way we care for our residents remains the same: At United Hebrew we have always been focused on delivering personalized, high-quality care to people in need.”
To that end, Bagaporo is providing ongoing education and training to help staff implement new documentation protocols while continuing to focus on individual patient needs, from medical and cognitive health to psychosocial and behavioral issues. “It’s a philosophy we abide by at United Hebrew: A person should be cared for holistically rather than merely by treating symptoms.”
Jennifer Tan previously worked as an associate director of nursing at the Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan and served as a nurse at St. Patrick’s Home Rehabilitation and Health Care. Both positions followed her move in 2002 to the United States from the Philippines, where she worked as hospital nurse.
“What I bring to the team is an excellent track record of providing quality care,” she says. “In addition, working in other cultures has proved to be an asset here as I work with a diverse group of residents and staff. What I love most [about working here] is the culture. It’s well established — they’ve been in New Rochelle for 100 years! And it’s like a big family.”
Mabli notes that as United Hebrew’s Centennial celebration year draws to a close, she firmly believes United Hebrew is well-positioned to remain a leader in senior care in Westchester. “We recruit the best, and hire the best,” she says, “with the result that our residents continue to receive outstanding care in every way.”
