Marty Hug will step down as CEO of the Omaha, NE-based Agemark Senior Living and assume the position of executive chairman. Forrest Westin and Michael Pittore have been named co-CEOs, succeeding Hug, and will begin in those roles on June 1. 

Westin and Pittore’s fathers, Richard Westin and Jesse Pittore, founded what is now known as Agemark Senior Living in 1983. Hug joined Agemark after meeting Westin and Pittore’s fathers when Agemark expanded into the Midwest and has been with the company for 38 years. 

After starting his career in investment banking and real estate development, Westin joined Agemark as managing partner in 2004. Pittore spent eight years in real estate investment banking before joining Agemark full-time as managing partner in 2015.

Read Hug’s recent guest column for McKnight’s Senior Living here: “Here’s what senior living taught me about service and leadership.”

Nick Castilleja has been named regional director of operations at Clearwater Living in Newport Beach, CA. 

Castilleja began his career in senior living with Horizon Bay in 2009 and since then has held a variety of leadership roles, including the management of multi-state portfolios encompassing up to 21 communities. Most recently, he was vice president of operations at Integral Senior Living.

Brian Donohoe has been promoted from executive director to general manager and campus executive, and Jessica Peters has been promoted from associate executive director to executive director of operations and healthcare, at The Trillium, a Greystone community in Tysons, VA.

Donohoe joined The Trillium in January 2024 and has 15 years of experience in dining, hospitality and private club settings.

Peters joined The Trillium in 2024, bringing two decades of senior living experience.

Melissa Robson has been named executive director of Woodleigh Chase, an Erickson Senior Living-managed community in Fairfax, VA. 

Robson started her career with Erickson in 2018.  Most recently, she was the executive director at Greenspring in Springfield, VA. 

A registered nurse, Robson has more than 25 years of experience working in various healthcare settings. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Gardner-Webb University and a master’s in health administration from Pfeiffer University.

Dan Merriman has been named the director of continuing care policy at LeadingAge Southeast in Tallahassee, FL.

The organization also announced the retirement of Mary Ellen Early, who has dedicated more than 40 years of service to the association. 

Merriman brings more than 20 years of expertise in senior living regulation, compliance,\ and public policy to his new role. He joins LeadingAge Southeast after working as senior compliance/public policy analyst for Life Care Services, where he worked for 15 years.

Merriman holds a Master of Public Administration from Drake University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Iowa State University.

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