Non‐Profit Los Angeles Jewish Home Plans Rapid Expansion to Serve 10,000 Seniors Throughout Los Angeles County by 2025

Jul 6, 2020

Aging in Place in the Rapidly Changing Landscape of Elder Care/Living is Focus of One of the Nation’s Leading Senior Healthcare Systems

LOS ANGELES — July 6, 2020 — For Immediate Release — The Los Angeles Jewish Home, one of the nation’s largest, single‐source providers of comprehensive senior care, plans rapid expansion of services throughout Los Angeles County with a goal of serving 10,000 seniors by 2025. Los Angeles Jewish Health, which has previously offered services primarily in the San Fernando Valley, provides healthcare and living options; community‐based programs; in‐resident services; professional training; and research on frequently overlooked issues that affect senior healthcare and living.

Leading Los Angeles Jewish Health’s expansion will be newly appointed CEO and President Dale Surowitz, who has served as CEO of Providence Cedars‐Sinai Tarzana Medical Center since 1997. Dale brings broad‐based relationships and expertise in furthering partnerships with external healthcare providers.

Molly Forrest, who has led Los Angeles Jewish Health’s dynamic growth and direction as CEO and President for 24 years, will now focus on growing advocacy efforts, community advancement and fundraising as president of the Jewish Home Foundation.

Recognized internationally, Los Angeles Jewish Health has taken a guiding role in the rapidly evolving future of senior healthcare with innovative, broad‐based initiatives to promote aging in place and develop programs for individualized and person-centered senior healthcare/living. During the recent COVID‐19 crisis, the Home led the way with less than .025% of more than 1,200 seniors in residence having been diagnosed with the virus to date.

Founded in 1912 as a haven for five elderly Jewish men in need of shelter during Passover, the non‐profit Los Angeles Jewish Health has evolved into a comprehensive, non‐denominational, senior healthcare system. Today, Los Angeles Jewish Health—with a staff of over 1,600 and annual budget of $160 million—provides nearly 4,000 seniors annually with care in‐residence on five SoCal campuses or through a wide array of in‐home and community services. As a major provider, Los Angeles Jewish Health is a significant contributor to the L.A. economy.

Los Angeles Jewish Health, which has operated primarily through facilities and partnerships in the San Fernando Valley, will continue expansion to serve all of Los Angeles. Its expansion began in 2017 with the opening of its fifth campus, Fountainview at Gonda Healthy Aging Westside Campus in Playa Vista. Additional plans call for the 2021 expansion to the westside of Los Angeles with the opening of the Brandman Centers for Senior Care PACE Program, which will provide comprehensive healthcare services to seniors living in the community.

“With 108 years of experience in supporting seniors, it provides insights for a very different approach,” comments Forrest. “These moves will allow us to continue to bridge outside our walls and serve more and more seniors. Community outreach is where senior healthcare is going. We are looking at every opportunity to provide excellence of care at home, with a goal of people aging in place and avoiding, as much as possible, the need to move into a facility. It’s where we see ourselves as a major force. With 12 million baby boomers aging, these needs will continue to increase tremendously. We are positioning ourselves to address those demands in SoCal and as a progressive model for U.S. elder care.”

Says Surowitz, “I join Los Angeles Jewish Health with a background in hospital care and programs and the vision of expanding our institutional relationships throughout the Los Angeles community as we significantly grow our capabilities to serve more seniors. Remaining at home for as long as possible is a goal each of us wants for ourselves, our family and our friends. The Los Angeles Jewish Home is an innovator and cutting‐edge model for best practices. I am excited to lead this outstanding team and work to further the Home’s already stellar accomplishments as we address the rapidly changing landscape of senior healthcare and living. I look forward to working with Molly and the officers, board leadership, staff and volunteers.”

Adds Andrew Berman, chairman of the Los Angeles Jewish Health Board of Directors, “I am thrilled that we have been able to hire someone of Dale’s caliber with the depth of experience and knowledge he brings with him. Molly has been an amazing leader and visionary and I know will accomplish extraordinary things as president of the Jewish Home Foundation. Under the leadership of Dale Surowitz and with Molly in her new role, we can be assured that we will not only maintain but expand our standing as one of the leading and innovative senior health‐care providers in the country.”

About Dale Surowitz: As CEO of Providence Cedars‐Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, Surowitz led the respected hospital’s transition from an investor‐owned, for‐profit institution, to a not‐for‐profit, faith‐based facility. He piloted the launch of a $600 million campus replacement project to be completed in 2022. Additionally, he was instrumental in establishing a joint venture relationship with Cedars‐Sinai Medical Center for the Tarzana campus. Under Dale’s leadership, the medical center has received national recognition for overall quality and a variety of clinical services.

About Molly Forrest: Under Forrest’s exceptional leadership, Los Angeles Jewish Health underwent the most ambitious expansion in its history, becoming a nationally recognized leader and innovator in all aspects of senior health care and living. In July, Forrest became President of the California Chapter of Leading Age. She is a frequent guest speaker.

Full bios, headshots and other artwork available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hwqp3ydv5d7dp9i/AAAlrVphTdn7LGWutXjT5YWDa?dl=0

Los Angeles Jewish Health programs and services include:

Connections to Care Program (C2C): Through C2C, seniors and their families gain timely referrals to services tailored to meet their specific needs, regardless of religion, ethnicity or ability to pay.
Home/Community Care: Each year, thousands of seniors benefit from Los Angeles Jewish Health’s community‐based services. Services include, hospice; home health; palliative medicine; community clinics; short‐term rehabilitation; acute psychiatric care, through its Brandman Centers for Senior Care, a Program of All‐inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE); Skirball Hospice; and Care Transitions program.
Senior Housing: As the largest, single‐source provider of senior housing in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Jewish Health is home to more than 1,200 women and men who live on four campuses covering 21 acres. Housing options include independent living, residential care, skilled nursing care, short‐term rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care. Locations include the Reseda‐based Eisenberg Village; Grancell Village; Fountainview at Eisenberg Village; and Fountainview at Gonda Healthy Aging Westside Campus in Playa Vista.
Best Practices Research: Los Angeles Jewish Health’s Brandman Research Institute, under the leadership of Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director Dr. Noah Marco, focuses on research on effective models for post‐acute care which improve and enhance medical, social, psychiatric and psychological services for seniors. The institute was founded in March 2019 to fill the gap in clinical studies, which often exclude older people.
Annenberg School of Nursing: An intimate center of learning on Los Angeles Jewish Health’s Hirsch Family Campus, preparing vocational nursing students for the state licensing exam, the NCLEX‐PN®. The School also trains home health aides, medication technicians and nurse assistant students to earn certification through the California Department of Public Health.
Philanthropy: The home’s dedication to serving needy seniors is reflected in its annual commitment of philanthropic support to serve those dependent upon the state Medi‐Cal (welfare) program, with 75% of those served in‐residence rely upon the Medi‐Cal program and social security.

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Oct 16

Los Angeles Jewish Health’s Annenberg School of Nursing Graduates First Nursing Class in Partnership With AltaMed

Last year, Los Angeles Jewish Health’s renowned Annenberg School of Nursing (ASN) announced a partnership with AltaMed, one of the country’s largest community health networks, to address a statewide shortage of highly skilled nurses. The two organizations launched ASN-LA, a new ASN outpost located on the campus of AltaMed’s City of Commerce headquarters, increasing ASN’s capacity to train additional nursing professionals.In September, the collaboration bore its first fruit: ASN-LA graduated its inaugural class of licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). Twenty-two graduating students received their diplomas as an audience of 540 family members, friends, and supporters cheered them on.“The size of the crowd said it all: People were so motivated to come cheer on our graduates, most of whom were the first in their families to reach this level of academic achievement,” said Amandeep Kaur, ASN’s executive director. “Parents, friends, and other loved ones were incredibly proud, and everyone was crying tears of joy.”Students at ASN-LA are AltaMed employees; each of them receives a $12,000 tuition scholarship from the AltaMed Foundation to help reduce financial barriers to nursing education. The program’s flexible structure allows them to continue working while they study, meaning they are able to advance their education without putting their lives, or careers, on hold.“The resources these students receive are really a game changer: getting tuition assistance and drawing a salary dramatically increases the program’s accessibility,” Kaur said. “It opens our students up to new worlds of possibility.”Those students include Margarita “Maggie” Chavez, who this year graduated cum laude and won the prestigious Florence Nightingale Award and the Best Clinical Award. Chavez spoke movingly at the graduation ceremony about the significance of ASN-LA’s support.“I’ve always known how much I love nursing, but becoming an LVN once felt completely out of reach financially,” Chavez recalled. “I truly cannot express how grateful I am to the Annenberg School of Nursing and AltaMed for giving me an opportunity I once thought I couldn’t even afford to dream about.”Class valedictorian Giselle Cabanas-Morfin also spoke at the event.“Thank you to AltaMed, Annenberg School of Nursing, and LAJHealth, led by CEO Dale Surowitz, for creating an opportunity that changed the lives of so many people in this room,” Cabanas-Morfin said. “Through your partnership and leadership, we are standing here today. You didn’t just invest in students, you invested in their futures, their families, and their dreams.”LAJH President and Chief Executive Officer Dale Surowitz attended the ceremony and offered his own words of gratitude and encouragement to the graduates, ASN-LA staff, and assembled guests.“To our staff, thank you for helping nurture and develop these students as they built new skills and prepared for careers serving their community. And, to those of you in the audience, thank you for being there to give these emerging professionals the love and support that sustained them through the hard work of their training,” Surowitz said. “To our graduates, you inspired us by committing to this path and showing us you could walk the walk. As you go forward, remember that you have the power to make anything possible.”

Los Angeles Jewish Health Quality Initiative Sets High Bar for Diabetes Care

In August 2026, JAMA Internal Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal from the American Medical Association, published an article revealing that most older adults with Type 2 diabetes did not have their medications adjusted when their blood sugar levels were outside the American Diabetes Association (ADA)-recommended target. At Los Angeles Jewish Health, the numbers tell a different story.Every year, LAJH undertakes an initiative to improve the care of residents in a specific area or discipline. LAJH does this not just to meet the current care standards, but in most cases to exceed them. Aware that many seniors nationally are not receiving appropriate diabetes-related care, the medical and administrative staff at LAJH decided to focus their most recent quality initiative on ensuring that LAJH residents with diabetes benefit from the most up-to-date and comprehensive care protocols possible.“The medical literature shows that, especially for older adults living in facilities, inadequate diabetes care is an incredibly common problem,” says LAJH’s Chief Medical Officer, Noah Marco, MD, CMD. “Here at Los Angeles Jewish Health, we set specific, targeted goals, based on the standard of care, to meet the full scope of needs for our residents with diabetes.”Those goals met with stunning results.“We set an ambitious goal for ourselves that, 90% of the time, our clinicians would order blood tests to monitor diabetes control on the proper schedule—and we are at 98.6%,” Dr. Marco says. “We also aimed to ensure that our diabetic patients receive the right insulin therapy, setting a 90% target, and we’re actually at 100%.”One of the key differentiating factors at LAJH is the integration of pharmacy more directly into patient care.“A major advantage for us at Los Angeles Jewish Health is that we have resources many other facilities don’t have, including pharmacists trained in the care of this population, as well as a pharmacy residency program that helps prepare the next generation of pharmacy professionals,” Dr. Marco says. “Getting our pharmacists involved brings an added expertise in terms of medication management, and having them work shoulder-to-shoulder with physicians and nurses to provide state-of-the-art care is a gamechanger.”LAJH Director of Pharmacy Aida Oganesyan agrees.“Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, in which we bring our pharmacists together with our providers and nursing staff, enables us to collaborate and manage care in a very patient-centered way,” Dr. Oganesyan says. “At LAJH, we consider each and every patient’s individual priorities and goals, recognizing we have a responsibility to manage their diabetes so they can live full and active lives.”The diabetes quality initiative, which began last fall, took place over the course of an entire year. Now that the initiative is complete, and the data reported, Dr. Marco says it provides another window into what makes LAJH stand out.“When you have an amazing team like ours come together, you can do incredible things for the residents we serve,” he notes. “The diabetes quality initiative provides a great example of how LAJH is providing truly exceptional care.”

Los Angeles Jewish Health Welcomes New Board Chair Michelle Rubin

For Michelle Rubin, helping Los Angeles Jewish Health flourish has been a lifelong pursuit. The great-grandniece of H. Lew Zuckerman, one of the founders of LAJH in 1912, and the daughter of Pam and Mark Rubin, among the organization’s most dedicated supporters over the last half century, Michelle grew up with LAJH as a central fixture of her childhood.“My grandparents established the Palm Springs Auxiliary; my parents helped start the Marilyn and Monty Hall Statesman’s Society; my mom was a board member; and my dad was a member of The Guardians, as are my brother and my nephew,” Michelle says. “Los Angeles Jewish Health is in my blood.”Today, Michelle is serving as the newly elevated chair of LAJH’s board of directors, a role that enables her to continue the family tradition of giving back to seniors in our community. The position builds on her decades of experience working to advance LAJH’s vital mission—first as a member of the young leadership program Tovim, then as chair of the in-residence board for both the Grancell Village and Eisenberg Village campuses, and most recently as chair of the board for the Brandman Centers for Senior Care (BCSC) PACE Program.“I know all of LAJH’s lines of business, which will help me as I collaborate with other board members and staff to expand the organization’s work and secure its financial future,” Michelle says. “I’ll be drawing on that knowledge and experience as I seek to achieve two primary goals: upholding our fiduciary commitment so LAJH can continue making a difference for seniors, and developing the pipeline of volunteers who are ready to step up and help lead this amazing organization.”Michelle RubinMichelle balances her charitable commitments to LAJH and other nonprofit organizations with a busy, full-time job as president of Regional Properties, Inc., a Beverly Hills-based real estate development company that she took over from her late father. She says she is proud to follow in his footsteps, both professionally and philanthropically.“My dad always said, ‘I build buildings for a living, but my philanthropy is for people,’ and that’s how I feel about LAJH,” she says. “It’s about the people—the residents and the staff, who come together to create the most extraordinary environment. So many seniors are alone, but at LAJH, they find community, and they’re able to thrive. It’s wonderful to be part of that and to know I’m doing what I can to help seniors stay safe and healthy, and make the most of every day.”Dale Surowitz, LAJH’s president and chief executive officer, says having Michelle as board chair will empower LAJH to reach new heights of success, serving more seniors and continuing to enhance its unparalleled quality of care.“Michelle’s intimate knowledge of our operations and incredible dedication to our work will be instrumental in helping LAJH extend its umbrella of care to cover growing numbers of seniors, today and for generations to come,” Dale says. “I am excited to partner with her in maximizing our impact.”As she dives into her work as board chair, Michelle says it is an honor to carry the torch of her parents’ legacy.“My mom and dad taught us by doing—never telling us where to give, or how much, just making clear that we needed to be invested in our community,” Michelle says. “I’m thrilled to be following their example and so grateful I’m in a position to support LAJH.”