Board of Directors

Lynette Ladenburg – Chair

CEO, Martha and Mary, Poulsbo

Lynette Ladenburg has served as the Chief Executive Officer for five corporations of Martha & Mary Lutheran Services in Poulsbo, Washington since November 2016.  These corporations include Martha & Mary Lutheran Services, Senior Living, Home Care Services, Health & Rehab Services and Child Care Services.

Lynette began her career in long-term care as the Chief Financial Officer for a Tacoma based Life Care Community in 1997.  There she obtained her MBA, earned her Nursing Home Administrators License and continued as the Chief Operating Officer through 2012. In Lynette’s quest to learn and positively impact the lives of seniors in Washington State, Lynette joined LeadingAge Washington where she served as the Chief Financial & Strategic Officer until her transition to Martha & Mary in 2016.

Outside of work, Lynette enjoys time with her family, traveling, reading and knitting hats for patients at a local cancer care clinic. 

Grant Linacre – Chair-Elect

Executive Director, Emerald Heights, Redmond

Grant Linacre has served Emerald Heights as its Executive Director since October 2015. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the community.  

Mr. Linacre earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Central Michigan University and began his career in senior living in 2000 as a Social Services Assistant for a national skilled nursing provider. Prior to joining Emerald Heights, Mr. Linacre held a variety of positions with increasing responsibilities with national senior living providers, and has held a Nursing Home Administrator license in Washington, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan. 

During his tenure with Emerald Heights, Mr. Linacre has overseen Master Planning, campus development and renovation projects, and sound fiscal performance ensuring the community is well-positioned for on-going success. 

Mr. Linacre is an active member of LeadingAge Washington, serving on the Life Plan Community Cabinet, the Workforce Solutions Council, the Finance and Audit Committee, and the LeadingAge Washington Board.  He has also presented at both state and national conferences.

Glen Melin – Immediate Past Chair

Chief Community & Development Officer, Martha & Mary, Poulsbo

Glen Melin has been involved in long term care and senior services in this region since 1988, and he currently serves as Health Services Director at Skyline, a Transforming Age life plan community in downtown Seattle.  Glen previously held leadership positions at CRISTA Senior Living for many years, and he has served LeadingAge Washington in a number of roles including board chair, treasurer, chair of the Finance & Audit Committee and chair of the CCRC Committee.  He also enjoyed two years of coaching with the LeadingAge Washington Leadership Institute.  Glen is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and Assisted Living Administrator, and he holds NAB’s Health Services Executive credential.

Glen and his lovely wife Jane live in Kingston and are the proud parents of three young adults.  Glen is a sporadic hiker, occasional cellist, and frequent ferry rider.

Charles “Bill” Strader – Secretary 

CEO/CFO, Panorama, Lacey

Bill holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Evansville and has been a licensed CPA since 1987.  Bill has served as Panorama’s Chief Executive Officer since 2016 and Chief Financial Officer since 2005. 

Prior to Panorama, Bill served as Regional Director of Finance for the Hillhaven Corporation (Tacoma, WA); Director of Ancillary Services for ManorCare (Gaithersburg, MD); Chief Financial Officer for Avamere Healthcare (Wilsonville, OR); and Vice President of Internal Audit for Sun Healthcare (Albuquerque, NM).

Bill is a member of the LAWA Board of Directors, and serves on the Nursing Home and Life Plan Community cabinets.  Bill is also a member of the St. Martin’s University School of Business Advisory Board, where he serves as the Chair Elect.

David Hoffman – Treasurer

CFO, eliseo  Tacoma 

David currently serves as the chief financial officer at the eliseo, as well as a financial advisor for many local and state wide agencies and other not for profit companies.  He received his accounting degree and MBA from St. Martin’s University.  David also served in the military for four years as a tank gunner and reconnaissance scout.  

In his spare time, David enjoys golfing, playing softball and spending time with his four children.

Heather Lewis

Director of Nursing Services
Christian Health Care Center, Lynden

Heather Lewis is a Registered Nurse who has been with Christian Health Care Center since 2015 as the Director of Nursing.  She holds national certification in Wound Care.  She has over 30 years of experience in skilled nursing including primary care, Staff Development, Restorative care, Infection Control, MDS/RAI coordination, both instructor and program director for Nursing Assistant Training program.  Heather has also served for over 10 years as a member of the nursing program advisory boards for both Bellingham Technical College and Whatcom Community College and is currently the chair person for both.  She has volunteered for over 10 years with the Arthritis Foundation as a board member and served as the chair person for 2 consecutive terms.  She also was the chair person for the Bellingham Jingle Bell Run committee an event that raises over $150,000 with over 3000 participants to support arthritis education and research.

Heather and her husband, Steve, have 2 adult children and enjoy spending their free time with family and traveling. 

Colleen Wojciechowski

Human Resources Director
Wesley Des Moines

Colleen Wojciechowski has held the role of Wesley Des Moines HR Director since late 2015.  In addition to serving on the Wesley Des Moines Operations leadership team, she manages recruitment, employee relations, leave management and the front desk operations.  Prior to joining Wesley, Colleen worked at BECU in a variety of HR roles including employment, benefits & wellness.  Her HR career began more than 30 years ago.   She also has worked HR at Carlyle, Inc. a then privately held manufacturing company.

Colleen has three professional certifications, SPHR, SHRM-SCP and CBP.

She loves to travel with her husband, daughter and grandson, garden, read, play with her dog and to feed the world.

Gary Dewhirst

Executive Director. Warm Beach Retirement Community, Stanwood

As we all know, working in the Long-Term Care industry is not a job, it’s a calling.  Gary was fortunate enough to hear that call well over 30 years ago and has spent his entire career learning from those we serve.  From working as a skilled nursing activity assistant, up through the ranks of skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, adult day, operations, marketing and consulting he has experienced the tremendous tidal wave of change that continually shapes our industry.  As Executive Director of Warm Beach Senior Community Life Plan Community, he is thankful to continue his journey within a faith-based setting.  To him, this makes all the difference and helps focus his previous experience into leading with a purpose and missional mind-set. 

Gary and his wife are most proud of the family they have raised together and enjoy watching them with their own dreams, passions and families (although long distance grandparenting is a bummer). When not engaged with his adopted resident family, you can find he and his wife on a trail somewhere or on the hunt of finding great live music to soak in.

Jim Maxwell

CFO, Rockwood Retirement Communities, Spokane

Jim Maxwell has worked for Rockwood Retirement Communities since August 2004.  Prior to joining Rockwood, he served as a Senior Reimbursement Manager at Providence Health & Services, and as a Manager in the healthcare department of the regional accounting firm of LeMaster & Daniels.

Mr. Maxwell holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with dual emphasis in accounting and financial management from the University of Montana.  He has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1994.  Mr. Maxwell is a member of the Washington State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and, for 13 years, served as an accreditation surveyor for CARF International.

Mr. Maxwell is a graduate of the 2016 Leading Age Larry Minnix Leadership Academy, served as the Spokane Town Hall convenor, and has served on Leading Age Washington’s SNF Cabinet as well as participating in the Life Plan Community Cabinet.

He and his wife have four kids with the youngest going to be a senior in high school next year. He enjoys his time with family and friends at the lake, snow skiing and golfing.

Dianna Reely

Chief Administrative Services, Providence Health & Services

Dianna Reely has over 30 years of Executive level healthcare leadership experience in settings across the care continuum including acute care, home health and hospice, skilled nursing and assisted living, and other home based and clinic settings.

She has been with Providence for 15 years serving as the Vice President of Quality for Home and Community Care before transitioning in 2019 to the role of Chief of Administrative Services and the Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Service Line.  In this capacity Dianna provides leadership to over 25 Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living facilities and multiple home health, hospice, home infusion and pharmacy and PACE programs across 6 states.

Dianna’s history of volunteering includes serving as President on the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce Board; volunteering with Catholic Charities; leading several teams, through the Providence International and Domestic Partnership program, and in collaboration with Medical Teams International, on service and mission trips to various villages in Guatemala; and volunteering with Esperanza in Tijuana, Mexico to assist families with their own land build housing in newly formed communities.

Dianna is a Seattle native and has been married to her husband, Dan, for 40 years.  They raised their 2 adult children, Nick and Jessica, in Sammamish, WA and now experience the joy of being grandparents to Cutler (8), Baylor (5) and Crosby (3)

Don Smith, Jr. 

Administrator. Sunshine Health & Rehab, Spokane

Donald Smith is the Administrator for Sunshine Health & Rehab in Spokane Valley; a position he has held for almost 5 years.  He is a transplant from the state of Texas where he has spent most of his adult life. He moved to Washington state in July 2015 to fill the Dietary Manager position for Sunshine Health.  In 2017, he was selected to fill the position as Administrator, the latest in a broad range of career pursuits which has included police officer in a major metropolitan area, biomedical researcher, chef and now healthcare administration professional. He is an avid learner having spent a significant number of years pursuing formal education leading up to the receipt of his Doctoral Degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.  He is driven by a passion to serve his community in any way possible.

He is married to a beautiful woman who has stood by him for 12 wonderful years. He has two grown sons in Texas who are both very successful in their careers.  He and his wife Chelsey, are very active, pursuing any number of outdoor interests including baseball/softball, bicycling, and hiking (especially in the mountains).  He is trained as a chef with a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas, so he spends a lot of time in his kitchen (a perk for his wife and friends). And, finally, he has recently begun a project that has been on his bucket list for several years. He has begun writing his first book which he hopes to have completed by this time next year.

Jen Drake (Van Vechten)

Business Development Director, Cascade Park Communities 

Jen Drake (Van Vechten) has worked in senior living sales and marketing for 12 years now and joined Tacoma’s Cascade Park Communities in 2018 as Director of Business Development. She is responsible for creating and growing programs and revenue to keep the mission going: serving 400 Medicaid Seniors in 3 locations and 6 unique programs. She enjoys playing chess and strategic games and this translates into a strategic passion of new revenue generation that keeps the mission alive.  Jen oversees assisted living, memory care, behavioral health, mental health and adult day health new revenue and closed on a strong partnership with Tacoma Housing Authority and MultiCare Health System to expand services to Seniors. She was a 2021 graduate of LeadingAge’s Leadership Academy and lobbies with LeadingAge WA in both DC and local legislative sessions.  As a former lobbyist herself, she understands key relationships can push forward legislative wins for the industry.

Side hobbies include reading books (historical fiction is a favorite), gardening with her husband and daughter, and on sunny days she and her family can be found stand-up-paddle boarding on the Puget Sound.

Erica Gaertner

Administrator, McKay Healthcare & Rehab, McKay 

Erica Gaertner is a seasoned Registered Nurse who has expanded her skillset to include administration and management of a public hospital district that operates a 42-bed skilled nursing and long-term care facility in a rural, underserved community located in Central Washington.

Her nearly 11 years of hospice experience provides a solid foundation for working with people from all walks of life, whether staff, resident or visitor. Discussing hard topics honestly and compassionately is a skill that has translated well in learning how to be a leader, wife, mom and team member. She is also ready for any challenge- when told that “if the administrator was not shy about talking to the Seattle Times, she would not be shy to write a letter to the Governor and ask for a $500,000 grant”.

So she did. And she was granted it in February 2021.

When she is not conquering the healthcare realm, she can be found at home with her husband of 16 years, 4 kids, 2 Corgis, 3 cats and a menagerie of beef cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys. Gardening, kitten fostering, reading, baking, DIY and craft projects are welcome. Family is everything and kids grow fast!

Katie Houck 

Executive Director, Heron’s Key at Gig Harbor 

With 14 years of experience in aging services, Katie Houck is elated to have the opportunity to serve with LeadingAge of Washington. Her career began at the bedside as a CNA while attending WWCC’s Nursing Program. After successful completion of her RN, she advanced her career to Director of Nursing Services and has served as a DON for almost 8 years. Recently, she relocated to the Seattle area to continue her career path with completion of the AIT program and obtaining her Nursing Home Administrator License. Currently, she is a Fellow in the LeadingAge Leadership Institute and enjoying networking with other members of the LeadingAge family.

Personally, she is a mother of two young daughters, Anamelia (17 months) and Oakley (4 going on 13). She and her husband greatly enjoy their family time, and when they can catch a breath, are riding their Harley Davidson. Routine yoga practice keeps her centered and more available as a leader. This summer, she plans to obtain her yoga teacher certification and hopes to teach free community ‘pop-up’ classes. Empowering women, celebrating diversity and inclusivity, and providing excellence in aging services are her passions and she looks forward to collaborating further with LeadingAge.

Chuck Archer – Strategic Appointment

LRS Architects

Chuck Archer, Strategic appointment to Board of Directors
Principal and Registered Architect, LRS Architects, Portland & Bend

Chuck Archer is a principal and licensed architect at LRS Architects who has over 25 years of senior housing design and development experience. Chuck has designed various Senior Living Communities and brings an expertise in Memory Care Communities. His background includes serving as a director of development for senior housing real estate and as an executive vice president for housing operations. His history of developing and operating senior housing provides a unique perspective among his peers. Chuck also offers strong team leadership, problem-solving skills, as well as his understanding of quality and improvement.

Chuck has been a speaker at Environments for Aging (EFA), LeadingAge conferences and Portland State University. At LRS, Chuck is a strong advocate for professional development and serves on the firm’s Mentorship Committee. Chuck and his wife live in Portland, Oregon and have five children and five grandchildren. Chuck enjoys hiking, kayaking, and photography.