A leader in health care and rehabilitation services in the Wimberley and San Marcos area has been named executive director of The Summit Lakeway. The facility is part of Brookdale Senior Living, the nation’s largest senior housing provider.
Todd Mackenzie, an administrator and educator, spent 11 years at the helm of Deer Creek of Wimberley, where he built community support during his tenure there. Most recently with Remington Medical Resorts for five years, he opened its inaugural facility in San Antonio, later moving to Dallas as chief executive officer of the company. He was named Texas Health Care Association (THCA) Administrator of the Year in 2001 and American Health Care Association (AHCA) Future Leader of America in Long Term Care in 2007.
Mackenzie has also served for eight years as a clinical assistant professor at Texas State University-San Marcos College of Health Professions. He will continue teaching graduate level courses there and supervising placement of internships.
“I’m extremely pleased to be back home in the Hill Country and to have this opportunity to serve the Lakeway community at The Summit,” Mackenzie said. “Providing an exceptional level of care has been my life’s work, and that standard is well established here.”
Mackenzie noted that additional quality initiatives will be developed at The Summit Lakeway, thanks to a grant from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation made to the Brookdale’s Care Transitions Program in collaboration with the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center.
The grant will be administered over three years and is expected to result not only in the increased well-being of patients but also in reduced healthcare costs. Eight Brookdale facilities in Texas and 19 in Florida will be the first focus of the grant, followed by others across the nation.
“The goal is to reduce the rate of avoidable hospital admissions or readmissions for older adults,” Mackenzie said. “The grant enables us to expand and test various ways to prevent the progress of disease and reduce complications that lead to a return to the hospital.”
The Summit Lakeway provides assisted living accommodations and private rooms for skilled nursing and Alzheimer’s/memory care. One wing of the facility is dedicated to short stay transitional care and rehabilitation following hospitalization.
“Looking out over the beautiful scenery from our windows certainly inspires me and I think everyone here shares that feeling,” Mackenzie said.