Atlanta, Ga., USA - September 3, 2009, Atlanta, Ga., USA - Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a provider of comprehensive home health services, announced the appointment of three independent directors to the Company's Board of Directors: Philip R. Lochner, Jr., Sheldon M. Retchin, M.D., and Robert S. Forman, Jr.
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Philip R. Lochner, Jr. currently serves on the Board of Directors of CLARCOR Inc., a filtration and packaging business, CMS Energy Corporation, an electric and gas utility company, and Crane Co., a diversified manufacturer. From 1991 until 1998, Mr. Lochner was Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Time Warner Inc. Prior to that, in 1990 to 1991, he served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. From 1978 to 1990, he was employed by Time Inc., where he became Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.
Previously, Mr. Lochner was an associate at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and served as Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Law at the State University of New York Law School. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers and of the American Stock Exchange. Mr. Lochner also previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Investor Responsibility Research Center and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. Lochner graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. from Yale College, with a LL.B from Yale Law School and with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of London.
Sheldon M. Retchin, M.D., M.S.P.H. currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Commonwealth University Health System that includes the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, MCV Physicians and Virginia Premier Health Plan, a Medicaid HMO with approximately 140,000 enrollees. He also is Vice President for Health Sciences at VCU, where he has academic responsibility for the schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health. Dr. Retchin is a professor in the departments of Internal Medicine, Gerontology and Health Administration, and he is considered a national expert in health policy and health care delivery, with special expertise regarding the Medicare program.
Dr. Retchin has had appointments on numerous national panels related to managed care, the costs of care and consumer surveys regarding health care for Medicare beneficiaries. Among others, he was one of the original technical advisors for Medicare's Consumer Assessment of Health Plans' study. Dr. Retchin has also been regarded as a national expert on the role of the safety net in health services delivery and has testified before Congress on the matter. Among his public service appointments, Dr. Retchin is currently Chairman of the Advisory Panel on Health Care of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Retchin was also appointed by U.S. Secretary Mike Leavitt, of Health and Human Services, to serve as one of 17 members of the Council on Graduate Medical Education, the body that advises the Secretary and Congress on issues related to graduate medical education. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Academic Health Centers. In 2007, Dr. Retchin served, by gubernatorial appointment, on Virginia's Health Reform Commission, where he chaired the Access to Care Work Group, one of five Work Groups for the Commission.
Dr. Retchin has published more than 80 articles, monographs, books and book chapters on the costs, quality, and outcomes of care. Most of his research has been focused on the Medicare program and care of the frail elderly. His research on alternative financing methodologies of the Medicare program was well cited by the 1996 Institute of Medicine's Committee on Choice and Managed Care.
Robert S. Forman, Jr. was the founder, President and CEO of IMI Systems Inc., an international computer consulting firm specializing in the design and implementation of service order and billing systems in the telecommunications industry. In 1995, the Olsten Corporation acquired IMI Systems and Mr. Forman was an Executive Vice President of Olsten until 1997. After leaving Olsten, he served as a board member and non-executive Chairman of Itech and was on the boards of several other private IT consulting companies.
Mr. Forman was also the President of the Professional Services division of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and President of the Rensselaer Alumni Association. During this same period, he worked with a number of start-up companies, advising them on their business plans and helping them raise capital. Prior to IMI Systems, Mr. Forman was a founder and Vice President of Delta Resources, a computer consulting, leasing and computer hardware maintenance company that was sold to Itel. Mr. Forman currently serves on the Advisory Board of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's IT School. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. ■