Brookdale Board Picks Kindred, Sunrise Veteran as New CEO

The directors of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. have appointed a longtime industry executive and veteran of Kindred at Home as well as Sunrise Senior Living, among others, to be the company’s next CEO.

Nick Stengle will take the helm at Nashville-based Brookdale on Oct. 6, nearly six months after the board and former CEO Cindy Baier parted ways. Stengle, 49, comes to Brookdale—which on June 30 operated more than 640 centers in 41 states—from Gentiva, where he had been president and COO since August 2022. Atlanta-based Gentiva is the successor to hospice, palliative and personal care company Kindred at Home, which was majority-owned by Humana Inc. until mid-2022.

“I am confident Nick has the strategic acumen, vision, and leadership skills to build on our strong momentum at this pivotal point in Brookdale's history,” Denise Warren, a director who has been interim CEO since April, said in a statement. “His impressive track record of driving durable operational performance while building a culture of teamwork, excellence, and accountability uniquely positions him to ensure the company thrives.”

Prior to working two stints at Gentiva, Stengle—who started his career in the hospitality sector—was COO at Sunrise Senior Living, which runs about 250 retirement communities around the country. He will be paid an initial base salary of $950,000 and receive a $370,000 sign-on bonus in January. In addition to being eligible for 2026 long-term incentives that would be worth up to $4.7 million, he also will have the chance to earn an annual bonus of more than $1.3 million.

Word of his appointment comes a few days after CFO Dawn Kussow told the Jefferies 2025 Healthcare Services Conference that the Brookdale team is on track with its push to trim the company’s portfolio to about 550 properties by the middle of next year and that the senior living sector’s low supply dynamics are setting up the company for a good run in the years ahead.

“We’ve been continuing to grow occupancy at a rapid pace [and] the flow-through in the business is just very high,” Kussow said Sept. 30. “I think we’re at the precipice of making that turn, having durable, sustainable operational growth.”

Baier had led the company since early 2018, left the company as activist investment firm Ortelius Advisors was challenging its board about what it said was “years of underperformance,” pointing out that Brookdale’s stock had lost 30 percent of its value over the previous five years. The investors also said the directors were “not best suited to credibly chart the path forward” and proposed six board candidates of their own. But not enough Brookdale shareholders backed them at the company’s annual meeting in mid-July.

Shares of Brookdale (Ticker: BKD) closed Oct. 2 trading at $8.42 after giving up about 1.6 percent. They have, however, rallied nearly 40 percent over the past six months, a surge that has grown the company’s market capitalization to about $2 billion.