Meet the Garden Place Senior Living Management
At Garden Place Senior Living, our staff makes the difference. Hired for their enthusiasm to work with senior adults as much as for their professional credentials, Garden Place’s senior living community managers and staff bring an infectious energy to each of our Independent & Assisted living centers. In addition, all Garden Place employees undergo a thorough reference check, including a criminal background check, IDPH state registry check and drug screening, prior to hiring. An experienced Registered Nurse with extensive knowledge of senior rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s techniques trains each employee. Ongoing training is required as well.
- Kathy Asselmeier, general manager, is a registered nurse (RN), certified nurse assistant (CNA) trainer and licensed nursing home administrator. Kathy has more than 35 years of hands-on, senior-care experience with professional certifications in geriatrics, rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s. In addition to her role as co-owner and general manager at Garden Place assisted living, Kathy runs a nurse consultant business that provides senior care services to the community.
- Rachel Giffhorn Columbia senior living community manager, is a Certified Aging Services Professional. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Baylor University, a master’s degree in health administration from Saint Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Chamberlain College. Rachel lives with her husband, Neil, and daughter, Josie, in Waterloo, Illinois. She truly loves what her job allows her to do—to make friends and develop relationships with individuals of every age.
- Tanya Schnarre Millstadt senior living community manager, has more than 10 years of experience in health-care-systems management. She previously worked as a sleep lab coordinator at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Ill. A qualified CPR instructor with nearly two years of nursing training, Tanya brings a zest for fun to our assisted living seniors.
- Barb Mertz Red Bud senior living community manager, has more than 18 years of experience in long-term care. She is a licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator and enjoys working side by side with residents and families to provide an atmosphere of both quality assisted living and fun. She believes seniors should have the opportunity to do whatever makes them happy and works to find ways to make those opportunities possible.
- Carol Schnitker Prior to becoming the food service manager for all three Garden Place communities, Carol worked for 17 years as the food service director and food production manager for a long-term-care facility, providing 1200 daily meals to more than 300 residents and 100 Meals on Wheels participants. She is ServSafe certified as well as a teacher and proctor for examinations. An active member of the Dietary Managers Association since 1997, Carol has served as the St. Louis, Mo., District 5 president for more than four years. In her spare time, Carol decorates cakes, including wedding cakes.