People

SEATTLE — Merrill Gardens, a Seattle-based owner-operator, has added Melanie Werdel and Madisen Medley to its senior leadership team. Werdel is now the vice president of risk management for Merrill Senior Living and sister company Pillar Properties. She has over 30 years of experience in senior living including her tenure as a member of the senior leadership team at Emeritus. Prior to joining Merrill Gardens, she was a consultant to senior living companies, tapping into her expertise in healthcare, compliance and administration. Werdel is also one of the original senior …

SKOKIE, Ill. — Covenant Living Communities and Services, a nonprofit, faith-based senior living organization headquartered in Skokie, has appointed David Erickson as the new president and CEO.  He comes to this role following the recent retirement of Terri Cunliffe, who had been in the position since 2015. Erickson has been with Covenant for 16 years, most recently serving as senior vice president and general counsel. Covenant Living currently owns and operates 18 communities in 10 states.

DALLAS — Lifespace Communities has hired Maria Mercer as vice president, human resources.  In this newly restructured role, Mercer will provide comprehensive human resources leadership to support Lifespace. Mercer previously worked for Hewlett Packard and Electronic Data Systems. Most recently, she served as vice president, global human resources and mergers and acquisitions at global tax firm Ryan.