DALLAS — After eight years with the company and over three years as CEO, Kimberly Lody will step down from Sonida Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SNDA), a Dallas-based owner-operator.
In accordance with the company’s succession plan, Brandon Ribar, the company’s chief operating officer (COO), has been appointed president and CEO, effective Sept. 2. Lody will continue to serve in her current role through Ribar’s start date to ensure a smooth transition. Ribar has also been appointed to succeed Lody as a member of the company’s board of directors.
“As Sonida continues its recovery from the pandemic, I felt the time was right for me to place the reins of the organization into the hands of its next leader,” says Lody. “During the past several years, Brandon and I worked closely together on many key operational and balance-sheet initiatives, and he is well positioned to lead the company in its next phase of growth.”
After serving on the board for over four years, Lody was appointed president and CEO in January 2019. She led the company through a comprehensive three-year turnaround plan to stabilize, invest, nurture and grow (“SING”) the organization through an operational and balance-sheet transformation. This included overhauling the company’s operations and resident programming, exiting unprofitable leased assets, and reshaping the company’s senior leadership team and central office. This process culminated in the company’s recapitalization in November 2021 and subsequent debt refinancing that addressed near-term maturities.
“Kim led Sonida through a significant transformation while navigating the challenges brought on by COVID-19,” says Dave Johnson, chairman of the board of directors.
Ribar took on the COO roled in September 2019 and was instrumental in planning and implementing improvements to the operating model, as well as navigating the COVID-19 response and driving occupancy recovery. He also worked closely with Lody on the company’s portfolio divestitures, recapitalization transaction and debt refinancing.
Prior to joining Sonida, Ribar served as senior vice president of operations at Golden Living, where he oversaw 305 skilled nursing and assisted living centers with 20,000 employees across 21 states. He also served as Golden Living’s senior vice president of operational finance and strategy, leading strategic initiatives within the portfolio’s skilled nursing, rehabilitation, home health and hospice businesses. Before that, he was vice president of healthcare investments at Fillmore Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm with more than $5 billion in assets under management.
Sonida Senior Living is one of the nation’s largest operators of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, with a portfolio of 76 communities across 18 states. The company’s stock price opened at $17.78 per share on Aug. 5, down from $22.04 one year prior.