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Ordan Named Sunrise CEO After Founder Gives Up Role
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"It was Paul's decision, fully endorsed by the board," Krominga said.
In his new role, Klaassen said he would seek to expand his role as a lobbyist for changing how the United States handles senior care, tapping an activist perspective he said he has channeled since his time as a student organizer at Georgetown University.
"Way too many times the U.S. response has been to send people to nursing homes for care," he said. "We have a lot of work to do there."
Ordan, 49, said he expects Klaassen to continue to play a major role in the company. He said as an outsider he brings a unique set of skills -- in particular experience with real estate and the nuts and bolts of running companies.
"The way we approach this is we're partners," he said. "Each one is dedicated to the same mission, but they come at it with different backgrounds."
Ordan said he is confident the accounting problems that Sunrise experienced over the past few years will not be repeated. Sunrise's chief financial officer is Richard Nadeau, who worked with Ordan in the same capacity at Mills Corp. when it was sold.
Yesterday Sunrise's stock closed at $18.44, up 41 cents (2.27 percent). It is down by half over the last year, however.
Together, Klaassen and Ordan hope to oversee the construction of about 350 new senior living communities across the nation in the next decade. Sunrise houses about 50,000 seniors in the United States and four other countries.
Klaassen said there is a lot of work to do to improve the senior experience, especially for seniors who have Alzheimer's Disease and other memory problems. He has imported a version of treatment for these people known as Snoezelen, a practice in his homeland of Holland for stimulating the senses.
These days, he is also making preparations to move his own mother and father in December into a Sunrise community that is being built in Bethesda. And even after he steps down, he plans to continue bringing every new facility manager to his home for dinner.
"We've told everybody [that] even if I do one thing, it'll be hosting these regular dinners," he said.
