Debbie Matystik, MSW
Executive Director

Debbie's rich previous executive experience includes positions as Director of Senior Life Care Planning/Geriatric Care Management at Family Home Health Care/Dominican Sisters Family Health Services for Westchester county and Director of Volunteer Services at The Jewish Home and Hospital Life Care System in the Bronx. She has also served as Director of the Senior Community Coalition at Dominican Sisters Family Health Services, Ossining, and Founder and Executive Director of Victims Assistance Services in Westchester. She has a Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University and a Master of Arts in Counseling degree and Professional Diploma in Counseling Psychology from Manhattan College. Debbie is a member of many professional and community organizations including the Westchester County Women's Advisory Board, National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers and various geriatric committees throughout Westchester.

Karen Gauvin
Director of Professional Relations

During 18 years in the health care field, Karen's primary focuses have been promoting services to seniors and families and community education. She was previously Director of Marketing for the Fieldhome Rehab/Skilled Nursing/ Assisted Living health care campus in northern Westchester. Previously, she also served as Director of Public Relations for Cambridge Healthcare Group of Boston and Public Affairs Manager for the North Shore Long Island Jewish Southside Hospital. Karen is active in numerous health organizations and committees and has volunteered for the Hospice of the South Shore and Children's Health Imagery Productions. She is presently completing her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Marketing from Plattsburgh State University and is pursuing further education in Gerontology Studies with Kansas State University.

Gemma M. Carrara, RN, MSN, NP-C, ANP
Care Manager

Gemma comes to SeniorBridge with more than 10 years experience in a variety of nursing venues. She recently worked for Access Nursing Services, as an inpatient private duty nurse on medical/surgical units. Before that, she was an RN Case Manager for Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Southwestern Connecticut, coordinating and implementing home care with all members of the team. Gemma cared for cardiac and other medical patients on the Telemetry/Medical Unit through All Care Nursing Service/RAS Temporary Services, Inc. at the New York United Medical Center in Portchester. She has also worked as a Travel RN at various hospitals through Cross Country TravCorps, Health Care Everywhere, and Star Med, Inc., Carolina Health System. She had previously served as Staff RN at University Hospital and Doctor's Hospital on Staten Island. Gemma received a BA in Sociology-Anthropology from CUNY, Staten Island, a Diploma in Nursing from St. Vincent's School of Nursing, and an ANP, Master's degree from Stony Brook University. She is a Registered Nurse, Certified Nurse Practitioner, and Advanced Nurse Practitioner certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Lisa Friedwald, RN
Care Manager

Lisa's wide range of healthcare experience encompasses nursing, sales, marketing, and management. She was previously a Nurse Case Manager at SubAcute Network-The CareNext Group in Purchase, where she worked with the geriatric population; General Manager of two homecare offices for Interim Healthcare of Greater New York; and Director of Operations, Mid-Atlantic Region, for HemaCare Corp/Coral Blood Services, marketing therapeutic aphaeresis services to hospitals and physicians. Lisa has also been a Nurse Evaluator/Marketing Rep for Mediplex/Sunrise Healthcare Corp, a Hospital Sales Specialist for Bayer Inc. in Manhattan, and a Registered Nurse in Montefiore Hospital's med/surg and pediatric units. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale.

Hector Pou, MSW, ACSW
Care Manager

Most recently, Hector served as Manager of Program Development for the Visiting Nurse Service (VNS) of New York, evaluating and developing home care services in varied housing settings and developing staff training programs. Earlier, he had been a Professional Geriatric Care Manager at Consultants in Care, coordinating support services, and a Social Work Home Care Coordinator and Medical Social Worker for Home Care for VNS. Previously, Hector was Senior Medical Social Worker at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, responsible for inpatient evaluation, discharge planning, and supervising social work students. He was worked as a Health Care Analyst for Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and a Program Coordinator for the ILGWU Member Assistance Program. Hector earned his BA from Lehman College, CUNY, and an MSW from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work. Fluent in Spanish, he is a licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers. Hector has received awards for outstanding work from VNS and the NY State Office of Aging.

Ruth Farrago, CMC
Vice President of Regional Operations

Ruth Farrago has over 20 years of experience in health care administration. She was the Administrator of an inpatient and outpatient comprehensive Rehabilitation and Orthopedic Division at Downstate Medical Centers in Brooklyn. She has an extensive background in home care marketing and management having worked for St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers as the Director of Intake and was then the Branch Manager/Administrator at New York Health Care. Ruth was also the Executive Director of Sunrise Assisted Living of East Meadow where she was responsible for the daily operations of the facility, client and family satisfaction, management of the sales and marketing team and coordinated community outreach and events. Ruth has a Bachelors of Science from SUNY College of Oneonta where she majored in Business Economics and she is currently completing a Masters Degree at Long Island University specializing in Gerontology. Ruth has received her certification in Geriatric Care Management (CMC).