Lucinda (“Cindy”) Baier is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookdale Senior Living, the nation's leading operator of senior living communities and one of the largest home health and hospice providers. As of year-end 2020, the $3.5 billion company operates more than 700 senior living communities and has the ability to serve over 60,000+ residents through its independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care retirement communities and also serves approximately 17,000 patients through its home health, hospice and outpatient therapy services. The company's 45,000+ employees are taking care of America's seniors and in 2019 Fortune magazine ranked Brookdale as one of the top 200 largest publicly listed employers in the country.
Ms. Baier became Brookdale's President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors on February 28, 2018. As CEO she initiated and is leading the company's operational turnaround strategy. Her accomplishments can be seen over an array of areas, including people, portfolio and operations. Retention rates of the company's top community leaders are strong. She helped focus the company's efforts on increasing diversity, resulting in the Board and executive leadership team approaching gender parity. Since becoming CEO, Brookdale has increased people of color in leadership roles on the executive leadership team. Ms. Baier led Brookdale's efforts to negotiate and restructure leases with its largest three REIT partners and to unlock significant value through the sale of assets, including Brookdale's interest in the unconsolidated entry CCRC ventures. Within the second year after introducing the "winning locally" strategy, the company's Net Promoter Score® increased 20%. In her third year as CEO, J.D. Power recognized the company as #1 in customer satisfaction in assisted living/memory care communities.
Ms. Baier has served for more than a decade as a board member of public and private companies and organizations. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Nashville Health Care Council, where she serves on the Executive Committee, and is a member of the NYSE Board Advisory Council, which identifies and connects diverse board candidates to NYSE-listed companies seeking new directors.
Ms. Baier has been recognized by a number of professional organizations, including recipient of the Corporate Citizenship 2020 Award from the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board; elected to McKnight's 2020 "Women of Distinction" in the Hall of Honor category; featured in the 2020 “In Charge” list by Nashville Medical news; named in WomenInc.'s 2019 Most Influential Corporate Directors list; recognized in the Nashville Business Journal's 2020 Health Care Leaders awards and for the second consecutive year was named to the Nashville Business Journal’s "Power 100" list, the "Most Admired CEO" list and the "In Charge" list by the Nashville Post.
Prior to becoming CEO of Brookdale, Ms. Baier served as the company's Chief Financial Officer from December 2015. In addition to experience as a seasoned chief financial officer in several companies, she has had multi-billion dollar operations responsibility, been the chief executive officer for a publicly traded retailer, and served as an executive officer of a Fortune 30 company.
Ms. Baier is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of Illinois State University, with Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Accounting.