Elliot Kolodny – President, Founder
Elliot Kolodny founded Nursing Home Guardians as a way for families to protect their loved ones in nursing homes. For years, Elliot was devoted to representing nursing home residents as an attorney. He saw firsthand the growing number of incidents of neglect in nursing homes that could have easily been avoided. Frustrated that these problems were occurring in even the “best homes” he created Nursing Home Guardians as a tool to help families make sure that their loved ones do not become victims of abuse and neglect.
Before establishing Nursing Home Guardians Elliot was a veteran trial attorney whose practice focused on representing victims of catastrophic personal injury. He received his J.D. from Syracuse University’s College of Law and his undergraduate degree from Colby College. With over 25 years of courtroom experience, Elliot has tried cases in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as appeals in the Superior and Commonwealth Courts of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Elliot has been a frequent lecturer to other attorneys throughout the state of Pennsylvania. He was an adjunct professor at Rutgers Law School and has lectured at the University of Pennsylvania and nursing homes. Elliot has appeared on Good Morning America, KYW/CBS, WPVI/ABC, WCAU/NBC and WTFX/Fox. He was featured in the book Cape May Courthouse: A Death in the Night. He was named a “PA Superlawyer” in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Elliot now devotes 100% of his time to helping protect nursing home residents from abuse and neglect.
Listen to Elliot as interviewed by Retirement Living Today and Tomorrow. Dec. 29, 2014.
Elliot’s presentation was more than just informative. He taught us practical solutions that we could immediately use to help protect our loved ones. He left everyone feeling they now had the tools to make a real difference.
Roseanne Russo – Bucks County Coalition of Senior Communities
Tish Gill Gembala, DNP, MSN, RN
Director of Professional Services
Dr. Gembala is an innovative nurse leader with broad progressive experience in healthcare. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Widener University and a Master of Science in Nursing from Villanova University and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Duquesne University. With over 25 years of experience in acute and post acute care, Tish has served as Manager of Nursing Outreach programs, Director of Graduate Recruitment and University Relations, and Recruitment Manager. She has participated in joint research activities with academic institutions, and developed and implemented nurse education programs.
A 1981 inductee into the International Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau, Tish has served on multiple industry advisory boards and is editorial board member of several professional journals. She has designed and taught programs to meet the internal hiring needs for 23 post acute centers in PA and NJ. As a professor of nursing at the University level, she has vast knowledge of the field and experience educating future nurses.
By request of the Pennsylvania department of Labor & Industry, Tish designed, grew, and led a five county healthcare industry partnership addressing current and future workforce issues. She has successfully implemented both academic and corporate partnerships to provide national undergraduate and graduate nursing clinical opportunities.
Joining Nursing Home Guardians as the Director of Professional Services, Tish consults on every phase of the program and monitors the care of nursing home patients by evaluating the medical practices and care being provided. Her professional experience aids in the development of the organization’s controls, supervision, recruiting and training of the nursing staff, and communication with all nursing home facilities.
