Meet the leaders who create our culture.

Pam Haman joined Lifespace as the Executive Director at The Stayton in February 2020. Pam comes to the community with over 20 years of experience in senior living.  Prior to joining Lifespace, Pam was an Associate Executive Director for nearly 7 years with Erickson Living in both Overland Park, Kansas and Springfield, Virginia. Prior to that she served as an Area Executive Director for Kindred Healthcare. Her career began in 1999 as a Business Office Manager and became a licensed nursing home administrator in 2003. She has a track record of success including CMS 5-Star ratings, deficiency free surveys, and U.S. News and World Report recognition.

Born and raised in Spain, Helio graduated from the Technical Institute of Hospitality in Madrid. His 30 plus years of experience includes management positions in restaurants, hotels, casino and resorts in Houston, Dallas, Orlando, NW Arkansas and Oklahoma. Prior to Senior Living, Helio was the Culinary Director at The WinStar Casino and Resort responsible for over 20 Restaurants and Bars. He brings expertise in how to blend culinary teams that create great food with how service teams deliver sophisticated warmth to create memorable and caring Hospitality.

Tommie is a talented and experienced culinary professional. Since joining The Stayton team in 2015 as sous chef, he’s used his skills to oversee employee schedules, encourage and motivate co-workers, and provide warm service to each resident who dines with us. Since his promotion to executive chef in 2018, Tommie continues to exceed expectations, elevating the dining experience at The Stayton and setting the standard for quality service.

David is an accomplished leader in all areas of senior care. Beginning his career working for Bailey Square Surgery Center, transitioning to a top broker firm Arthur J Gallagher Healthcare Benefits Departments and then into Skilled Nursing, David leverages his sixteen years of healthcare industry and 9 years skilled nursing experience to manage the operation of our on-campus health services. He has led individuals to achieve their highest level of independence. He also received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2018-current. Throughout his career, As Administrator, David led the aggressive efforts to strengthen rural communities and strengthen skilled nursing to the highest qualities.

Karen Gayler is a long-time resident of the Fort Worth area.  She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Texas at Arlington in 1993. Karen started her nursing career in Psychosocial Nursing and transitioned to focus on Physical Rehabilitation. She has 6 years of Leadership experience in Skilled Nursing/Long Term Care. Karen maintains her certification as a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse and enjoys being a hands-on leader. She loves teaching staff ways to assist every resident function at their full potential. Karen is very focused on building a strong, capable and cohesive team to provide quality care with excellent experiences to our residents.

Our team at The Stayton owes a lot to DJ. With more than 20 years of experience in building high-functioning, collaborative teams while improving efficiencies, DJ knows what it takes to keep things running smoothly. Her innovative, forward-thinking hiring practices continually encourage us to cultivate our own homegrown talent – that plays a big part in creating a stable, talented team that benefits co-workers and residents alike. DJ earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Southern Nazarene University.

David is an accomplished leader in all areas of senior care. Beginning his career in health service as a memory care administrator for the Columbia Healthcare Center, David leverages his nine years of industry experience to manage the operation of our on-campus health services. Throughout his career, David’s main focus has been delivering a high standard of care with sustainability, efficiency and compassion.

Karon Porter comes to The Stayton with over 25 years of experience in senior living sales and marketing. She is a certified sales trainer with The Wilson Learning System. She began her career in skilled nursing as Life Engagement Director. She then went into the selling side of Senior Living, which she believes helps enhance life for people as they move to a place like The Stayton. Karon has held several different positions in Senior Living Sales, Vice President of Sales, Corporate Director of Sales and Regional Director of Sales. The experience of these positions taught her strategic marketing, lead generation and hands-on sales training to help assist and coach sales professionals to occupancy success. Karon is deeply passionate about leading a team to embrace a sales process that is focused on relationship selling. She approaches the sales process with compassion and empathy, knowing that building a trusting relationship is key.

In 2004, Janica Hughey graduated from Winston-Salem State University with a Bachelor of Science degree Therapeutic Recreation and a Minor in Psychology. After graduating college, she traveled the world obtaining experience within the recreation field. Charlotte, NC, Hampton, VA, Brooklyn, NY and Ramstein, Germany are some of the cities she lived in. While in these cities she experienced different populations within recreation including children, the homeless, persons with disabilities, veterans and seniors. Programming for and interacting with seniors quickly became her favorite. Most recently, Janica worked for the City of Deer Park as the Senior Services Supervisor. In this position she obtained many certifications and acknowledgments. Janica is currently a Texas Certified Food Manager and a Certified ADA Coordinator.