Psynergy Promotes Lynda Kaufmann to VP Development and Public Relations
April 22, 2024 - Psynergy Programs has elevated Lynda Kaufmann, formerly Director of Government and Public Affairs, to Vice President of Development and Public Relations. Kaufmann has been with Psynergy for 14 years, and is the long-term face of Psynergy’s public outreach at state, county and mental health industry events. Kaufmann has been on the board of NAMI Santa Cruz for more than ten years and is one of only eight California ambassadors for the national mental health organization Treatment Advocacy Center.
Psynergy Programs has doubled in size since Kaufmann came on board in 2010. With her finger on the pulse of government programs, she initially discovered the opportunities available to the company through the Capital Community Expansion (CCE) program designed to add more mental health beds in California. A successful application to this program resulted in an $8 million grant to build Vista Esperanza, Psynergy Programs’ first RCFE-licensed property to provide a permanent home for mentally ill individuals over 59 ½. Vista Esperanza is currently on track to open in Spring 2024.
“Vista Esperanza is a terrific property,” says Kaufmann. “We wanted to do an RCFE project because our existing clients needed it. As they aged, we weren’t able to support them any more and they were being moved into skilled nursing facilities. California did not have many assisted living programs that had mental health services, and individuals who were insulin dependent and could not do their own finger sticks and insulin therapy were also without places to go. We will have round-the-clock nursing care at Vista Esperanza to solve this problem, along with a high level of security and social support, plus mental health care through our on-site clinic. And for the first time, we will have four beds for non-ambulatory individuals. I am excited about Vista Esperanza because it’s innovative.”
Kaufmann said she looks forward to opening more programs in the future, including acting in an advisory capacity to Tulare County on a new project there.
“We always give free advice to everybody, because that’s the kind of company we are,” says Kaufmann. “In this case, Tulare County hired us as a consultant to help develop their property. We hope to do more of that kind of work in the future.”