Tonja Werkman, MS, RD is the Vice President of Pinnacle Dietary. Tonja has been with Pinnacle Dietary since 2008. She started working with Pinnacle Dietary as a Consultant Dietitian. Tonja was promoted a year later in 2009 to the role of Director of Clinical Services. In 2014 she was promoted to Vice President of Clinical Operations. Tonja further expanded her role in 2016, becoming the Vice President of Support Services in addition to her position as the Vice President of Clinical Operations. This role encompasses all of the clinical services and provides support for the foodservice operations and the financial aspects of the business. Tonja also runs Nutrition link, a clinical and operational consultant company under Pinnacle Dietary.

Tonja received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in Nutrition and Dietetics with a concentration in fitness. She did her dietetic internship at, and received her Master’s degree from, Marywood University where she majored in Sports Nutrition and Nutrition Education.

She is an Adjunct Professor at Kean University and Ocean County College. Tonja serves as a member of the Academic Advisory Committee at Ocean County College and is an Ambassador for licensure for the New Jersey Dietetic Association.

David Berkowitz began learning about management and foodservice skills while working in the restaurant industry during high school and while gaining his B.A. in Business Administration from Bernard Baruch College in New York City. Since that time he’s gained over 30 years of experience in not only food service but also in the vending and hospitality industries, from day to day operations to sales.

David has a comprehensive knowledge of operations including product analysis & cost reduction programs, regulatory compliance, marketing and merchandising strategies, finance and budget management, enhanced resident satisfaction, staff training and development, and customer service excellence. He has managed, developed, and had financial and sales responsibility for Aramark’s Healthcare business in the Northeast marketplace in New York, New Jersey, and the Philadelphia region.

More recently, David had pursued independent consulting where he delivered strategic solutions to clients in the Healthcare market. He accomplished this through comprehensive evaluations of operating service levels, financial results, reviewing benchmarks for food, labor and direct expenses and assisting clients in implementing required changes to achieve desired goals.

In the Fall of 2017, David decided to jump back into the corporate fold and step away from independent consulting. He joined the Pinnacle Dietary team as the Director of Operations and Business Development where he works alongside Vice President, Tonja Werkman.

Roel Lopez, CDM, DTR graduated from the University of the East in the Philippines in 1991 with a major in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He also holds an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts from the French Culinary Institute. Roel is a member of the NY-NJ Bartender Association and Dietary Manager Association.

Roel joined Pinnacle Dietary in 2010 as the Corporate Executive Chef. As the Corporate Executive Chef, he implemented 3 specialty programs: the Puree Program, Indian Program, and Spanish Program. Roel also implemented a quarterly culinary clinic open to Pinnacle Dietary cooks. Most of Roel’s time was spent on menus, recipes, catering and training. He also provided support as an interim Director of Dining Services at several accounts, all of which achieved deficiency free surveys under his leadership.

Roel was the interim Executive Chef at Merwick Care for 8 months and was shortly thereafter promoted to Regional Manager. In November of 2014, he was promoted to Director of Operations. His current focus is Kitchen Decentralization. In late 2017, he shifted into a more specialized role, Director of Culinary Operations, where he can focus more of his time on the culinary part of operations he’s so passionate about.

Roel actively volunteers at the soup kitchen of St. Henry’s Church in Bayonne, NJ during holidays.

Emily Hodge began working at Pinnacle Dietary’s parent company Triple A Supplies, Inc as receptionist in January 2013. In July 2013, Emily was promoted to Executive Assistant of Pinnacle Dietary, and is responsible for providing administrative support and special project coordination.

Emily has over 10 years’ experience in the administrative field with a focus in customer service, contracts and project management, and is currently pursuing a degree in Pre-Law.

Lisa Coffee, CDM, CFPP started her career in healthcare food service 20 years ago working for a privately run nursing home as a dietary aide in her hometown of Old Bridge, NJ. There she grew into the position of Assistant Food Service Director while attending Brookdale Community Collage studying Nutrition. Seven years later, Lisa pursued an opportunity as Assistant Food Service Director working for Genesis HealthCare. Within two years Care One Management took over and she was promoted to Nutritional Service Director.

Lisa received her Certified Dietary Managers Certificate in 2007 from the University of Florida. She later joined the Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals and received her Certified Professional Food Manager certification in 2008.

In 2011 Lisa joined Pinnacle Dietary as a Director of Dining service. She was promoted to Regional Training Manager and, shortly thereafter, Regional Operations Manager. In 2013, Lisa became a certified ServSafe instructor and proctor by the National Restaurant Association.

Edgar Roldan has been in the food service industry for over 25 years. He worked in just about every food service industry, such as hotels, restaurants, schools, museums, and corrections, to name a few, before finding his way into food service for healthcare.

In 2010, Edgar joined Pinnacle Dietary. He has worked in 7 of our facilities and has advanced through the ranks from being an Assistant Director of Dining Services to Dietary Regional Manager.

Keith Aulisi, CDM, CFPP started his career in food service over 30 years ago during his high school work study program. Keith joined a long term care facility with the MultiCare Co and worked under Le Cordon Bleu Corporate Chef. In 1993 Keith joined St. Vincent’s Nursing in Montclair, NJ as the Director of Dining Services. During his career at St. Vincent’s, Keith worked with the purchasing department at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, NJ and was instrumental in stream lining purchasing procedures. He was then appointed to work with the Montclair Women’s Auxiliary to lead their fundraising catering projects. As a result, he had the opportunity to design the kitchen for St. Vincent’s new facility in Cedar Grove, NJ.

Keith received his Certified Dietary Managers Certificate in 1995. In 1997 he joined Genesis HealthCare as the Director of Dining Services at the Westfield Center. In 2006 Keith was promoted to the Food & Nutrition Operations Regional Manager. During Keith’s tenure with Genesis HealthCare, he participated in menu development, Enhancing Puree training video, post-bariatric surgery menu development, Sun HealthCare acquisition, Skilled Healthcare acquisition, and Revera Healthcare acquisitions.  Keith also organized and developed essential processes to ensure facilities achieve deficiency free surveys and are within regulatory compliance within the year.

In 2016, Keith became a certified ServSafe instructor and proctor by the National Restaurant Association.  In 2017 Keith joined the Pinnacle Dietary team as a Regional Manager for several NJ accounts.

Kelly Murray, RD, has been a Regional Dietitian with Pinnacle Dietary since October 2009. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and completed the Coordinated Program in Dietetics at the University of Medicine & Dentistry. Kelly has over 20 years of experience in the Nutrition and Food Service industry. She started out as a dietary aide progressing to a dietary clerk, food service director, and eventually completed her education to becoming a dietitian.

Kelly has previously spent time working as a dietitian for a large hospital system as well as working in a district manager role for a contracted management food service company. For 8 years in this capacity, she traveled all over North and South New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Kelly is ServSafe certified and a member of the Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics.

Jeannine Re McNamara, RD, is a Registered Dietitian with eighteen years experience in the long-term care setting. Jeannine received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Biology, with Specialization in Nutrition and a minor in Psychology, from Rutgers in 1990. She later returned to Rutgers to complete her Bachelor’s of Science in Dietetics in 1993 and completed her Dietetic Internship through The College of Saint Elizabeth and Jersey Shore Regional Trauma Center in 1994. Jeannine began her dietetics career in acute care at Clara Maas Medical Center, here she focused on Medical and Surgical Intensive Care as well as Oncology. She specialized in enteral and parenteral nutrition support and developed a “Nutrition and HIV” chapter for The Wood Company’s diet manual as well as the “Nutrition and Diet Therapy” Chapter of the Renal Dialysis Patient Handbook at Clara Maas Medical Center.

Jeannine eventually branched off into Long Term Care, in 1997 when she accepted a position as Clinical Nutrition Manager through The Wood Company at Roosevelt Care Center, Edison, NJ; a 500-bed facility, which included an Alzheimer’s unit. Jeannine’s Clinical team was deficiency free for the three years she was at Roosevelt as CNM.

Jeannine has provided nutrition counseling in a variety of settings including weight loss programs, prenatal health start programs, Same Day Surgery post op, acute and long term care patients and families and wound care patients. Education of these groups included Nutrition Therapy for such diseases as heart disease, kidney/liver disease, diabetes, and obesity; focusing on meal planning/preparation, portion control and food selection through label comparison. Through her private consulting company she also worked for several long-term and sub-acute care facilities, to provide preparation for state survey, as well as cover for vacation or medical leave. In 2005, Jeannine partnered with a colleague to write an Alzheimer’s and Dementia Manual for Health Care Providers, as well as a four-week finger foods menu and booklet of Nutrition Care Plan templates for residents with Alzheimer’s/Dementia. She also had an article on Preparing for End of Life Nutrition Choices published in “Families of Loved Ones In Long Term Care” Magazine.

Currently, Jeannine has been working as Regional Clinical Manager (RCM) for Pinnacle Dietary, providing support to several nursing homes throughout New Jersey and New York. She provides continuing education seminars, in cooperation with the other members of the Regional team, for Dietitians, Directors and Assistant Directors of Dinning Services. The company’s Clinical team boosts deficiency free surveys throughout its eight years in business. Jeannine has also recently become involved in planning and marketing for Pinnacle and its partner company, Nutrition Link; as well as becoming preceptor of the Pinnacle Certified Dietary Manager Training Program. (Which is offered to Directors of Dinning Services, Assistant Directors as well as Chef Managers). As part of her Marketing responsibilities, Jeannine has written articles for the Pinnacle Web Blasts and Pinnacle Press, Edited Copy for Marketing Materials such as Sell Sheets and joined the rest of the marketing team to develop a new Pinnacle Dietary/Nutrition Link Website. Jeannine is currently working in collaboration with another RCM to compile a Pinnacle Dietary Eden Philosophy Manual as well as developing and testing several ideas for Food Service Programs, that will meet the Eden Philosophy.

Elena Ostrovsky, MS, RD is a Clinical Regional Manager working at Pinnacle Dietary. Elena received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Hunter College City University of New York, in Food Service and Nutrition, with a concentration on Private practice in Nutrition and Wellness. She completed her internship program at Beth Israel Medical
Center in New York.

After completing her internship program and graduating with her Master’s degree, Elena was worked in acute care hospital settings. Elena has worked at Columbia University Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and Staten Island University Medical Center in Staten Island, NY as a surgical, renal and ICU dietitian. For more than 6 years, Elena was also simultaneously working closely with physicians in the private practice setting and counseling patients on topics relating to the management of diabetes, digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, prenatal and maternity nutrition. Elena was involved in organizing and teaching Cardiovascular group classes for patients with CHF and post Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery as well as Liquid Diet Weight Loss classes for morbidly obese patients.

Since 2000, Elena has worked as a nutrition consultant for Adult Care Centers, home care services and has run her own wellness program as NutriWellness LLC. From 2005 to 2014, Elena was a consulting Clinical Dietitian at Acute Care Rehabilitation and Select Medical Rehabilitation Services in West Orange and Chester New Jersey. In 2010, Elena began working as a Long Term Care Clinical Dietitian for Pinnacle Dietary covering a 215-bed facility with attached Vent unit at Windsor Gardens Care Center in East Orange, New Jersey. Elena was promoted to the position of Regional Clinical Manager at Pinnacle Dietary in 2014. As such, she is responsible for overseeing 4 nursing and rehabilitation facilities in New York and New Jersey.