Jane H. Grad

Vice President of Information Services

As vice president of information services, Jane H. Grad is responsible for the selection, evaluation, planning, implementation and maintenance of information systems throughout Presbyterian Homes’ corporate offices and seven communities. In addition to corporate information services, she works closely with residents in terms of their access to and use of computer and Internet resources. Grad is also responsible for the strategic information plan to meet strategic business goals and with specific responsibility for coordinating Presbyterian Homes’ effort to evaluate and test emerging technology useful to older adults.

Grad’s charter further includes the design and development of specialized demographic databases, applications, network services, and the organization’s intranet. Her staff provides customer service for network end users and collaborates with employees and vendors regarding implementation and conversion issues.

Grad joined Presbyterian Homes in 2001 from Ingalls Health System, where she was vice president of information technology. Prior to that, Grad held senior management positions in systems technology for KPMG Peat Marwick, Baxter Healthcare, and Ernst & Whinney.

As important as her contribution to Presbyterian Homes’ information systems and network users, Grad has brought leadership to enhancing resident use of computers and technology through technology introduction, courses and workshops. She has instituted e-mail and web access designed for older adults (touchtown.org), which is available to any resident regardless of where they live or of any special considerations they may have. Grad has implemented a variety of assistive technology, e.g., software, hardware and room design, to assure that technology is useful to older adults. A wide variety of classroom and one-to-one assistance is available for residents depending on personal interest and needs. Presbyterian Homes’ goal is to assure that any interested resident or patient can use and continue to use computer technology for e-mail, word processing and information resources as they wish.

“I think that our approach to providing computer and Internet resources to patients and residents is very innovative. Not only do we believe that technology available to the general population should be available to residents, we try to assure that these resources are useful for older adults as they move to new living accommodations, e.g., independent and assisted living and health care,” says Grad.  This approach to computer services for older adults has been recognized nationally as a best practice.

Grad has written trade publication articles and spoken to various healthcare systems professional organizations about the strategic use of information. She received both her undergraduate degree and master’s in business administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.