Founding Partners
Fred Schleich, C.A., Co-founder and President of Care Planning Partners Inc.
Fred co-founded Care Planning Partners in the fall of 1993 after having consulted to the seniors' housing and care industry since 1990. A thorough knowledge of the seniors' housing market and of the market and financial feasibility process, coupled with a strong financial background and a clear understanding of the development process, enables him to bring a wide spectrum of experience to clients.
Fred is a Chartered Accountant having obtained his professional designation with Coopers & Lybrand in 1974 and is a graduate of the University of Toronto (1968) with a Bachelor of Science degree. Fred was employed by Coopers & Lybrand for a period of ten years, largely in the accounting and auditing practice, specializing in financial services, real estate and insurance, with experience in hospitals, having audited Sunnybrook Hospital. He left the firm as an Audit Manager to become Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Director at Walwyn Stodgell Cochran Murray Limited, the first Canadian Investment dealer to go
public.
At Walwyn, Fred was Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Director and was a member of the management committee. With
responsibility for financial reporting, treasury, human resources, office administration and the client service departments for the firm's premier investment account and for its tax products, Fred was responsible for several mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and in taking the company public. With a strong background in systems and procedures, he was instrumental in starting the systems and internal audit departments and in the design of the systems relating to the firm's Asset Management Account and Self Invested RRSP Account, both the first of their kind in Canada.
Fred was also President and a Director of The White Light Hospice Foundation (1991 to 1999), a charitable foundation dedicated to establishing a free standing in-patient hospice for terminally ill cancer patients, and as president was instrumental in starting a respite and day care hospice centre.
Derek Mercey, Co-founder and Vice President of Care Planning Partners Inc.
Driven by a personal vision of integrity and social responsibility, Derek Mercey has been providing professional consulting to the seniors' housing and care services industry since 1992.
In 1993, Derek co-founded Care Planning Partners Inc., which has since established itself as the preferred source of industry information and market intelligence among key stakeholders including lenders, developers, real estate professionals, seniors' housing owners and managers. Current and past clients include such well-known and respected organizations as; Alert Care Corporation, Extendicare (Canada) Inc., Chartwell Care Corporation, Central Park Lodges, Diversicare Management Services, Community Lifecare Inc., Omni Health Care Ltd., Sunrise Assisted Living (U.S.), Alterra Healthcare Inc. (U.S.), Manorcare Health Services Inc. (U.S.), Abbeyfield Homes, The Alzheimer Society of Ottawa-Carleton, and many more.
Recognizing a need for better information relating to the housing and service alternatives available to seniors and their families, Derek spearheaded the development of TheCareGuide.com in 1996 and the 2002 launch of The Care Guide, Canada's premier printed guide to seniors' housing and care services.
Derek holds an Honours Degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. During his studies, Derek worked as a caregiver in a home for special care, where he assisted in the development and implementation of residential care programs for dually-diagnosed youths. He also worked with a Toronto-based consulting firm that specialized in the retirement residence sector. During this tenure, he gained valuable experience conducting numerous market and financial feasibility studies for the sector. He also developed and implemented an annual, Ontario-wide survey of retirement and long-term care facilities that furthered his knowledge of the seniors' housing and care service industry.
Derek serves on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the Commercial Committee of the Ontario Residential Care Association (ORCA) and is past Treasurer of the White Light Hospice Foundation, a Toronto-based charitable group striving to build a free-standing hospice for terminal cancer patients.
To arrange a media interview with Derek Mercey, please contact him directly at (416) 287-2273 ext. 223 or derek@thecareguide.com.