Our Team

TAMMY PIRHEKAYATI

COURSE ADMINISTRATOR

Tammy Pirhekayati has devoted her professional life to helping nursing facilities become the providers of choice and employers of choice in their communities. As Chief Clinical Officer for several large operators during the past twenty years, Tammy has led dramatic, sustained improvements in clinical quality measures; daily and supplemental revenues; employee satisfaction; census development; and staff competencies for care at higher levels of acuity.  She has overseen the planning and implementation of multiple electronic health record systems. She has collaborated with hospitals and physician groups to develop disease-specific programs to reduce rehospitalizations. She has developed standardized programs for new facility leader orientations and for training nurses to become DONs. Tammy’s focus is Continuous Quality Improvement, and her leadership style is integrity, collaboration, and trust. Tammy is a classically trained musician. She speaks fluent English and Farsi, and conversational Spanish. She loves physical exercise and dark chocolate.

JENNIFER DAVIS

INSTRUCTOR

Jenny has 22 years of experience as a long-term care nurse initially including 15 years as the Director of Staff Development. As the DSD, she has oriented and trained over 1000 employees to ensure their competencies in working with the elderly. Jenny is an LVN graduate of Sacramento City College. She has certifications as a Director of Staff Development, wound and ostomy nurse, and infection preventionist.

Jenny has lived in Santa Cruz since 2001. She is proud to be a third-generation nurse in her family. Jenny is committed to caring for the elderly in our community and has a passion for mentoring and training staff. “I love working with staff to develop their bedside skills. Working side by side with the staff I am committed to optimizing each resident’s independence no matter what stage they are at in their aging process. I am committed to our mission of” Families serving families.”

When Jenny is not at work she enjoys spending time with her husband and three teenage boys hiking and having fun trying new restaurants in the area.  Other hobbies include gardening, making jewelry, and trying new recipes.

THERESA LOPEZ VEGA

INSTRUCTOR

Theresa Lopez Vega began her career in healthcare as a CNA working in skilled nursing facilities. She shares that her “compassion for ‘taking care’ of people started as a young girl growing up in the ‘Windy City’, back before cell phones and computers were invented.” In 1988 she became a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and worked as a charge nurse and eventually a rehab nurse in the suburbs of Chicago. Theresa pursued her dream of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) and her dream became reality in 1992. Shortly after, she relocated to California and worked as RN supervisor for a facility in the San Fernando Valley. It was there that she was presented with an opportunity that would change the course of her career. Dava Stuart (now Dava Ashley) President of Covenant, offered to send Theresa to school to become a certified Director of Staff Development (DSD).

From 1993-2014, Theresa worked for several skilled nursing facilities across California and eventually was hired in 2014 as DSD for Los Altos Subacute and Rehabilitation Center. She has enjoyed training and educating people across all departments. In 2018 Covenant Care started a Nurse Assistant Training Program at Los Altos Sub Acute and Rehabilitation Center where she became the RN program director.

In 2020, Gilroy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center started a NATP class. Theresa said, “As a nurse assistant instructor, it’s a great honor to know that we can make a difference in our student’s life by educating them and giving them their knowledge and skills for providing the best care possible for our residents and their families.”