Meet the members of the Veterans' Homes Council
Appointed by the Governor:
Ziven Drake
Ziven Drake is a US Air Force Veteran who served as a Crew Chief in Tactical Aircraft Maintenance. She is a current member of the Pile Drivers Local 56 Union. Drake currently serves as Assistant Executive Director of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Apprenticeship Training Fund.
Lt. Colonel USMC (Retired) Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford is a retired US Marine Corps Reserve Officer and served as the Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Covidien. Dunford is an active member of the business community and a veteran advocate focused on employment, food security, homelessness, case management and outreach. Dunford currently serves as president of the Cape & Islands Veteran Outreach Center.
Capt. (Retired) Jonathan S. Olshaker, MD, FAAEM, FACEP
Dr. Jonathan S. Olshaker is a Doctor of Medicine with nearly 40 years of experience in medical care as a practicing physician and academic. For nearly two decades, Dr. Olshaker was Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC), the largest Level One trauma center in New England, while serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). Dr. Olshaker was co-founder of the Boston Medical Center Injury Prevention Center (BMCIPC) and served on the Board of Directors for the center and the Boards of Boston Medical Center’s Management Service Organization; Insurance Company, LTD (BMC’s self-insurance company); and BMC Accountable Care Organization.
A veteran of the Navy, Dr. Olshaker also spent several years in military service providing medical care at Naval Hospital Oakland (also known as the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital), U.S.S. Niagara Falls (AFS-3), and Naval Medical Center San Diego. Dr. Olshaker has the distinct honor of retiring from military service as a Captain of the United States Naval Reserve.
Michael Jefferson
Michael Jefferson, a veteran of the US Marine Corps, is president of Somerville IAFF Local 76 and founder of the Fraternal Order of Firefighter Military Veterans, Inc. He is also a member and director of the Member Assistance Program for the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts.
Appointed by Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services:
Dr. Louis Chow, PhD
Dr. Chow is the Sr. Director of Network Development and Training Institute at Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Hospital program. He is a clinical psychologist, Assistant in Psychology at MGH, Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a specialist in treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other invisible wounds of war. Dr. Chow has overseen the education and training of thousands of clinicians and health professionals across the Commonwealth seeking to care for veterans impacted by the invisible wounds of war.
Jill Landis, RN
Jill Landis has been the vice president of quality management at Integritus Healthcare, a not-for-profit committed to fulfilling the health and residential needs of communities, since 2008. Landis previously was a regional nurse manager at Genesis Health Care, where her responsibilities included the management of quality outcomes for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Landis is certified in rehabilitation nursing and is a member of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association.
In addition to the seven members appointed by Governor Healey and Acting Secretary Beckman, the Veterans Homes Council includes Executive Director of Veterans Homes and Housing and Veterans Home in Chelsea Acting Superintendent Robert J. Engell, who serves as chair, and Chelsea and Holyoke Veterans Homes Boards of Trustees members, who are ex officio, voting members.