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Two Triad senior living organizations announce merger

The Well-Spring Life Plan Community in Greensboro. The Well-Spring Group and the Brightspire senior living organization have signed a letter of intent to merge. Photo courtesy of The Well-Spring Group.

The Well-Spring Life Plan Community in Greensboro. The Well-Spring Group and the Brightspire senior living organization have signed a letter of intent to merge. Photo courtesy of The Well-Spring Group. 

Two Triad senior living organizations will soon consolidate. 

The boards of Brightspire and The Well-Spring Group announced on Wednesday that the two organizations have signed a letter of intent to merge. Officials say a new parent company will guide the businesses in an equal partnership.

According to a news release, the as-yet-unnamed parent company is expected to be the largest nonprofit senior living organization in North Carolina, serving more than 2,000 residents.

Both organizations will retain their current names, and will be co-led by Brightspire president and CEO Tim Webster, and Steve Fleming, who currently helms The Well-Spring Group.

Brightspire, formerly known as The Presbyterian Homes, is made up of three senior living communities in High Point, Cary, and Laurinburg.

Well-Spring runs facilities in Greensboro and Burlington, and also partners with PACE of the Triad, a program serving the elderly in Guilford, Forsyth, Rockingham, Stokes, and Surry counties.

Officials say no layoffs are planned, although there may be some consolidation of back office duties. The merger is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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