Our Leadership
Laura Mitchell
CEO
Laura is a co-founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems. She has over 20 years of experience in the aging and connected health industry. She has started several companies including a band promotional company, a digital to analog conversion company and a boutique marketing/consulting agency in HealthTech. Laura speaks across the country on the benefits of assistive technologies for older adults and those living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has been featured in Forbes magazine for social media, was a 2012 “Top 40 under 40”, Top 100 Women in M2M in Connected World, and a recipient of the ‘Flame Award for Innovation and Leadership’ in 2011. She was a 2020 Rotarian of the Year, WI Innovation Awards finalist, and a 2022 Women in Consumer Technology Legacy recipient. She frequently volunteers with the Carlsbad Rotary and Cal State San Marcos business programs. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.
Charles Hillman
Chief Vision Officer & Founder
Charles Hillman is the founder and Chief Innovation Officer of GrandCare Systems. He is a Professional Engineer with a BS from MIT and a Master’s from the University of Wisconsin. His career has been eclectic but always in areas of disruptive technologies: computer mapping in the 70’s, computer aided design and manufacturing in the 80’s, internet in the 90’s, and since then digital health. He is passionate in his conviction that only judiciously applied technology will save this world from unsustainable healthcare costs.
Nick Mitchell
Chief Technology Officer
Nick Mitchell has an extensive background in software development and technology management, including his work at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Sandia National Laboratories, and Sonic Foundry. Nick was a founding member of GrandCare in 2005, and has served as the head of the development team for many years.
Gaytha Traynor
Founder & Chief Operating Officer
Gaytha Traynor is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of GrandCare Systems. She has been an entrepreneur and community leader for more than two decades. Gaytha has a BS in Education from UW-Madison with continued credits in Business Administration at California State Hayward. She has lived in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, and California, and is proud to call West Bend her home since 1983.
Ric Leitheiser
Chief Financial Officer
Small Business Banking and Market President. He has a BS in Economics and MBA from Marquette University. Ric currently serves on the board of the Kettle Moraine YMCA, the Upper Midwest YMCA Alliance and the United Way of Washington County.
Dr. Erick Eiting
Chief Medical Officer
In addition to serving as GrandCare’s Chief Medical Officer, Erick is the director of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He provides direct patient care and supervises emergency medicine residents. Erick also oversees all patient care activities, including quality metrics, patient safety, risk management and community engagement.
Scott Feldstein
Director of Training and Sales Support
Scott is the director of US Sales and Training at GrandCare. In addition to 20 years of experience in technology, Scott has studied psychology, religion, education and computing. He holds a master’s in education from Marquette University.
Hans Cabrera
Director of Operations
Hans is a biomedical engineer by training, having been educated at UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon, and having worked in both clinical and manufacturing settings.
Daphne Karpan
Clinical Director
Daphne is a widely recognized leader in remote monitoring and digital health. Clinical knowledge, caregiving passion and technical moxie make her capable of implementing new technologies in medical settings with ease. With Daphne, leadership and experience are on tap for any health organization facing new technology.
Jen Kleczka
Office/Operations Manager
Jen is the office and account manager at GrandCare. She is a graduate of Concordia University and has a degree in Medical Assisting. Jen also has managerial and administrative skills and also has experience as a dialysis patient caretaker.
Joseph Donnelly
Vice President of Sales
Joe is a senior healthcare technology and strategic accounts executive with deep experience helping health systems and provider organizations adopt innovative digital solutions that improve access, care delivery, and patient outcomes.
Amanda Voelzke
Marketing Manager
Amanda has over a decade of administrative experience and project management. She is a graduate of UW-Whitewater and is Kaizen certified. Her organizational skills and knowledge of office software at GrandCare headquarters is an invaluable asset.
Our Board
Charlie Hillman
Bob Ramsthal
Herb Zien
Nic Novaczyk
John Torinus
Matt Stamborski
Patrick Prescott
Our Advisors
Ric Leitheiser
Dr. Paul Boinay
Who We Serve
GrandCare is used to support people with a wide variety of needs, including people with IDD, people with TBI, seniors, people with chronic health conditions, people receiving post-acute care, and people receiving hospice care.
GrandCare is used in a wide variety of settings, including private residences, group homes, senior living communities and other places.
Organizations who use GrandCare to support their clients include disability support providers, homecare providers, CCRCs and other healthcare organizations.
History of GrandCare
GrandCare founder Charlie Hillman was shaken by a close call with his great aunt Clara in the early 1990s. When he stopped in to check on her, he discovered she had her windows wide open, trying to clear the smoke and burning smell in the house. Upon further investigation, Charlie discovered there were flames coming from the furnace. Clara later admitted that she had been hearing strange noises in the basement and enduring temperature swings in her home for weeks. She had said nothing about it because she “didn’t want to bother anyone.”
Charlie knew there were many others who could benefit from a user-friendly system to help keep their loved ones safe. Unable to find a solution on the market, he began to design his own. By 1995, Clara’s home was outfitted with a simple system of basic sensors, allowing her to remain safe and to continue living independently at home. Years later, the widespread availability of the Internet and wireless sensors helped to turn Charlie’s early vision into a modern reality. He began developing the GrandCare System in 2003, beta-tested the product in 2005, and brought an early version of GrandCare to market in late 2006. Since then, GrandCare has been adding on more features and capabilities making it the most comprehensive and robust remote monitoring/support system on the market.
In 2019 Charlie passed the CEO baton to Laura Mitchell (an original founding member of GrandCare) and continued on as founder and a trusted advisor to the CEO. GrandCare is a global product with a focus on in-home care providers, senior housing providers, and the disability market.
Vision
We believe that people deserve to be empowered with enabling technologies to stay safer, happier and healthier at home.
Mission
GrandCare Systems addresses the societal need to reduce the cost of chronic conditions and professional healthcare services by providing a fully-featured technology at point of care to support aging and healing in place.
Quality
GrandCare is committed to the highest quality standards for its operations and products. Our products are developed and produced using ISO-13485 and CMDCAS-certified processes, and carry a CE Mark.
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