Dot Cole
Dot retired in 2011 as Manager of Long Term Care Facility Licensure and Certification for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS). In her 25 years with the state, Dot developed an unsurpassed level of expertise and was a recognized state authority on Medicaid and Medicare regulatory issues.
She served on legislative drafting committees, chaired work groups to write the current regulations, and developed the new application and instructions for facility licensure and certification. Dot distinguished herself on the national level by assisting other states with drafting their regulations and, in 2007, uncovered one of the largest cases of healthcare fraud in history and assisted the U.S. Attorney General in a conviction. Dot handles all regulatory issues, licensure, certification, and bed allocations for Cole Consultants.
T.J. Cole
TJ has 35 years of experience in marketing, business development, and real estate. T.J. started his career in Mexico as a media producer for the Mexican-North American Institute for Cultural Relations, an affiliate of the US. Embassy. He served as a journalist with the Associated Press, and was an instructor at the University of Guanajuato.
In Texas, he designed, constructed, and operated an innovative graphic arts facility which won a City of Austin award for outstanding business development. He served as Editor-in-Chief of a leading trade publication and was a member of the Texas Capitol Press Corps. T.J. has focused on real estate for the past 13 years. In 2007-08, he was a guest lecturer for the Invest in Texas seminars held throughout Mexico by the State of Texas Office of the Governor. T.J. handles the business management of Cole Consultants along with the sale, acquisition and development of facilities.
Nora Fernandez
Nora started her 35-year career at the State of Texas with the Health Department and worked her way up to be Senior Analyst with the Facility Licensure and Certification Unit of DADS before her retirement in 2012.
Nora’s exceptional ability to analyze and process documents became the standard of performance for her peers at state and federal agencies. Because of her expertise, she was called upon to train others in her organizational and processing skills. She also developed many forms that were adopted for official use by the state. At Cole Consultants, Nora specializes in changes of ownership, initial licensure and certification of facilities.
Jann Caldwell
Jann worked 38 years for the U.S. Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and while there, built a reputation for her wealth of knowledge and ability to solve problems when others couldn’t. Jann served as the lead certification specialist for skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospitals, rural health clinics, home health and hospice.
She processed initial applications and changes of ownership and gave final CMS approval. She trained state, federal and health industry staff in Medicare certification; and she inspected and evaluated state survey and certification processes. Jann helped Medicare Administrative Contractors to be more efficient in processing documents and to expedite payments to providers. She also reviewed new federal regulations and wrote policies and procedures for the certification process. Jann now uses her vast experience as the federal regulatory expert for Cole Consultants.