John A. Brennan

Three off-duty police officers - John Brennan, Eric Castagliola and Philip Roy, all of the 60th Precinct and all unarmed - were in the restaurant and jumped up, police said.
...
They tackled Brags, and Brennan was hit in the head with the gun during the struggle
...
Brennan was treated for minor head injuries at Lutheran Medical Center and released.

Braga was then tackled by off-duty police officer, John Brennan of the 60th Precinct, who was in the bar with a couple of other off-duty officers. - Eric Castagliola, and Philip Roy, all of them unarmed and from the 60th Precinct.
...
Brennan was hit in the head with the gun during the struggle.Then, Officer Brennan, along with Officers Eric Castagliola and Philip Roy, chased Braga who ran out of the bar and proceeded to another bar a few blocks away, where the officers caught up with him.
...
"Although the death of Mr. Lagattuta is a tragedy, based on the investigation by this office, the shooting by New York City Police Officer John Brennan was accidental," said District Attorney Hynes.
...
The incident occurred on January 2, 2003 when Brennan, who was in uniform and in a marked police vehicle, attempted to apprehend Lagattuta, who was driving a stolen mini-van.
...
With Brennan and other police officers surrounding him and ordering him out of his vehicle, Lagattuta drove directly at the officers in an attempt to evade capture.
...
It was while Officer Brennan was struggling to avoid being struck by Lagattuta's vehicle that his gun accidentally discharged one shot, hitting the suspect in the back.

TAUNTON - John A. Brennan did not set out to work in health care, but after stints at hospitals and nursing homes in four other states, he finds himself the new director of the troubled Taunton Nursing Home.

"It wasn't a career I chose.It just kind of swept me along," said Brennan, a resident of Lakeville.

Brennan was hired two months ago to turn around the financially strapped facility, one of only six municipally owned nursing homes in the state.

"I'm an accounting guy," said Brennan.
...
Brennan, 49, was brought in by the board of trustees Oct. 1 after the resignation of Joseph Rego, who stepped down after a turbulent 10-year tenure.
...
As the administrator, Brennan will earn $69,000 a year.

"The staff and the care are good.If anything, they needed someone with a sharp pencil," said Brennan."It's accounting."

Brennan is still getting his feet wet, assessing the nursing home's financial future, assembling a management team and charting a course for recovery.

He will meet with Mayor-elect Robert G. Nunes' transition team and make a presentation on the state of the nursing home to the City Council.

Brennan's personality is different from his predecessor, but employees seem to be warming up to him.
...
"With John, everything has to be ship-shape.He has done well so far," she said.

Nunes, a strong supporter of the nursing home, met with Brennan a few weeks ago.
...
The city, state and Medicare won't carry us," said Brennan."We have to pay our own bills."

The nursing home has a $5 million annual operating budget, 75 percent of which is labor, Brennan said.The nursing home has 120 employees.

"We're also taking a good hard look at labor and controlling hours, day by day, shift by shift," said Brennan.

Brennan said he has to find the right balance between full-time staff, part-time and costly agency nurses, and overtime.

"The biggest challenge we face is controlling costs," said Brennan.

The shortage of nurses has driven up the price, Brennan said.

"The shortage is one of our biggest budget issues.There's no easy answer.How do I fill that 3 to 11 shift on Saturday night?"said Brennan.

Many of the nursing home's costs are fixed, including reimbursements - mainly Medicaid from the state.About 75 percent of the patients are on Medicaid.

Brennan has to focus on cutting costs in other areas, such as supplies and labor.About 25 percent of the budget is supplies.

"We can't provide $1.10 worth of service if we're only getting reimbursed $1," said Brennan.

Vendors and suppliers have been asked to sharpen their pencils.

The home also has private pay patients who pay a daily rate of $190, one of the lowest in the region.But the facility has had to increase that rate $5 annually to cover costs while remaining competitive.

Brennan is bringing 30 years of health-care experience to the job, having worked at hospitals and nursing homes around the country.

He began his career at age 19, working in the laundry department of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.

He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Manhattan College in New York and a master's degree in business administration from Pace University in New York.

He is also on the faculty at Cambridge College and Western New England College, teaching courses in health care, finance and economics.

Brennan is no stranger to Taunton, having served on the board of trustees at Taunton State Hospital for the past nine years.He is currently chairman.

He met his wife, Diane, a Massachusetts native, while he was at Manhattan College and she was at a nearby Catholic college.

After graduating, the couple married and he took a job in Los Angeles in the for-profit hospital industry.He has also worked in the accounting and finance side of hospitals and nursing homes in California, Arizona, Texas and Oregon.

Brennan says his wife, "being a nice Italian girl from Boston," wanted to come back home to Massachusetts after they had their first child.

The couple settled in Lakeville, where they are raising their two daughters and she works part-time in the public library.

Brennan is one of 10 children, including six sisters and three brothers.His father, the late John Brennan, was a carpenter and his mother, Patricia, is a retired city clerk in Tuxedo, N.Y., where he was born.He has a brother who is a New York City police officer.
...
Registered nurses, the director of nursing and Brennan are represented by the City of Taunton Management Association.

Brennan said he is ready to work with the unions.

"I've been on both sides," said Brennan, who once served as a delegate for the Service Employees International Union.
...
Theresa Swartz, chairman of the board of trustees, said Brennan and the board are determined to turn the facility around and make it survive.

Taunton Nursing Home Administrator John Brennan said the money will be used for needed capital improvements, as well as programs to meet the needs of the next 10 to 20 years."We had a great holiday season, and this is a great gift to start off 2005," Brennan said.The influx of cash is yet another piece of good economic news for the nursing home, which was experiencing deep deficits in the not-too distant past.This year, the nursing home posted a modest profit.Brennan said the nursing home will be working closely with the mayor and City Solicitor Steven A. Torres to iron out the details of the transfer of the money, known as an intergovernmental transfer (IGT).
...
Brennan said that won't be a problem, especially in such an old building.The front portion of the nursing home dates back to 1876.The nursing home can use some big ticket fixes, such as a new roof and boiler, he said.Another item high on the list is air conditioning, which the nursing home doesn't presently have, Brennan said."It's very difficult on the residents in those peak summer months," Brennan said.Officials will also be looking at how to meet the city's needs into the future, including possible areas such as expanding the rehabilitation program or Alzheimer's program or adding more beds, Brennan said.The nursing home currently has 101 beds."This is a once in a lifetime.We want to do it right.We'll plan.We won't just start spending next week," Brennan said.