Administrator
Derek Murray, LNHA

Derek Murray brings more than 15 years of healthcare management experience in rehabilitation and long term care settings to Franklin, and has been Administrator at Franklin since 2010. As Administrator, he has overall responsibility for the operations at Franklin, assuring the highest quality of care is provided in an environment that promotes dignity and respect.

Mr. Murray has been involved in advocacy on long term care issues and promotes innovation and use of new technologies in long term care. Mr. Murray is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a graduate of Adelphi University (BA, Psychology) and Long Island University (MA in Public Administration, Specialization in Gerontology).

Sharon Benderly
Admissions Director

Sharon Benderly is a graduate in Finance from Brooklyn College and has 35 years experience in long term care. She has directed the Admissions department at New Franklin for over 20 years and takes pride in assuring residents are admitted to New Franklin with dignity.

Mrs. Benderly is well known in metropolitan area hospitals and community organizations, having built relationships that ease the admissions process for new residents. The admissions department at New Franklin through her direction is here to answer your questions about our accommodations, quality services and programs.

Director of Rehabilitation
Martha V Mays, PT DPT, MA, CCCE, CCI, CET
Doctor of Physical Therapy

Dr. Mays has 38 years of experience as a Physical Therapist working in a hospital setting, home care, private office work, and treating children in a school setting as well as in their homes. For the last 33 years, she has been in charge of the New Franklin Rehabilitation Department as well as the head of the Rehabilitation Department at the Franklin Adult Day Health Care program for the past 7 years.

Dr. May’s educational credentials include:
Doctor of Physical Therapy from Stony Brook University
Master’s Degree in Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy from New York University
Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from New York University
CCCE (Center Clinical Coordinator of Education) for our Physical Therapy students
CCI (Certified Clinical Instructor)
CET Certified Cardiac Exercise Technician

Member of the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) since 1975
Member of the Geriatrics Section of the APTA for over a decade
Served as Guest Lecturer in Physical Therapy at Touro College in New York City
Clinical Educator of the Year plaque presented by the College of Stated Island
Wrote a book review for the PT Advance
Provided professional expertise to emergency service personnel related to the events of September 11, 2001.

Dr. Mays combines her academic training together with her life experience to ensure that patients receive state-of-the art treatment and are able to regain their optimum level of functioning.

John Saade
Director of Housekeeping

John Saade has been working for Healthcare facilities for 24 years. He has been Director of Housekeeping at Franklin for 10 years, also has performed as a consultant for various facilities in the same field.

Mr. Saade has the responsibility of assuring the cleanliness of the facility and maintaining the quality of linen and laundry services at its highest level for our residents, families and staff. John Saade takes pride in his work with the clinical disciplines to eliminate facility acquired infections and assure infection control throughout the facility

Olubukonla Saromi
Director of Recreation

Olubukonla Saromi graduated from Hostos Community College in 2007 with a degree in Gerontology and Recreation. She has been in the field of recreation for 24 years and is currently finishing her second degree in Health Services Administration.

Romi, as she is well known by staff and residents, schedules entertainment and provides well rounded activities to stimulate the mind and body of every resident. Romi develops an individualized recreation program for each resident focusing on his or her unique physical and cognitive needs. She especially enjoys being an advocate, surrogate family, friend and confidant to each resident. The Department of Recreation’s goal is to make people smile, and Romi and her staff strive for that every day. Romi is available to assist any family with setting up scheduled visitation or FaceTime with their loved one by calling 718-670-3400 x 1751.

Debby Tseng
Director of Social Work

Debby Tzu-Ling Tseng was born and raised in Taiwan and came to the United States in 2006 to continue her education. Debby joined New Franklin in 2008 after graduating from Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. Debby has a passion for helping others and solving problems. This has driven her to a leadership role in the Social Work and Admissions Departments.

As the Director of Social Work, she assists others with their needs and advocates for those who cannot advocate for themselves. Debby works closely with all residents and strives to know every resident by name. It is important for Debby to build a relationship of trust, empathy, and honesty with her residents and their families. Being a native Taiwanese and having the ability to speak fluent Mandarin allows Debby to better assist residents and their families through the difficult process of rehabilitation and reintegration back into the community. Social work is a department that deals with personal and individual family issues and Debby works hard to help find solutions that please everyone.

Scott Smith
Director of Food Services

Scott Smith joined the New Franklin team in 2021. He has 22 years of experience in Long Term Care and 7 years of experience in food service. As the Director of Food Services he maintains high standards in food safety and cleanliness while providing appetizing multicultural meals. He oversees the entire food service department, creates menus and is in charge of all food inventory and ordering.

Scott is ServSafe certified, is committed to excellence and does his best to provide residents with high quality food and service. Scott’s US Navy experience enhances his ability to work with each discipline to provide the best service for each resident.

Doreen Sim
Director of Nursing

Doreen Sim completed her academic education and nursing degree in Malaysia and in 1999 she immigrated to the United States with her family. She is multilingual speaking English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Hokkien, Hakka and Malay/ Indonesian languages. She has been an RN for almost 40 years and has experience in a wide range of specialties including medical surgical nursing, midwifery, and nursing instruction. She has been with New Franklin and in geriatric nursing in long term care since 2000. She worked in New Franklin as an RN Supervisor until 2019 and was then promoted to the position of Director of Nursing in Fort Tryon Nursing and Rehabilitation. Ms. Sim has experience in home care as well, acting as the Home Care Consultant for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and the Director of Patient Services for Atara and Briah Home Care. She continues to renew her nursing oath daily to serve, care, treat and love the sick, functionally and physically disabled and mentally challenged population.

As Director of Nursing, her role includes being clinician, educator, and leader of the nursing department. Ms. Sim ensures that residents and employees in the facility have a comfortable, conducive, friendly, and safe homelike environment to reside and work in. Her goal is to provide the highest quality of care and service to the residents and staff. Ms. Sim and the entire nursing staff aim to uphold and maintain the dignified and respected reputation of the facility to the community. She is available to listen and advocate for each resident, family, and designated representative as much as possible.