At Moorings Park Communities, healthy living is shaped not only by the care residents receive, but by the expertise, research and ideas brought directly into daily life. For more than a decade, a collaboration with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has created an uncommon exchange: future leaders in geriatric medicine gain real-world experience across Moorings Park Communities’ three Naples campuses, while residents benefit from emerging clinical knowledge and a shared focus on living longer, healthier, happier lives.
Through the fellowship, selected physicians work alongside Moorings Park Communities’ concierge physicians, care for residents and complete executive leadership training. The result is a program that brings academic medicine into the Life Plan Community setting while giving fellows a deeper understanding of what proactive, person-centered healthy living looks like in practice.
A Collaboration Built Around Healthy Living
The program began in 2014, when Moorings Park Communities and Johns Hopkins’ Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology established a clinical fellowship for second-year geriatric medicine fellows. To date, six fellows have completed the program, with Dr. Shivani Bhatnager joining the program as its seventh fellow this summer. One former fellow has since established a private practice in Naples.
“When we first envisioned this partnership with Johns Hopkins 12 years ago, our goal was to find a meaningful way to contribute to the field of gerontology while enhancing the lives and health of our residents,” explains Dan Lavender, CEO of Moorings Park Communities. “Watching these brilliant fellows bring their cutting-edge training to our campuses in Naples has been incredibly grounding. We are deeply grateful to play a small part in shaping the medical directors who will guide senior healthcare for decades to come.”
Fellows complete 18 months of subspecialty training, including a year at Johns Hopkins and six months at Moorings Park Communities, where geriatric care principles are experienced across the continuum of care. Moorings Park Communities’ concierge physicians also serve as adjunct professors for Johns Hopkins Medicine, mentoring incoming fellows while participating in an ongoing exchange of clinical knowledge.
“The physicians at Moorings Park Communities are very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with these fellows and to learn from one another. An extra perspective is beneficial,” says Dr. David Linz, who leads the concierge physician team. “The fellows learn from our patients and our patients benefit from the fellow’s clinical knowledge and experience.”
Meet Dr. Shivani Bhatnager
This July, Moorings Park Communities welcomed Dr. Shivani Bhatnager as the newest fellow to continue that exchange. She earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of North Texas Health and began her geriatric medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins in July 2025.
“I’ve wanted to be in this fellowship program since medical school,” she explains. “I was drawn to geriatrics by a mix of altruism and a desire to solve systemic issues. So many older adults feel like their health is suffering simply because our healthcare system doesn’t have a cohesive structure in place to support healthy aging. This fellowship gives me a rare opportunity to explore real healthcare system growth and see how I can carve out a meaningful role in clinical leadership while focusing on what’s realistic for the patient by talking about what matters most.”
For Bhatnager, that focus on what matters most is also personal. Her experience watching her own parents navigate healthcare has shaped an approach centered on clear communication and helping patients understand the decisions surrounding their care.
“Seeing my own parents as they age drives my approach to medicine,” she says. “They immigrated from India, and despite being highly educated engineers, they frequently struggled to truly understand and navigate the healthcare system. If it’s tough for them, it’s tough for everyone. I want to remove those barriers, so patients feel reassured, heard, and completely aligned with their care plans.”
From Clinical Expertise to Everyday Healthy Living
During her six months in Naples, Bhatnager is providing direct patient care at the campuses’ Centers for Healthy Living and The Chateau Skilled Nursing Center while also participating in administrative quality-improvement work. Her work builds on that of previous fellows, with areas of focus that include clinical safety, patient transitions and quality assurance.
That combination of clinical care and broader healthy-aging strategy gives fellows a view of life at Moorings Park Communities that extends beyond the examination room. They see how fitness, cognitive health, preventive screenings, resident education and personalized care can work together to support well-being throughout daily life.
Bhatnager is also working closely with Jessica Eller, Executive Director of TrueSpan, who oversees the fellowship program. Her emphasis on listening to what matters most to each patient naturally complements the broader approach to well-being at Moorings Park Communities, where physical, mental and social health are considered together rather than in isolation.
“Our partnership with Johns Hopkins is important to our residents,” says Eller. “Johns Hopkins is revered in the industry for not only their clinicians and doctors, but for the research it does. The fellowship ties into TrueSpan as Dr. Bhatnager brings cutting-edge science, research and education to our residents. This is what healthy aging looks like and how we infuse it into day-to-day living.”
Knowledge Shared Beyond the Examination Room
The fellowship also creates opportunities for residents to engage directly with new research and ideas. Fellows lead campus-wide educational presentations on topics such as health literacy, advanced nutrition and balance preservation, translating complex medical subjects into information residents can use in conversations about their own well-being.
The exchange extends into the Southwest Florida medical community as well. Through weekly virtual Grand Rounds, joint seminars and annual courses, local clinicians have opportunities to learn alongside the fellows and engage with current research and academic perspectives from Johns Hopkins. The partnership has also helped bring specialized geriatric expertise to the region: one former Moorings Park Communities fellow remained in Southwest Florida after graduation and established a local practice.
Where Experience and Expertise Meet
What distinguishes the fellowship is not simply the expertise fellows bring to Moorings Park Communities, but what they encounter once they arrive. Residents become part of the learning environment, sharing their perspectives and experiences with physicians who are preparing to help shape the future of geriatric care.
“There is a beautiful symmetry that happens when a fellow arrives on our campus,” notes Tom Mann, Vice President of Moorings Park Communities. “Our residents gain access to some of the sharpest young minds in medicine, and in return, our residents share their own lifetimes of wisdom, resources, and experiences with the fellows. It is a deeply humbling exchange that reminds us that truly exceptional healthcare is built entirely on mutual respect, deep human connection, and shared learning.”
For Moorings Park Communities, that exchange reflects a larger commitment to healthy living: bringing expertise, education and relationships together in ways that help residents remain informed, engaged and supported as they pursue what matters most to them.
To learn more about healthy living and Moorings Park Communities’ three Naples, Florida, campuses, schedule your visit.
