As teams of doctors and nurses work to ensure a patient's healthone person at a time, hospital administrators are charged withkeeping the institutions themselves in good health. It's not an easyjob. In the past year alone, they have had to wrangle with newprivacy regulations, hefty cutbacks in reimbursement for care aswell as soaring costs for technology and insurance. They also haveto keep hospitals up to date with new medical equipment, whileexpanding services to meet growing demand. Meet about 22 hospitaladministrators, whose visions and views could affect health care onLong Island for years, even decades, to come.
William Casey
CEO
St. Charles Hospital & Rehabilitation Center
William Casey took the reins at St. Charles after serving aspresident of the Provena Hospitals division of the $1.2 billionProvena Health System based in Chicago.
He arrived at 289-bed St. Charles in Port Jefferson with areputation for being able to cure financial ills.
At Provena, Casey took the division from a $14 million loss in1999 to a $13 million profit by the end of 2000.
'Since joining St. Charles,' Casey said, 'I've been serving amodest, catalytic role in returning St. Charles to fiscalsoundness.'
No newcomer to hospital administration, Casey also served aspresident and CEO of Mercy Hospital in Champaign, Ill., and CEO ofthe Conemaugh Health System in Johnstown, Penn.
He also co-founded Propapa Missions America, a foundation thatdeveloped two medical centers for the poor in Honduras and sendsdoctors to Central America.
Casey expanded St. Charles' rehabilitative medicine and focusedon building a strong emergency department, requiring those doctorsbe trained in emergency medicine.
He views his job similar to that of 'a conductor surrounded byfine musicians.'
'It's been a real thrill to be part of a clinical team that hascreated such momentum,' he said.
Casey earned a bachelor's in business administration and master'sin public health from the University of Missouri. He also served inthe army and is an honor graduate of the Army Leadership TrainingAcademy.
Kevin Dahill
CEO
Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council
Kevin Dahill leads the area's regional health care tradeorganization, which includes including 24 nonprofit hospitals.
He took the reins at the Hauppauge-based group in July 2002 ashospitals faced financial challenges from cuts in federal and statereimbursement and the council itself was struggling.
But Dahill has a background running hospitals as well asteaching. He came to the council after teaching at St. Peter'sCollege in Jersey City, N.J. Prior to that, he served as thepresident and CEO of New York United Hospital Medical Center in PortChester, N.Y., from 1995 to 2001. He had been the hospital's chiefoperating officer before that.
Dahill also served as senior vice president and general managerof Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan.
He received a bachelor's in health care management from SaintPeter's College in 1988 and a MBA from Fordham University in 1997.
Founded in 1955, the hospital council's principal mission isadvocacy, education and regional initiatives to improve the qualityof health care throughout Long Island.
Dahill, his wife Eileen and their three sons live in Stony Brook.
Michael Dowling
CEO
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
As CEO of the North Shore-LIJ Health System since the start of2002, Michael Dowling is possibly the most powerful player in LongIsland's health care industry.
But he still makes an effort to greet new employees to thenonprofit institution, which employs 32,000 people and has nearly6,000 beds.
'Every Monday we have an orientation here for new employees,'said Dowling. 'We have 40 to 70 people in that room. I speak to themall at 8 o'clock.'
'I'm a very strong believer that attitude and how you go aboutyour business is very, very important,' said Dowling, who served aschief operating officer before taking over as CEO when JackGallagher retired.
Dowling, 52, is leading the system through a $650 million revampas it further integrates its hospitals into a system.
He also forged alliances with General Electric and Harvard totrain employees in efficiency, borrowing ideas from otherindustries.
Dowling grew up in Limerick, Ireland and traveled alone to NewYork when he was 17, getting jobs on the docks, in construction,plumbing and as a custodian for a school in Queens.
Dowling got a bachelor's degree from Cork University in Irelandand a master's degree from Fordham University, where he became aprofessor of social policy and assistant dean of the graduate schoolof social service at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus.
He studied for a doctorate in social policy and economics atColumbia, but before Dowling submitted his dissertation, he washired by Gov. Mario Cuomo as deputy commissioner of social servicesin 1983.
He became commissioner of health and human services for Cuomo andworked briefly as a vice president at Empire Blue Cross and BlueShield before in 1995 becoming senior vice president of hospitalservices for the North Shore Health System and chief operatingofficer when it merged with Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Dennis Dowling
Executive Director
North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset and Long IslandJewish Medical Center
Earlier this month, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish HealthSystem underwent its largest corporate restructuring since themerger between North Shore Health System and Long Island JewishHealth System that created the goliath health provider. The systemput its two biggest hospitals, North Shore University Hospital atManhasset and the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, under DennisDowling's management.
Dowling, executive director at NSU at Manhasset since 1995, nowoversees a budget of more than $1 billion nearly 8,000 employees andabout 1,200 beds.
'When you're looking at the same community of patients, you wantto present to those neighborhoods and communities a single face,'said Dowling, 52, no relation to North Shore-LIJ Health System CEOMichael Dowling.
He said the plan is to maintain the separate identity of the twohospitals, even though collaboration could increase.
'I'm going to respect whatever the differences are and not changethe institutions,' said Dowling. 'They each have their own identity,their own culture, their own loyal following of patients. For thosereasons, they each need to be respected and considered separately.'
Dowling also holds another key position in Long Island healthcare, as the chairman of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council.
Dowling started as a caseworker in Nassau County Medical Centerin the 1970s and earned a master's degree in health servicesadministration from SUNY Stony Brook.
He joined North Shore University Hospital in 1974 as an assistantadministrator and in 1995 became executive director, a position henow holds with both hospitals.
J. Ronald Gaudreault
CEO
Huntington Hospital
Few health care administrators know the institution they manageas well as J. Ronald Gaudreault knows Huntington Hospital. He'sworked there for nearly 40 years.
Gaudreault joined the hospital in 1964 and has held numerouspositions before becoming CEO.
Gaudreault, the immediate past chairman of the Nassau-SuffolkHospital Council, also serves as a member of the North Shore-LongIsland Jewish Health System's board of directors.
He is currently the treasurer for the Hospital Association of NewYork State and a member of the Healthcare Educational and ResearchFund of New York.
Gaudreault also has served in numerous health care positions forSuffolk County, as a member of the Suffolk County Health FacilitiesCommission and of the Suffolk County Executive's Blue Ribbon HealthCommittee under Robert Gaffney.
Since 1993, he has served as a director of the Huntington Chamberof Commerce. He is a former member of the board of trustees of theHuntington YMCA and a former member of the Huntington TownshipCapital Budget Advisory Committee.
Gaudreault also has served as a preceptor for undergraduate andgraduate students in hospital and health care administration atvarious colleges and universities.
Dr. Alan D. Guerci
CEO
St. Francis Hospital - The Heart Center
In June of 1999, Dr. Alan D. Guerci, a nationally-knowncardiologist, became the first doctor named president and CEO of St.Francis Hospital - The Heart Center in Roslyn.
He took the position after serving two months as interimpresident and CEO following the retirement of Patrick J. Scollard,now head of Catholic Health Services of Long Island.
Guerci has kept the hospital fiscally healthy. Under hisleadership, St. Francis has achieved record-breaking admissions andlowered length of stay to improve efficiency and accommodate morepatients seeking care, while maintaining the lowest overallmortality rate on Long Island for all tertiary cardiac procedurescombined.
A clinician, teacher and researcher, Guerci joined St. Francis in1992 as executive vice president for medical affairs and director ofresearch.
Prior to joining St. Francis, he served as director of theCoronary Care Unit at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Guerci also has played a major role on the state and federallevels, serving as chairman of the Clinical Trials Review Committeeof the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NationalInstitutes of Health and as a member of the Cardiac AdvisoryCommittee for the New York State Department of Health.
Guerci, an associate professor of Clinical Medicine at theCollege of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, earnedhis bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard College, a medicaldegree from Cornell University Medical College and a master's degreein Health Care Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Terry Hargadon
CEO
Long Island Health Network
When Terry Hargadon took over in 2002 as chief of the embattledLong Island Health Network, a consortium of 11 hospitals, he quicklyearned a reputation for playing hard ball with health insurers.
Unhappy with current contracts with Empire Blue Cross and BlueShield, Aetna and Oxford Health, Hargadon cancelled the contracts.
He later reached agreements with all of them after bitterbattles. Hargadon's actions showed a willingness to go to the matfor his financially strapped hospitals, which include CatholicHealth System of Long Island hospitals and several others.
Hargadon noted that LIHN had and should use its bargaining power.LIHN hospitals, for instance, treat 140,000 outpatients and admit20,000 patients on Empire's plans a year.
Before taking over at LIHN, Hargadon was director of managed careat Stony Brook University Hospital.
During his 30 years in health care, Hargadon has managed startups and organizations in needing financial boosts in California andNew York, where negotiating hundreds of contracts.
Hargadon holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Seton HallUniversity, a master's of public health degree form the Universityof Michigan, as well as a MBA from the University of Texas.
Theodore Jospe
CEO
Southside Hospital
When the State University of New York at Stony Brook wanted akeynote speaker for commencement at its School of Allied HealthSciences last year, it chose Theodore Jospe. One of Long Island'sbest known figures in health care, Jospe has been at the helm ofSouthside Hospital since 1976, starting out as assistantadministrator in 1972.
He also serves as an associate professor at the School of AlliedHealth Sciences at SUNY Stony Brook, where he has been teaching forabout 20 years. And he's member of the advisory council for thegraduate program in health care administration at the C.W. PostCollege of Long Island University.
In addition, Jospe is a member of the advisory council for thegraduate program in health care administration at the New School forSocial Research and a preceptor for graduate residents in healthcare administration for Yale University and George WashingtonUniversity. He has served as chairman of the Hospital Association ofNew York State and of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, and hasserved as a member of the Suffolk County Board of Health and aschairman of the Nassau/Suffolk Bi-County HW commission.
He obtained a master's of business administration in health carefrom George Washington University and a bachelor's degree from NewYork University.
Jospe also has been honored as the person-of-the-year by theJewish National Fund and the Suffolk Network for AdolescentPregnancy.
Dr. John M. Kane
Executive Director
The Zucker Hillside Hospital
Dr. John M Kane has long chaired the psychiatric department forThe Zucker Hillside Hospital.
But in April, Kane formally entered the arena of major healthcare administrators when he took the helm of the 221-bed psychiatrichospital, which is part of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish HealthSystem. It's a crucial time for the hospital, which is preparing formajor reconstruction and an expansion. Kane also serves as vicepresident of behavioral health services for the North Shore-LIJ andis a professor of psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience at theAlbert Einstein College of Medicine, holding the Dr. E. RichardFeinberg Chair in Schizophrenia Research.
While Kane is a key player on Long Island, he also has been animportant figure nationwide in psychiatry, chairing thepsychopharmacologic drugs advisory committee for the Food and DrugAdministration and the National Institute of Mental Health'spsychopathology and psychobiology review committee.
Kane currently directs the NIMH-funded Intervention ResearchCenter for the Study of Schizophrenia at Zucker.
He has won the Arthur P. Noyes Award in Schizophrenia, the NAPPHPresidential Award for Research and the Lieber Prize for OutstandingResearch in Schizophrenia.
He obtained his medical degree from the New York UniversitySchool of Medicine and his undergraduate degree from CornellUniversity.
Dr. Philip Lanzkowsky
Executive Director
Schneider Children's Hospitals
When the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System decided toname an executive director for Schneider Children's Hospital, itdidn't have to look far.
Philip Lanzkowsky, who had been the chief of staff sinceSchneider opened in 1994, took on the new role earlier this monthwhen it branched out from the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Lanzkowsky already has proved that he's equally at home as anadministrator, a doctor and a professor.
He's the director of the pediatric residency training program atSchneider, one of the largest such programs in the nation, aprofessor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine,an author five books on pediatric hematology and oncology, as wellas chapters in numerous textbooks.
A native of South Africa, Lanzkowsky graduated from medicalschool at the University of Cape Town and did post graduate work inEdinburgh, Scotland, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London,Duke University in Durham, N.C., and the University of Utah in SaltLake City.
In 1965, Lanzkowsky was named director of pediatric hematology atNew York Hospital-Cornell University School of Medicine. In 1969, hewas named acting pediatrician-in-chief of New York Hospital andassociate professor of pediatrics at Cornell University School ofMedicine.
In 1970, he became chairman of pediatrics at the Long IslandJewish Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at StateUniversity of New York, Downstate Medical Center. He continues toserve as chairman of Schneider's pediatrics department.
Douglas Melzer
CEO
Long Beach Medical Center
Douglas Melzer took over at the helm of Long Beach Medical Centerin September 2000 after serving as chief operating officer there for23 years.
In less than three years, Melzer has improved the independenthospital's finances, while so many others tapped economies of scaleby joining systems. He instituted clear a corporate strategy toimprove the staff's relationships with patients and keep thehospital competitive by investing in new technologies.
Under his watch, the hospital spent about $100,000 on amanagement training program. It also began using balance scorecardsthat help departments and identify potential savings and revenueopportunities, and recently installed the latest version of a CT-Scan, as well as a new laboratory information system to process dataquicker. It also plans to bring in a new MRI this summer.
Long Beach is one of five hospitals on Long Island that requiresits emergency room physicians to be board certified in emergencymedicine.
Melzer, a Merrick resident, first came to the hospital in 1976when it was known as Long Beach Memorial Hospital as an intern inpublic health administration. He was hired as an assistantadministrator and rose through the ranks.
Richard J. Murphy
CEO
Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center
As president and CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center,Richard Murphy leads one of Long Island's biggest employers.
The West Islip institution has 431 beds and employs about 3,400people.
To get a sense of how large that is, Computer Associates employs2,500 on Long Island, while North Fork Bancorp has a staff of about2,000 locally. Good Samaritan is surpassed only by Winthrop-University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center as thehealth care employer on Long Island.
The institution offers a full spectrum of hospital services, aswell as home care, hospice and outpatient services.
Under Murphy's watch, Good Samaritan, part of the Catholic HealthServices of Long Island, has both grown and launched aggressivemarketing campaigns.
Murphy joined Good Samaritan in 1988 as vice president ofadministration and was appointed to his present position in 1999.
Prior to that, he served in various health-care relatedpositions, including vice president of the Nassau-Suffolk HospitalCouncil, Long Island's hospital industry trade organization. He'swas also an analyst with the Nassau-Suffolk Health Systems Agencyand regional director for the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
Murphy holds a bachelor's degree from Fairfield University and aMBA from the University of Colorado. He lives in Miller Place withhis wife, Mary, and five children.
Thomas Ockers
CEO
Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center
As CEO of Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Memorial Center since1991, Thomas Ockers is leading the 321-bed hospital through thebiggest expansion in its 47-year history.
The hospital last summer opened a new $14 million emergencydepartment, the biggest in Suffolk County. A new ambulatory surgeryarea opened several weeks ago, as did a new decontamination room,designed for use in case of industrial accidents, chemical spills oremergencies such as chemical attacks.
'Hospitals have become so much more than the essence of thecommunity's health care needs ... they are a place of refuge,safety, and shelter,' Ockers, 56, said.
He said the World Trade Center attacks and the war in Iraqcreated a heightened awareness of the need for 'emergencypreparedness.' 'Brookhaven Memorial Hospital continues to be aleader in that arena,' Ockers said.
He began his career in health care management at St. FrancisHospital Heart Center in Roslyn in 1975, eventually becoming seniorvice president.
In 1987, he joined the Community Hospital at Glen Cove aspresident and chief executive officer. Shortly after, Glen Covejoined with North Shore and he became the administrator for externalaffairs for North Shore University Hospital-Cornell UniversityMedical Center, a position he held until joining Brookhaven.
Joseph A. Quagliata
CEO
South Nassau Communities Hospital
To his board members, Joseph Quagliata is CEO. At 429-bed SouthNassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where he's worked for 30years, he's simply known as 'Joe Q.' In the health care industry,though, he's probably best known as an administrator who has watchesthe bottom line carefully while pursuing opportunities for growth.
In 1995, when Quagliata was CFO, he helped lead the hospital intoan alliance with Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.
That deal brought the two under the umbrella of a parentcorporation, but left each hospital independent with its own board.
Quagliata, 57 rose to the top post at the facility in 1998,succeeding Michael Rodenzenko, who retired after more than 20 yearsas president and CEO.
Under Quagliata's leadership, the hospital has opened a familymedicine center, a center for surgical weight control, a sportsmedicine and physical rehabilitation center and a dialysis center.
It also opened a 12,000-square-foot cancer center in ValleyStream.
Quagliata came to the hospital in 1973 as controller, afterworking as an accountant specializing in health care for theaccounting firm Touche, Ross and Co.
Kenneth D. Roberts
President
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital
A walk through the halls of John T. Mather Memorial Hospitalreveals that hospital had a devoted staff, with many people wearingpins indicating that they've been working there for at least 15years.
CEO Kenneth Roberts is among them. Roberts joined the Mather'family' in 1982 as associate director for administration, and waspromoted in 1985 to senior vice president. He was appointedpresident of the 248-bed hospital in June 1986.
Roberts, who shares a birthday with one former Prime Minister ofEngland, Margaret Thatcher, sees Winston Churchill as more of a rolemodel.
'He was the quintessential leader,' said Robert.
Under his watch, Mather has turned a profit and brought in newtechnology while remaining involved with the community throughnumerous events.
Roberts also crafted an alliance with nearby St. Charles Hospitaland Rehabilitation Center in Port Jefferson through which the twocoordinate services.
He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from SUNY Oneonta, andthen became a senior staff assistant for Group Health Inc. beforejoining South Nassau Communities Hospital Roberts in 1976 as anadministrative resident. He was promoted to assistant director ofthe 401-bed hospital.
During his six-year tenure at South Nassau, Roberts earned amaster's degree in health policy planning and administration fromNew York University in New York and an MBA in finance from HofstraUniversity in Hempstead.
Bruce Schroffel
CEO
Stony Brook University Hospital
Running a hospital with a $500 million budget and 4,000 employeesmay be complicated, but Stony Brook University Hospital chief BruceSchroffel summarizes his approach succinctly.
'My philosophy is that if we focus on the needs of the patient,'Schroffel says, 'that will always lead us in the right direction.'
Schroffel in February 2001 took over as executive director ofStony Brook University Hospital after serving as senior vicepresident and chief operating officer of the San Francisco campus ofthe University of California-San Francisco/Stanford Health Care.
His vision for Stony Brook includes a five-year, $300 millionrevamp with a new office building for physicians, a new emergencydepartment, an expanded cancer center, additional operating roomsand a wide range of renovations and new equipment.
Most of the money would come from tax-exempt bonds issued by theDormitory Authority of the State of New York.
Schroffel is spearheading the creation of a $45 million state-of-the-art cancer care facility and led the creation of a $25 millioncardiac care center and orthopedic care center at Stony Brook.
'We are a very full hospital,' said Schroffel. 'There's beengrowing demand for the community for our services.'
In addition, the 1-million-square-foot hospital has launched anaggressive fundraising campaign.
Schroffel has a master's in public health degree degrees fromColumbia University and a bachelor's degree from the University ofCalifornia.
He lives in Setauket with his wife, Lorrie, and two sons,Jonathan and Jesse.
Robert S. Schuster
Director
Northport VA Medical Center
While the war with Iraq has been the focus of attention for manylately, Robert Schuster has a broader perspective. As the directorof the Northport Veterans Administration Medical Center, he is incharge of caring for U.S. veterans on Long Island from all wars.
His responsibilities include the oversight of the only VAhospital on Long Island -- an institution with 461 beds and about1,500 employees -- a 170-bed rehabilitation and extended carefacility and eight mental health clinics.
The Northport VA is affiliated with the State University of NewYork Medical School at Stony Brook.
Like many hospital administrators, Schuster has a financialbackground. A certified financial Planner, before taking his post atthe VA, he served as CFO for Veterans Integrated Service Network ofVA hospitals and services in downstate New York and New Jersey.
He previously held various posts at the VA hospitals in Northportand Brooklyn and is a preceptor, coach and mentor in the VA's HealthCare Leadership Institute. He also serves on several of the VA'snational succession planning task force sub committees and thenational leadership board finance committee.
Schuster holds a master's degree in health care administrationfrom Long Island University and a bachelor's degree in businessadministration from City College of New York.
Patrick Scollard
CEO
Catholic Health Services of Long Island
When Patrick J. Scollard retired as CEO of St. Francis Hospitalin 1999, his place in the Long Island health care industry pantheonwas already secure.
After leaving St. Francis, Scollard began a nonprofit consultingfirm, Scollard Associates, which he ran until joining CatholicHealth Services of Long Island, one of the region's largest hospitalnetworks, as CEO earlier this year.
His goal: to curb the trend of growing losses at the system. CHS,which is run by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, has seen its annualdeficit soar from $2 million in 1998 to $43 million in 2001,according to Fitch Ratings. All but one of Catholic Health Services'hospitals have been bleeding red ink -- St. Francis, the facilityScollard joined in 1992 as executive director and chief operatingofficer. He was named president in 1995 and CEO in 1999. He wasfirst a board member of the hospital while working for Chemical Bankas an executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
Overall, CHS includes five hospitals, various nursing homes, ahospice operation and home care operation. The Diocese of RockvilleCentre put them under one umbrella in 1997 amid growing competitionfrom health systems in the region.
Dr. Amajr Jit Singh
Acting CEO
Brunswick Hospital Center
Dr. Amar Jit Singh leads Long Island's only remaining privatelyowned hospital. And staying at the top is a fight. Singh, who tookon his current title in 2001, is locked in a battle for ownership ofthe institution.
Singh came on board in 1999 as chief financial officer, and longwith partner Harry Fruhman, signed a deal in 2000 to acquire thehospital from the Stein family, which has since protested the sale.
While the litigation goes on, Singh leads the hospital, whichprojects $1.3 million in net income from operations for this year.
Before coming to Brunswick, Singh served as medical director ofIsland Medical Center in Hempstead.
In all likelihood, he's one of the only Long Island hospitaladministrator who knows what it's like to lead a hospital abroad.
Before working at Island, Singh, an endocrinologist, wasexecutive vice president and chief medical director at LilavatiHospital and Research Center in Bombay, India. There, he negotiatedhospital affiliations with Tufts University School of Medicine inBoston.
From 1984 to 1991, he served as director of endocrinology forJamaica Hospital, Queens.
At the same time, he worked 1984 to 1988 as medical director andpresident of the medical board and director of endocrinology atBaptist Medical Center in Brooklyn.
And he was president of the medical board and chief of medicineat Kew Gardens Hospital in Queens from 1978 to 1984.
Singh also worked as physician consultant from 1972 to 1991 inForest Hills, Queens.
He obtained bachelor's degree from the University of Jammu &Kashmir in India and his medical degree from Kashmir GovernmentMedical College in India.
Deborah Tascone
Executive Director
North Shore University Hospital at Plainview
North Shore University at Syosset
Interim Executive Director, Franklin Hospital Medical Center
When Deborah Tascone was asked to speak for a conferencesponsored by Health Care America, her topic was 'Health Care Reform:Leadership from the Front Lines.' It's a topic she's more thanqualified to address.
Tascone is the only registered nurse and the first woman to leada hospital in North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. In fact,she leads three facilities. She's executive director of North ShoreUniversity Hospital at Plainview and the North Shore University atSyosset. And last year she was named interim executive director atFranklin Hospital Medical Center.
In her role leading those hospitals, she manages a $170 millionoperating budget.
She joined the health system in 1995 as nurse director for NSUHSyosset after working in various health care positions.
A member of the American College of HealthCare Executives, shehas served as a member of the curriculum advisory committee for thenursing department at SUNY Farmingdale.
Tascone received a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master'sdegree in administration from The New School for Social Research inManhattan.
Richard Turan
CEO
Nassau Health Care Corp.
Richard Turan has one of the most difficult jobs in health careon Long Island.
As CEO of Nassau Health Care Corp., the public benefitcorporation spun off from Nassau County in 1999, he is working toturn around the fiscally troubled Nassau University Medical Centerin East Meadow and its associated facilities.
Turan, who took over in 2000, can point to substantial successesat what is still a work in progress. In 2002, NHCC reported a $17million deficit, down from earlier projections by the statecomptroller of $82 million. Turan hopes to break even by 2004.
While he seeks to stem losses, Turan says the system intends tocontinue 'to make substantive improvements' to the hospital. To thatend, he has already launched a fundraising arm called The LongIsland Medical Foundation and formed affiliations with Manhattan-based Lenox Hill Hospital and the SUNY Stony Brook School ofMedicine. Late last year, the hospital upgraded the emergencydepartment, added an orthopedic suite and opened an expanded medicalpavilion at NUMC. It also plans to open a new eye center.
Turan arrived at Nassau University Medical Center after headingthe Long Island Forum for Technology.
Before LIFT, he led Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, which hisparents founded in 1966 as a secretarial school. Turan laterexpanded it into an accredited four-year college.
Daniel P. Walsh
CEO
Winthrop-University Hospital
Daniel Walsh knows that if you want to help someone, it helps ifyou speak their language.
To better serve a growing Spanish-speaking population on LongIsland, Walsh has expanded Winthrop-University's bilingual servicesand programs. He set up Spanish language classes at the hospital forhealth care professionals and increased the number of bi-lingualstaff working there.
Through Winthrop-University's 'Diga Si A la Buena Salud' (say yesto health) initiative, the hospital has provided free health carescreenings to hundreds of uninsured Hispanics.
Prior to joining Winthrop in 1999 as CEO, Walsh served for 16years as the president and chief executive officer of Good SamaritanHospital Medical Center in West Islip.
He began his career in health care as the director of health farefacility planning and review for the Comprehensive Health PlanningAgency in 1974. The agency evolved into the Nassau-Suffolk HealthSystems Agency, where Walsh was later named deputy executivedirector.
In 1978, he was named chief executive officer of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council until joining Good Samaritan Hospital asexecutive vice president in 1981.
Walsh has served as chairman of numerous groups, including theNew York State Catholic Health Conference, the Nassau-SuffolkHospital Council and the Network Management Group.
He was the recipient of the 'Senior Executives Award' presentedby the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2000.
He holds a master 's degrees in health care administration andbusiness administration and a bachelor of arts in economics fromRutgers University.
Alan Weinstock
Executive Director
Pilgrim Psychiatric Center
As the chief of Pilgrim Psychiatric Center since 1999, AlanWeinstock runs a facility that remains among the biggest adultpsychiatric hospitals in the nation.
Under Weinstock's watch, Pilgrim has instituted numerous programsto help patients, including animal therapy, complete with a barnrecently built on the Pilgrim grounds.
From 1997 to 1999, Weinstock was executive deputy commissioner ofMental Health for New York State.
A New York State-run facility, Pilgrim is the last of three suchfacilities that once speckled the Island. Weinstock previouslyserved stints as chief executive of the former Kings Park andCentral Islip psychiatric centers, as well as at the CreedmoorPsychiatric Center in Queens.
Weinstock began his career as a teacher-in-charge of theadolescent unit at Pilgrim.
Weinstein also worked as director for treatment services atCreedmoor, director for inpatient operations at Bronx PsychiatricCenter and as associate director, unit chief and director forpatient education at Pilgrim.
He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany,and holds two master's degrees - one in special education fromHofstra University and the other in public administration from LongIsland University's C.W. Post campus.
