Matthew Bruderman rejects demands for new leadership at NUMC

Nassau University Medical Center's board chairman on Tuesday rejected state demands for an immediate search for a new hospital CEO and creation of detailed plans for reducing budget deficits in order for the hospital to receive $83 million in emergency funding. 

State Health Commissioner James McDonald made the demands in a Friday letter to hospital leaders in which he pointed to “a distinct lack of transparency and clear communications,” with the health department about NUMC's fiscal condition.

Board chairman Matthew Bruderman fired back Tuesday during a two-hour employee town hall in which he accused the state of “extortion,” and Gov. Kathy Hochul and state and Nassau County Democrats of “defunding” the safety net hospital in an effort to close it.

“I'm not going to comply with the state's demand to … remove the CEO,” Bruderman said. “We're not exchanging things that they want: to remove myself and the organization that's fighting for it. We're not going to give them that in exchange for basically 'extortion.' ”

Bruderman also said he wasn't “going anywhere” after Democrats called on him to step down as chairman of NuHealth, the public benefit corporation that runs NUMC.

The dispute comes as the hospital faces the possibility of running out of money by late April, according to a report released last month by consultants for the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that controls both NuHealth and county finances.

Bruderman told Newsday the hospital had about $31 million in cash on-hand as of Tuesday morning, but did not answer questions about how many days of operations it would fund. He said cuts to hospital staff and patient programs were possible, but provided no details.

Interim NUMC president and CEO Meg Ryan and chief financial officer Perry Sham said Tuesday they were taking steps to stop the fiscal crisis at the hospital.

The county backs more than $100 million in borrowing and would be responsible for the debt if the hospital system were to shut down.

NUMC serves a patient population that relies largely on public health plans such as Medicaid and Medicare, and also provides care to patients without health insurance. It is a Level 1 trauma center and houses the only unit to treat burn victims between Stony Brook Medical Center and Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. 

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, appointed Bruderman as chairman 23 months ago. Bruderman, a GOP donor and an investor with private-sector finance experience, vowed to turn the hospital's finances around, and last month called on the state to provide $83 million in additional funding. 

To get the money, the hospital within 30 days must create a five-year transformation plan demonstrating how it would improve operations and decrease operating losses, McDonald said. The state also demanded 2023 gross compensation information for the 20 highest-paid medical and nonmedical staffers.

On Tuesday, Bruderman spoke to hospital employees in the NUMC auditorium, at times using expletives in criticizing Hochul, NIFA, state and county Democrats and Newsday, whose coverage he derided as unfair.

At one point Bruderman put up a slide of a Newsday headline on Feb. 22 that said the hospital could run out of money in April. A bright red stamp across the image read “FALSE.”

The Newsday story quoted a report by the consultants NIFA hired to review the hospital's finances. The consultants reported NuHealth had about $19 million in cash on hand and could have a negative balance of $4 million by April 27.

On Tuesday, Hochul spokesman Gordon Tepper called Bruderman's assertions “as baseless as they are misguided.”

Tepper said in a statement New York “remains fully committed to health care accessibility for all. However, the State cannot give a bail out using taxpayers’ dollars without ensuring structural reforms."

Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), who on Monday called on Bruderman to resign, said Tuesday his “recent actions only serve to validate our apprehensions and underscore the necessity for immediate change. His inability to provide the leadership required for navigating the hospital through its financial difficulties is alarming and indicative of a broader problem that must be addressed … ” 

Ron Gurrieri, president of CSEA Local 830, which represents 3,200 hospital employees, said workers were worried about their jobs and how Bruderman and the state would be able to continue to fund hospital operations, including its payroll.

“Governor Hochul is not going to let this hospital close, CSEA is not going to let this hospital close,” Gurrieri told Newsday.
 

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.