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Newly appointed chair Stuart Rabinowitz speaks during the first meeting...

Newly appointed chair Stuart Rabinowitz speaks during the first meeting of the new NUMC board members appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. Credit: Jeff Bachner

Nassau University Medical Center’s newly revamped board voted to oust the hospital’s CEO weeks before her scheduled last day, appointing Northwell Health executive Richard Becker to the role.

The board placed Megan Ryan, who announced her resignation as CEO last week and was set to leave her post on July 20, on administrative leave effective immediately. Becker, the former CEO of several hospitals, will replace her beginning Tuesday evening.

The move follows a tumultuous year so far for the hospital, which has seen two new board chairs and now a new CEO in the last 36 days. NUMC's board also voted to hire three private firms to support the hospital’s transition: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips will be the hospital’s new legal counsel, Deloitte will be its financial and operational consultant and Korn Ferry will lead its search for a permanent CEO and general counsel, a post Ryan also held.

"Dr. Becker understands what it takes to turn around a challenged institution while keeping the focus on patients and quality of care," Stuart Rabinowitz, the hospital’s newly appointed board chair, wrote in a statement. "This evening’s actions, including the appointment of Dr. Becker and the engagement of nationally respected legal, financial, and search advisors, reflect our commitment to restoring stability and building a successful future for this essential public hospital."

The hospital board voted to hire Deloitte on a three-year contract without a competitive bidding process due to "exigent" circumstances, the board said Tuesday. The consulting firm will begin work this week, Rabinowitz said.

Becker has served as CEO of George Washington University Hospital, the Brooklyn Hospital Center and the state’s deputy secretary for health. Most recently, he joined Northwell Health as a system executive. He will take a leave of absence from his post at Northwell while serving in the interim role.

NUMC leadership has fought for years with state officials over the hospital’s financial misery, filing a $1 billion lawsuit alleging the state withheld funding it is entitled to for treating a large share of low-income patients. Gov. Kathy Hochul reconfigured the hospital’s board last month, naming Rabinowitz, the former president of Hofstra University, as its new chair and appointing three other members. Local and state Democrats recommend three board members on top of that, and county Republicans appoint four members — comprising a total of 11 board members.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced last week he would not make his two appointments to the hospital’s board, pledging to take local control of the hospital and describing the state’s moves as "subterfuge." Presiding officer of the GOP-controlled Nassau Legislature, Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence), has not yet said whether he will also abstain from making his two board appointments.

Without the GOP appointments, the board has seven of its 11 members. All seven voted to oust Ryan. Her last day is Tuesday, but unless otherwise determined she will remain until July 20 on the payroll of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, the parent company that runs the hospital.

"I cannot, in good conscience, participate in what I believe is a dismantling of a vital public health institution," Ryan wrote in a resignation letter to staff last month. "I have always viewed my leadership at NHCC as a calling rooted in public service. ... From the moment I arrived, I believed that [NUMC] could be a national model for the principle that health care is a human right," she wrote."

NHCC reported a $1.4 billion deficit last year in a draft financial statement obtained by Newsday. The hospital lost $144 million last year under Ryan’s leadership, $2 million more than it lost the year before. Auditors said for a seventh year in a row they had "substantial doubt about the corporation’s ability to continue."

"The hospital is in desperate need for some new, fresh leadership," said Richard Kessel, president of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the financial watchdog that oversees hospital finances. "NUMC has lacked both a solid board of directors and a solid management team."

NIFA voted last week to place NUMC under a financial control period, similar to the one in place for Nassau County.

 Correction: Dr. Richard Becker has been appointed to serve as interim president and CEO of Nassau University Medical Center. Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misstated his new title.

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