Gov. Hochul names Stuart Rabinowitz, 3 others to new NUMC board

Stuart Rabinowitz, the former Hofstra University president, will lead a revamped board overseeing the financially troubled Nassau University Medical Center, officials confirmed Saturday morning.

Gov. Kathy Hochul made the official announcement Saturday afternoon.

Hochul also named three other new board members: Konstantinos "Dean" Mihaltses, a longtime hospital executive that has led NYC Health + Hospitals in Queens, among other posts; Lisa Warren, president of Placid LLC real estate development and a member of various civic boards; and Amy Flores, a JPMorgan Chase vice president of community and business development.

In a statement to Newsday, Hochul said the new board members will "ensure accountability, responsible fiscal management and high-quality care for the communities NUMC serves."

"Stuart Rabinowitz is a respected and visionary leader and I can’t think of a better person to help lead this next chapter for NUMC," Hochul said.

The appointments take effect Sunday. These are the first four in what is to be a new 11-member board of the Nassau Health Care Corp., or NuHealth, which oversees the hospital. The new board, proposed by Hochul and approved by the State Legislature three weeks ago, shifts effective control to the governor and Democratic lawmakers and away from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican.

Seven of the 11 members will be named by Hochul, along with input from state legislative and county legislative Democrats.

The overhaul came after the Hochul and Blakeman administrations began talks last fall about a long-term strategy for NUMC. Those talks halted and NuHealth later sued the state, claiming it shortchanged the facility more than $1 billion in aid. The lawsuit, which state officials have called a stunt, is continuing.

Newsday reported earlier this week that NuHealth reported a deficit of $1.4 billion at the end of last year. NUMC is the county’s "safety net" hospital, which means it accepts many patients with insufficient or no health insurance.

"NUMC is a critical safety-net institution that has suffered from years of dysfunction and mismanagement," Rabinowitz said in a statement. "I'm eager to get to work with my fellow board members to restore public confidence, implement long-overdue reforms and put this hospital back on a path to stability and excellence."

On Friday, Megan Ryan, the president and CEO of NUMC, announced she was resigning effective July 20 — sources said she was unlikely to be retained by the new board.

 "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.

In early May, Ryan headlined a rally at the State Capitol, claiming the Hochul administration planned to close NUMC. The governor's office and several Democratic state legislators called the idea of a shutdown a "complete fabrication."

Yearly operating losses at NUMC have steadily increased, from $102 million in 2020 to $144 million in 2024, Newsday has reported.

Blakeman on Saturday criticized the state takeover of the board and cited the resignation of Ryan and others in claiming a "low morale and dangerous atmosphere at the hospital."

"The crisis at NUMC is directly attributable to Governor Hochul's defunding of the hospital for the past three years," Blakeman said in a claim echoed in the lawsuit but challenged by the state and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which called it "frivolous litigation."

Rabinowitz served as Hofstra president for more than 20 years, a run that included the creation of a medical school and hosting three presidential debates. He is senior counsel at a law firm and sits on the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, which will oversee the selection of three new casino licensees later this year.

Mihaltses served as director of pharmacy services at Jacobi and Elmhurst hospitals and has more than 40 years of experience in hospital operations. 

Warren once served on the Nassau County Planning Commission and on boards overseeing the Long Island Children's Museum and Ice Hockey in Harlem.  

Flores previously served as executive director of the Nassau County Office of Hispanic Affairs.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy