Stuart Rabinowitz emerging as top choice to chair a new NUMC board

Daily Point

State finalizing plans to put a new governing board in place for the troubled Nassau hospital

As Albany lawmakers work out the final details on a budget provision that would clear the way for a remake of the governing structure of the Nassau University Medical Center, the name of one of Long Island’s most prominent players is being circulated as the potential chair of a new board.

Former Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz, who grew both the national prominence and the endowment of the school, is heading Gov. Kathy Hochul’s list, The Point has learned. While at Hofstra, Rabinowitz, along with Northwell Health, established the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies.

Sources said that Hochul and legislative leaders are now finalizing who will have the power to make appointments to the new NUMC board. The expected changes would in essence give Hochul control of the board, when combining the seats she could directly pick along with those chosen by the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly. Hochul also would directly choose the board chairman — a pick currently made by the Nassau County executive.

An offer to someone to chair the board is expected to be made once those details are sewed up in the budget.

While the exact details of how and when the new board will take effect are still being worked out, it’s expected that the legislation will supersede current board terms, allowing the overhaul to take place more quickly.

A source knowledgeable about the negotiations said that if Hochul were to make a chair appointment she would nominate someone who is "an independent, apolitical choice" and that Rabinowitz would fit that bill.

Rabinowitz told The Point: " I am very much committed to help to ensure that all of our residents, regardless of their resources, have access to good health care. I am also concerned about the current condition and the future of NUMC. If the governor thinks I would be helpful in assisting NUMC in some way, I would be very open to discussing what I might do to work with her to help ensure its viability."

Since leaving Hofstra after 20 years as president, Rabinowitz was named one of the five members of the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board which will decide later this year who will win the lucrative licenses to operate casinos downstate. It’s likely he would have to leave that board if he were offered the NUMC spot.

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciollii@newsday.com, Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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