
Kathy Hochul taps new board of directors for financially beleaguered Nassau County hospital
Stuart Rabinowitz, the ex-Hofstra University president, is Gov. Kathy Hochul's choice to helm a reconfigured board of directors for financially beleaguered Nassau University Medical Center, her office announced Saturday.
Rabinowitz is one of four appointees joining the newly revamped board.
Konstantinos 'Dean' Mihaltses, a longtime hospital executive who worked at NYC Health + Hospitals in Queens; Lisa Warren, president of Placid LLC real estate development; and Amy Flores, a JP Morgan Chase vice president, were also tapped for the posts.
Advertisement
Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped Stuart Rabinowitz to helm a reconfigured board of directors for Nassau University Medical Center.
Lev Radin/Shutterstock
'NUMC is a vital lifeline for so many on Long Island, and today we are taking long-overdue steps to ensure it has the leadership and oversight it needs to thrive,' Hochul said in a statement.
'These new appointments, and the new authority granted to the state and NIFA, will help 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.'
Advertisement
The appointments take effect Sunday.
Hochul plans to replace the entire 11-member board of the Nassau Health Care Corp., or NuHealth, which oversees the hospital.
Nassau University Medical Center's CEO and nine other hospital leaders resigned yesterday.
Dennis A. Clark
The other seven will be chosen by the governor, who will first meet with state legislative and county legislative Democrats to consider candidates.
Advertisement
The news comes a day after NUMC's CEO and nine other hospital leaders resigned.
'NUMC is a critical safety-net institution that has suffered from years of dysfunction and mismanagement,' Rabinowitz said. 'I'm grateful to Governor Hochul for the trust she's placed in me, and 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.'
Rabinowitz was Hofstra's president for more than 20 years.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Senate Republicans cannot force US Postal Service to scrap EVs, parliamentarian says
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans cannot force the U.S. Postal Service to scrap thousands of electric vehicles and charging equipment in a massive tax and budget bill, the Senate parliamentarian said late on Sunday. The U.S. Postal Service currently has 7,200 electric vehicles, made up of Ford e-Transit vehicles and specially built Next Generation Delivery Vehicles built by Oshkosh Defense. USPS warned on June 13 that scrapping the electric vehicles would cost it $1.5 billion, including $1 billion to replace its current fleet of EVs and $500 million in EV infrastructure rendered useless and "seriously cripple our ability to replace an aging and obsolete delivery fleet." Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, whose role is to ensure lawmakers follow proper legislative procedure, said a provision to force the sale could not be approved via a simple majority vote in the Republican-controlled chamber and will instead need a 60-vote supermajority, according to Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. She ruled last week that Republicans cannot use the bill to overturn landmark rules to drastically reduce vehicle emissions and boost EV sales. Senate Republicans have also sought to reclaim more than $1 billion out of $3 billion Congress gave USPS in 2023 as part of a $430 billion climate bill to buy EVs and charging infrastructure - including $1.2 billion for electric vehicles. USPS told Congress "summarily removing all electric vehicles and charging infrastructure would hobble our ability to deliver to the American people, it would directly harm our ability to serve your constituents, and it would waste crucial funds for no reasonable purpose." Replacing the current 7,200 electric vehicles would directly cost the Postal Service at least $450 million and USPS has also spent $540 million on electrical infrastructure upgrades "which is literally buried under parking lots, and there is no market for used charging equipment," the company added. USPS would also face significant costs from Oshkosh for halting EV purchases under its contract. USPS said in December that purchases in 2025 would be around "50-50" EVs and gas-powered. USPS plans to buy some 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028. Senate Republicans argued scrapping EVs would "focus USPS on delivering mail and not achieving the environmental aims pushed by the Biden administration." In March, the White House forced out Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who led efforts to restructure the money-losing U.S. Postal Service for nearly five years. USPS has lost more than $100 billion since 2007. David Steiner, a FedEx board member and former CEO of Waste Management, has been named as incoming postmaster general. President Donald Trump said in February he was considering merging the Postal Service with the Commerce Department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Key RFK Jr advisers stand to profit from a new federal health initiative
Federal health officials are seeking to launch a 'bold, edgy' public service campaign to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods in social media, transit ads, billboards and even text messages. And they potentially stand to profit off the results. Ultra-processed foods are a fixation for the US health and human services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic who believes the US industrialized food supply is a 'primary culprit' behind many chronic diseases. 'We need to fix our food supply. And that's the number one thing,' Kennedy said at his confirmation hearing. Bringing healthier foods to Americans has proved to be one of the most resonant issues of Kennedy's 'Make America healthy again' (Maha) campaign – and arguably the only one that Democrats and Republicans agree on in principle. Kennedy has spent most of his tenure as health secretary dismantling key components of US vaccine infrastructure, instituting mass firings and defunding chronic disease prevention programs, such as for tobacco use. The secretary has been less successful in reigning in food makers. Food advocates have described voluntary changes between the government and manufacturers 'disappointing'. Kennedy was criticized by congressional Republicans for targeting agricultural pesticides in the 'Maha' report before it was even released – showing the limits of Republicans appetite for regulation, then the report itself was riddled with errors, likely generated by AI. 'The campaign's creative content will turn heads, create viral moments on social media, and – above all else – inspire Americans to take back their health through eating real food,' said a document published by the federal government that described the campaign. The campaign is expected to cost between $10m to $20m, according to documents. Anyone seeking to apply for the award will have a quick turnaround – the deadline is 26 June. 'The purpose of this requirement is to alert Americans to the role of processed foods in fueling the diabetes epidemic and other chronic diseases, inspire people to take personal responsibility for their diets, and drive measurable improvements in diabetes prevention and national health outcomes,' it continued. The new public relations campaign also highlights the Trump administration's unconventional approach to hiring – including its reliance on special government employees. A key adviser to Kennedy, Calley Means, could directly benefit from one of the campaign's stated aims: popularizing 'technology like wearables as cool, modern tools for measuring diet impact and taking control of your own health'. Calley Means is a senior Kennedy adviser, and was hired as a special government employee to focus on food policy, according to Bloomberg. He founded a company that helps Americans get such wearable devices reimbursed tax-free through health savings accounts. Casey Means is Calley's sister. She also runs a healthcare start-up, although hers sells wearable devices such as continuous glucose monitors. She is Kennedy's nominee for US surgeon general, and a healthcare entrepreneur whose business sells continuous glucose monitors – one such wearable device. Calley Means's company also works with Casey's company. Due to Calley Means's status as a special employee, he has not been forced to divest from his private business interests – a situation that has already resulted in an ethics complaint. Consumer advocates, such as the non-profit group Public Citizen, had warned such hiring practices could cause conflicts of interest. HHS did not respond to a request for comment about Calley Means's private business interests, or his role in crafting the publicity campaign. Although the publicity campaign focuses on the ultra-processed foods connection to diabetes, at least one high profile nutritionist was queasy about its focus. 'The ultra-processed foods – some of those include breakfast cereals that are ultra-processed because they are fortified with vitamins,' said Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. 'Those are good if they're whole grain breakfast cereals and whole grain breads,' he said. Ultra-processed foods are generally recognized as sodas, salty snacks and frozen meals engineered to be shelf-stable, convenient and inexpensive. Such foods are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes – or insulin resistance. The mechanism by which such foods could increase risk of diabetes is unknown, a problem that extends in part from the 'heterogeneous category' of foods that the ultra-processed category encompasses. The publicity campaign proposal does not venture into defining the category, even as Kennedy has fixated on it 'poisoning the American people'. 'When you say processed foods you don't envision a Coke in your brain, and that's the biggest problem,' said Willett, who added that most public service campaigns are carefully crafted and tested for effectiveness.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Republican representative's ectopic pregnancy clashes with Florida abortion law
A Florida Republican congresswoman is blaming fearmongering on the left for the reluctance of hospital staff to give her the drugs she needed to end an ectopic pregnancy that threatened her life. Kat Cammack went to the emergency room in May 2024 where it was estimated she was five weeks into an ectopic pregnancy, there was no heartbeat and her life was at risk. Doctors determined she needed a shot of methotrexate to help expel her pregnancy but since Florida's six week abortion ban had just taken effect medical staff were worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they did. Cammack looked up the state law on her phone to show staff and even attempted to contact the governor's office. Hours later, doctors eventually agreed to give her the medication. Related: Women and men diverge more than ever on support for abortion rights, poll shows But Cammack, who opposes abortion and co-chairs the House pro-life caucus, told the Wall Street Journal she blames messaging from pro-abortion groups for delaying her treatment, which is not banned under Florida's restrictive statutes, who have created fear of criminal charges. Over a year later and once again pregnant and due to give birth soon, Cammack says the politics of the incident have stuck with her. 'It was absolute fearmongering at its worst,' Cammack told the publication, but acknowledged that abortion rights groups might interpret her experience differently and blame Republican-led, restrictive anti-abortion laws for the issue. 'There will be some comments like, 'Well, thank God we have abortion services,' even though what I went through wasn't an abortion,' she told the outlet. Florida's strict abortion ban, which took effect on 1 May 2024, makes abortions illegal after six weeks, when most people aren't even aware yet that they are pregnant. After months in which medical staff were concerned that the law's wording made emergency procedures illegal, the state's healthcare agency issued official guidance to 'address misinformation' on permitting an abortion in instances where the pregnant person's life and health are in danger. Cammack said she hoped that going public with her experience would help opposing political groups find common ground. Related: Democrats introduce bill that aims to protect reproductive health data 'I would stand with any woman – Republican or Democrat – and fight for them to be able to get care in a situation where they are experiencing a miscarriage and an ectopic' pregnancy, she said. Abortion rights activists say the law created problems. Florida regulators say ectopic pregnancies aren't abortions and are exempt from restrictions, but Molly Duane, with the Center for Reproductive Rights, told the Wall Street Journal the law doesn't define ectopic pregnancy, which can be difficult to diagnose. Alison Haddock, the president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, told the outlet care in early pregnancy is a 'medically complicated space' and that doctors in abortion-restricted states worry 'whether their clinical judgment will stand should there be any prosecution'.