NUMC claims financial turnaround in 11th hour push against Hochul, state takeover
Nassau University Medical officials said the once financially challenged hospital doesn't need the state to step in because it has turned things around and is on track to net an $11 million profit this year.
NUMC was once nearly $200 million in the red, but leaders are pushing back against a possible state takeover by touting major gains in patient care, national safety ratings, and expanded community health services.
Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget deal with state lawmakers includes an agreement that could strip local control from the hospital board of directors and install a new state-run board, a move NUMC officials call unnecessary and 'politically motivated.'
The language of the proposed changes have yet to be finalized though bugdet related bills can come to vote as early as this week, sources said.
Hospital CEO Meg Ryan says thanks, but no thanks.
Ryan, who joined the hospital's staff as CEO in 2024, doesn't believe a state takeover is necessary anymore, citing an operational and financial 180.
'Beyond finances, we've elevated patient care, earning improved national safety ratings, recertification with the Joint Commission's Gold Seal, and reaffirmation as a Level One Trauma Center, while expanding clinical services and launching a mobile mammography center to serve thousands of women annually,' Ryan told The Post in a statement.
She said NUMC has seen a dramatic turnaround in recent years, taking a hospital that residents once avoided and upgrading it into a state-of-the-art medical facility — now home to a level-one trauma center, Nassau's only burn unit and hyperbaric chamber, primary care offices, dentists, and more.
However, allegations of fraud and fiscal mismanagement ringing in from both sides sparked a federal investigation — with NUMC's recently fired chairman, Matthew Bruderman, blowing the whistle on an alleged scam he claims to have uncovered where the state was withholding funds from the hospital in an elaborate scheme that has overshadowed the hospital's improvements.
On Wednesday, nearly 300 workers and supporters rallied outside the East Meadow hospital, demanding Hochul remove any language related to a state takeover budget, and invited the governor for a tour to see the turnaround for herself.
Hospital leaders like Marissa Plotkins, the director of special projects, organized the rally to send a message to the governor that a state takeover is not needed or wanted — calling the language in the budget 'sneaky business,' and claiming the state is attempting to close the hospital with this move.
However, The Civil Service Employees Association — the union representing most hospital staff — recently wrote a letter to members supporting Hochul's plans.
The union said a new board of directors is needed, calling the claims that the state wants the hospital to fail 'bogus.'
The union also said that NuHealth, the public benefit company that runs the hospital, is nearly $500 million in debt to the state, which hospital leaders denied — calling the union's support for the state's takeover 'treasonous' to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Hochul believes she is setting out to do what is best for the patients in Nassau.
'NUMC leadership continues its bizarre PR campaign based on ridiculous lies and scare tactics. The amount of time and resources they have spent on this foolishness is absurd,' Hochul's Long Island press secretary, Gordon Tepper, told The Post.
'The state's focus at NUMC remains on patient care and the hospital's fiscal stability. That's all that matters — everything else is just noise.'
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