Ричард Кессель стал председателем совета директоров Nassau Health Care Corporation и взялся реформировать госбольницу

Richard Kessel has always been known as a “professional nudge,” fighting what he perceives as wrongs and demanding major changes. Kessel, now 76, was recently named chairman of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, the public-benefit corporation that operates the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, which opened in 1935 as Meadow Brook Hospital. The medical center, Long Island’s only public-safety hospital, serves thousands of people each year, the majority on Medicaid or Medicare. Over the years, Kessel, of Merrick, has held numerous titles. He recently stepped down from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority to become NHCC’s chairman. He has also been president and chairman of the New York Power Authority, chairman of the Long Island Power Authority, which oversaw the takeover of the Long Island Lighting Co in 1998, and executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board. Some think his biggest challenge yet is to restore the medical center, which has been left in tatters by its former executives. NUMC has filed a civil lawsuit against former CEO Megan Ryan, seeking $10 million in damages, accusing her of improper executive payouts. A spokesman for Ryan called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said it “was clearly developed in retaliation for Ms. Ryan’s discovery of the state’s massive Medicaid fraud scheme…” The New York State Attorney General’s office is investigating former executive leadership over alleged misuse of public funds and separation payouts. The Press caught up with Kessel during one of his rare moments off the phone and not in meetings. What is the future of the hospital? I think the future is promising. But we’ve got a lot of work to do to clean house and restore credibility. It’s not going to happen overnight. That hospital is going to turn itself around. We’re bringing in the right people and the right programs. The former people destroyed its credibility. But that is in the past. The governor (Kathy Hochul) has done the right thing. (Hochul recently awarded $109.6 million in state funding to the hospital.) We have a new CEO. (Thomas W. Stokes, appointed this past January.) He’s a hospital guy. What do you see as the biggest task ahead? I think the biggest task ahead is to restore the hospital’s credibility. People need to look at it as a hospital where they want to go. You see lists of good hospitals. You see Northwell. You see NYU Langone. They deserve it. But you don’t see Nassau Medical Center. There are great things about Nassau Medical Center. There’s the trauma unit and the burn unit, the only one on Long Island.  But people don’t recognize all the good things about Nassau Medical Center. Is there any chance the hospital will close? No. It’s a safety-net hospital. We’ve got to keep it open. People depend on it, not just the poor. We’re seeing more and more of the common man. What’s the next step in this process? There’s a report (to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority) due on December 1. We’ve hired a private company (Huron) to help us. We’re seeking input from the community and from other groups. We’re going to be able to tell you what the hospital is going to look like in the future. The other big thing is affiliation. Other hospitals are affiliated with other organizations. What more can you say about that? We’re talking to other hospital networks that may affiliate with Nassau Medical Center. We can’t get further into it now. But there are major hospital networks talking with us. If such a thing were to happen, it would enhance our credibility. What other issues are you looking at now? We’re looking at what the hospital will look like physically. It’s 19 stories tall and old.  Are we talking about a new building? We’re looking at all alternatives. If we were to keep the current building, it would cost hundreds of millions to renovate. The elevators are old and creaky. We’re not dismissing anything. The current building is not usable in its current form. The whole place needs an upgrade. So, there are a lot of options out there, What’s most important now? Leadership. The prior management did a terrible job. They didn’t pay attention. They plundered the hospital. It’s going to be getting the right people to reshape the hospital. Were you surprised by what you found when you took over? It was a little bit of a surprise. I called the governor’s office and said, We’re in trouble. I didn’t know how bad things were. Let’s look ahead. There are 3,000 employees there. They’re great people. They need to go into that hospital and see a great change in culture. They need to want to come to work. But it’s all going to take time. It’s all going to take a few years. The atmosphere is already much better. The new management is better.