Borough Park City Councilman David Greenfield, yesterday, expressed some concern about the Maimonides Medical Center selection process in hiring someone as president with no prior experience running a hospital, especially in light of the hospital’s recent financial difficulties and affiliation merger with North Shore-LIJ Health System.
Greenfield’s thoughts came as Maimonides’ announced yesterday that Board of Trustee Chairman Kenneth Gibbs was replacing longtime President and CEO Pam Grier, who is retiring.
“Pam Brier is one of the great public health leaders in the city of New York. Her leadership, counsel and steadfastness will be sorely missed. New York City is grateful for her decades of service in improving our healthcare,” said Greenfield.
Although Gibbs comes from a private sector financial and banking background, he has a specialty in public finance with over 30 years experience in numerous multi-million dollar financing deals to support essential public programs and facilities in cities and states around the country. Additionally, he is a former chair of the Citizens Budget Commission and has been on its board since 1991.
He joined the Board of Trustees at Maimonides Medical Center in May 2013, and led the process of selecting North Shore-LIJ as the right partner for the institution. The official affiliation was also announced yesterday.
Under the comprehensive strategic partnership, both institutions will maintain their independence and separate governance structures. Maimonides will continue to operate as a full-service, tertiary and teaching hospital and be a critical component of a growing network of services that the North Shore-LIJ Health System and Maimonides will establish in Brooklyn.
The strategic partnership will be composed of joint ventures and other activities that will strengthen Maimonides and expand its leadership role in the region. North Shore-LIJ will work with Maimonides in enlarging its ambulatory network of clinical services to position the hospital for continued success as lead entity of one of the state’s three largest Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) programs.
In addition, North Shore-LIJ will provide Maimonides with capital resources and access to its extensive shared services infrastructure and expertise, enabling the hospital management to make needed investments while continuing to improve operating efficiencies.
“We are confident that this partnership will quickly provide value to both organizations, and also benefit the many diverse communities of Brooklyn that rely on Maimonides for their health care needs,” said Gibbs. “We look forward to working closely with North Shore-LIJ’s talented leadership as Maimonides continues to provide the excellent clinical outcomes that have placed our services in the top tier nationally.”
Maimonides had over $1 billion in revenue in its 2012 non-profit tax filings, is the largest single private-sector employer in Brooklyn.
According to Crain’s, Maimonides reported a $7.2 million net loss from operations in the first six months of this year, when it spent heavily to acquire physician practices. With the inclusion of several non-operating items, such as a $3.8 million grant, the hospital was $3.7 million in the red for the first half.
