By Cynthia Koons
The hospital's executive director, Ron Weingartner, submitted his resignation in December, a month after St. Vincent's Hospital Center announced it was relinquishing its sponsorship of the Fresh Meadows facility.
Wardell assumed responsibility Dec. 31 for the executive director's position at St. Joseph's and Mary Immaculate hospitals, both of which were headed by Weingartner.
“We have administrators at each of the hospitals, and they will continue to run them as best as they can,” said Juliet Lewis, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph's Hospital.
Wardell was appointed to the position of senior vice president at St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in July last year. Prior to that, St. Vincent's spokesman Michael Fagan said he was an administrator at St. Joseph's Health Care System in New Jersey.
St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center has four facilities in Queens and Brooklyn including Mary Immaculate, St. John's, St. Joseph's and St. Mary's hospitals.
“The executive director manages the day-to-day operations for the hospital,” Fagan said.
Lewis said Wardell will not be working directly in the hospital's offices. Instead he will continue overseeing the hospitals in his official capacity of senior vice president in the outer boroughs.
Fagan said Wardell will probably be in charge of St. Joseph's while it is in transition. He said St. Vincent's has no new developments in the search for an operator for the Fresh Meadows hospital.
St. Joseph's Hospital was the subject of a series of cuts last year, as 25 of the facility's 463 employees were laid off. It is the only one of the hospital center's eight facilities that is being relinquished in favor of a new operator.
Hospital statistics show that only 75 of the 106 beds are used on a regular basis. The 43-year-old hospital has beds for psychiatric in-patients as well as specialized facilities for eye, wound and foot care.
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
