By Ivan Pereira
The parent company of Jamaica and Flushing hospitals announced last week that it is reorganizing administrators at both medical facilities.
MediSys said it has hired new chief operating officers for both hospitals and it also acquired a new vice president and general counsel. The new appointees have had strong backgrounds in previous health care programs, according to Bruce J. Flanz, the president and CEO of MediSys. The changes come after the entire board was thrown into a loop when its former CEO was arrested on bribery and corruption charges.
“With these appointments, MediSys brings the collective decades of these individuals’ experience and expertise to key positions in our organization, thus enhancing our ability to continue to provide quality health care to the communities we serve,” he said in a statement.
Flanz used to be the chief operating officer of MediSys and, in turn, held the same title for both hospitals. But after he was appointed to be the health care network’s new CEO in the spring, the board decided it would be better if both hospitals had their own COOs, according to MediSys.
Longtime Jamaica Hospital member William Lynch is the new COO of the southeast Queens medical center. The 55-year-old joined Jamaica Hospital in 1987 as the director of quality assurance and was promoted to vice president-regulatory affairs five years later, according to Flanz.
Lynch, who earned a master’s of public administration in health administration from New York University, has served as vice president of regulatory and professional affairs at MediSys for the last 11 years.
“Bill Lynch has demonstrated leadership skills over nearly 25 years serving our organization, focusing on quality, safety and patient satisfaction for the network,” Flanz said.
Robert Levine, 54, has been named as the new COO for Flushing Hospital and worked in the hospital during the early 1990s. From 1993-96, he served as the vice president for operations at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan before he was recruited to be the president and CEO of Peninsula Hospital Center in the Rockaways.
During the summer, MediSys ended its ownership of Peninsula after it revealed it owed $13 million to its vendors and went into bankruptcy. Brooklyn-based Revival Home Health Care took over the operations for the hospital.
Medisys also announced that it hired Linda Vila, 45, as its vice president and general counsel. Vila, who earned her law degree at Brooklyn Law School, has been working with MediSys for the last two years and was formally the assistant professor and chairwoman of the Department of Health Care and Public Administration at Long Island University’s CW Post Campus.
In March, MediSys CEO David Rosen was removed from his position after he was indicted on federal bribery charges. Flanz was chosen as his replacement.
Rosen was convicted on those charges in September and is awaiting sentencing.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
