By GREGORY ZELLER //
A familiar face will take the reins at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital.
Emergency medicine veteran Adhi Sharma, who spearheaded Mount Sinai South Nassau’s COVID-19 response as chief medical officer, will become the hospital’s new president, the Mount Sinai South Nassau Board of Directors announced this week.
Sharma, currently executive vice president for clinical and professional affairs, succeeds Richard Murphy, who is retiring this year after nine years as president and CEO of the Long Island flagship of the New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System – and more than 40 years as a healthcare leader.
The Board of Directors conducted a “formal months-long search” for Murphy’s successor, according to a hospital statement, but ultimately found the right person within its own ranks: Sharma, who devised Mount Sinai South Nassau’s strategies during the turbulent COVID pandemic.
The Oceanside-based hospital, which regularly maintains 455 patient beds, surged to 500 beds at the height of the crisis and ultimately cared for roughly 4,900 COVID patients (and counting), with Sharma calling the shots – including dynamic plans to overcome equipment shortages and redeploy the hospital’s beleaguered staff.
Adhi Sharma: Well-liked, well-prepared.
Joseph Fennessy, co-chairman of the Board of Directors, said the chief medical officer “has proven he is the kind of leader we need,” especially with the hospital’s clinical programming in an aggressive growth mode.
“Mount Sinai South Nassau is poised to expand services to the South Shore so our patients and their families don’t always have to travel into the city for the advanced care they need,” Fennessey noted. “Dr. Sharma shares the board’s vision to bring more top-quality care close to home.”
Sharma, a one-time Emergency Department physician and director of the Division of Toxicology at Elmhurst Hospital Center, previously held senior administrative positions with Catholic Health Services of Long Island (now rebranded as Catholic Health), including medical director of patient safety and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at North Babylon-based Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center.
A member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Medical Toxicology, Sharma graduated from the Valhalla-based New York Medical College and completed an emergency-medicine residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of the Jacobi/Montefiore Medical Centers in the Bronx.
Board-certified in emergency medicine and medical toxicology, he also holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from The George Washington University.
Richard Murphy: Well done.
Murphy, who will officially retire at the end of 2021, said he “can think of no one better prepared to lead Mount Sinai South Nassau than Dr. Sharma,” who officially becomes hospital president Sept. 1.
“He has been my clinical partner and became well known as a leader in the community during the pandemic,” Murphy said in a statement. “He has extraordinary clinical acumen and is well-liked and respected by our entire staff.
“I am turning the keys over to very capable hands,” the outgoing president added. “I wish him the best of luck.”
Sharma has big shoes to fill. During his decade atop Mount Sinai South Nassau, Murphy has led the hospital’s $400 million expansion effort, including a new $130 million Emergency Department in Oceanside and a $35 million Medical Arts Pavilion at the hospital’s Long Beach campus.
Calling Mount Sinai South Nassau “one of the leading facilities on Long Island,” the president-elect said he was honored to follow in Murphy’s footsteps.
“It is with great humility and appreciation for the dedicated clinical and support staff at the hospital that I have accepted the role as president,” Sharma said Tuesday. “[The hospital’s] relationship with the Mount Sinai Health System has only enhanced its standing within the communities it serves.
“Together with the board and the clinical leadership, I look forward to setting a vison for the hospital that will carry it well into the 21st Century.”
