October 21, 2019 - Mayor's Column

An incredible benefit of my life as Mayor is meeting people whose paths I would simply never cross as a private citizen. One of those people is the President of New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, Michael Fosina.

Michael has a long and distinguished career with Columbia Presbyterian starting as an intern and as he said taking the jobs that no one else wanted to get the needed experience, exposure and leave his own comfort zone. His entire career has been with NYP and in today’s nomenclature, he would be considered a turnaround specialist.

Columbia Presbyterian all along saw him as a problem solver and he turned around Allen Hospital, a truly forgotten outpost on the Upper West Side as well as Beekman Downtown on New York’s lower Eastside. The key to his success is that he is a self-proclaimed and proud small town guy. Raised in a big community based family in New Rochelle, he knew neighborhood hospital staffs had to do the same – learn the community’s ethos and join the culture. This included attending local Planning and Zoning board meetings and learning the local needs. All along the way, he communicated and integrated Columbia Presbyterian culture into the staff, the services and the specialty care. He brought this same ethos to Bronxville and as consequence, the Lawrence Hospital you knew when you moved here is in the distant past. Beyond fortunate to have a hospital in our one square mile community, our hospital went from having no neurologists on staff to now seven in addition to seven orthopedists. The hospital, due to demand, has added a second Cath Lab. All was the result from transitioning from a local unaffiliated hospital to one connected with a university network that was able to add major capital infusions and the resources of some of the finest doctors in the country. NYP Lawrence Hospital now joins only Westchester Medical Center as being one of two heart attack and stroke intervention centers in the County. In addition, NYP Lawrence now has a tier one cancer center and an acclaimed sports performance center in the Vernon Hills Shopping Center in nearby Eastchester. Thanks to the affiliation with Columbia Presbyterian, our hospital has over 600 accredited sub-specialists.  The Director of Emergency Services was the former head of all the Columbia/Cornell emergency departments and he is using the same protocols and standards of the main hospital at NYP Lawrence.

As its leader, ichael Fosina is also about to become Chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an organization of over 48,000 members.  He will be the first administrator from New York State ever to hold this office.

My personal connect with Michael is that he is a local guy having grown up in New Rochelle and came home to live within walking distance of his parent’s home and four of his five siblings. Michael went to the University of Delaware to swim on the varsity team for four years and then played water polo for the next ten. After meeting his wife Linda, a New Jersey native, he convinced her to move to Westchester where they raised their three children. Michael is the proud father to two daughters, CPAs now and graduates of Wake Forest and Richmond and a son Christopher, a recent Alabama graduate. Michael finds his “relaxation” in adventures, a recent 62 mile bike ride for cancer research and a 500 mile bike across the State of Iowa. He enjoys scuba diving, reef diving, storm chasing, dinosaur digs in Wyoming and even a dogsled camp out in northern Minnesota in January. When not “relaxing” outdoors, he enjoys watching the Yankees, Giants and Rangers and of course Alabama football.

As an overview of our hospital, 1500 babies were born there last year and over 45,000 ER visits were recorded. For many of us, the ER is our first point of contact with NYP Lawrence. Due to major upgrades, there are now 24 emergency bays, three or four doctors always on duty along with new nurse practitioners and a competent nursing staff. In a new patient service procedure, patients are triaged upon arrival to instantly determine the severity of injury and speed of service needed. Knowing the importance of the Bronxville ER, a priority on Columbia-Presbyterian’s improvement list is an expanded ER to expeditiously serve patients in need.

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital was also recently ranked in the top five hospitals in the country and the doctors they educate at Columbia and Cornell Medical Schools attend two of the top ten medical schools in the country. NYP-Lawrence also allows for much more continuing education for the staff, some of which focuses on standardizing care while at the same time localizing the New York Presbyterian protocols for staff and service. As a point of fact, if you are treated at any one of the Columbia Presbyterian affiliate hospitals, you will be bringing the same electronic record to follow your care.

As a self-professed small town guy, Michael has been impressed by the warmth and friendliness of all the Bronxville residents whose paths he has crossed. He has a commitment to local businesses, shops local, and many of his offsite events are held in Bronxville restaurants or catered by local establishments. You can and you often see him walking out and about on our business district.

I ask him to share a photo so when you see him in town you can introduce yourself and connect with a wonderful addition to our Village.