Nassau University Medical Center is suing its former CEO for $10 million in damages, accusing her of widespread misconduct that includes self-enrichment, policy violations, destruction of records, and waste of public funds.
Former CEO Meg Ryan, who was fired in June for-cause after the hospital’s new leadership — appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul after a heated state takeover that same month — accused Ryan of stealing at least $1 million from the medical center through improper exit payouts.
The new bombshell lawsuit now accuses Ryan of abusing her position to enrich herself and other top administrators by seeking reimbursement for luxury expenses and fake trips, destroying hospital records, orchestrating a mass resignation of senior leadership, and pursuing meritless lawsuits against New York State.
“Our goal with this complaint is to be fully transparent about what occurred and to take decisive steps toward a stronger future,” Stuart Rabinowitz, Chair of NUMC’s Board of Directors, said in a press release announcing the lawsuit Thursday.
“The taxpayers, patients, and employees who depend on this hospital deserve a clear accounting of how resources were used, and we have a duty to safeguard our mission, protect our ability to deliver care, and ensure NUMC remains a pillar for this community,” he said.
But Ryan’s camp told The Post the lawsuit is simply another distraction from the state’s alleged fraud, which she claims to be a whistleblower of.
“This frivolous suit was clearly developed in retaliation for Ms. Ryan’s discovery of the State’s massive Medicaid fraud scheme,” a spokesperson for Meg Ryan told The Post.
“[It was] filed as a smokescreen to distract from the Hochul-appointed board’s actions to drop the lawsuits against the State, and the new leadership’s recent approvals of $10 million in no-bid contracts – including to a firm run by the Nassau Democratic Party’s Vice Chairman – as well as repeated violations of the State’s transparency, procurement and public officers laws,” he added.
Ryan’s spokesperson further blasted Rabinowitz and the board as “unethical,” accusing them of knowingly misrepresenting the payments to departing staff, and said they were for time earned in line with Nassau Health Care Corporation policy and precedent.
The spokesperson claimed the new leadership — described as political appointees installed to cover up “the State’s massive fraud” — is attempting to shift attention away from the state’s alleged wrongdoing.
“If the political hacks who have been put in charge of NHCC to cover up the State’s massive fraud want a fight — they’ll get one — We have the evidence, the witnesses and the facts to ensure Ms. Ryan will be vindicated on all fronts,” he said.
But the state said bring it on — calling Ryan’s tenure a prime example of failed leadership.
“The breathtaking level of waste, abuse, and mismanagement under NUMC’s previous leadership is an insult to taxpayers and a betrayal of the hospital’s mission,” Gov. Hochul’s Long Island Spokesperson Gordon Tepper told The Post.
“The recent revelations further validate Governor Hochul’s decisive action to restructure the board and restore accountability to this critical safety-net institution,” he added, referencing the recent news of an expensive dinner charged to the hospital the night before the previous board was fired.
