Former NUMC chief executive Megan Ryan terminated over problematic payouts

Daily Point

Ryan allegedly authorized at least $1M in excess payments to herself, 12 ex-employees

Megan Ryan, the onetime chief executive and general counsel of Nassau University Medical Center, has been "terminated for cause," after allegedly authorizing at least $1 million in excess payments to herself and 12 former employees of the hospital and its public benefit corporation, Nassau Health Care Corp., The Point has learned.

According to a letter sent to Ryan Wednesday from newly appointed interim chief executive Richard Becker, which was obtained by The Point, Ryan authorized payments totaling $3.5 million to herself and 12 other employees that were made on May 30, just two days before the hospital’s newly constituted board, including Gov. Kathy Hochul’s appointed chairman Stuart Rabinowitz, took control. Of those payments, Becker said, at least $1 million "was in excess of amounts that were due to you and the other employees for wages and leave payouts under NHCC’s policies."

The extra payments, Becker wrote, included amounts for unused sick and vacation leave "well beyond what NHCC policies allow" along with other unpermitted forms of leave.

"You also authorized excessive termination payments to yourself despite the fact that you were employed at the time," Becker wrote to Ryan. "We can discern no valid basis or business purpose for these payments.

"This conduct is a basis to terminate your employment for cause," the letter said.

Becker gave Ryan until the close of business Friday to provide any information that indicates the payments had "a valid business purpose" and were "consistent" with hospital policy.

"If we do not hear from you by that date, we will assume our conclusions about your conduct are correct and our decision will be final," Becker wrote.

In a written statement provided to The Point, Ryan’s attorney, Alex J. Hartzband, with the Grubin Law Group in Manhattan, denied the accusations.

"It is truly shocking that, in an effort to humiliate Ms. Ryan, NHCC would try to deny employees payments to which they are entitled. All payments approved by Ms. Ryan were based on time lawfully accrued, and every decision was made in full accordance with hospital policies and over 25 years of established practice," Hartzband wrote. "This is yet another politically motivated hit against Ms. Ryan as NHCC leadership attempts to distract from the State’s own corruption in the handling of NUMC’s finances. Ms. Ryan’s integrity and record of accomplishment to improve health care for Nassau County residents are beyond reproach."

The problematic payouts were discovered through efforts by a combination of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the county’s fiscal watchdog, and the hospital’s new lawyers, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, along with its financial and operational consultant, Deloitte, sources with knowledge told The Point.

"They’re combing through everything," one source with knowledge told The Point.

Sources said the hospital’s counsel was "actively" considering whether any of the funds could be clawed back.

Multiple sources told The Point that more is likely to come out of the ongoing analysis at NUMC.

Said one source: "The revelations are not over and they will all come out."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Dragged in

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Final Point

New top court ruling, affecting some LIers, could roil NYC mayoral race

The state Court of Appeals on Wednesday finally decided against retired municipal employees who for years have agitated to keep New York City from forcing a change in the terms of their health care coverage. Coming on the cusp of Tuesday’s city primary elections, reaction to the top court’s ruling could shift a potentially crucial number of votes, in an 11-way mayoral race with ranked choice voting.

Small margins are expected to prove crucial in that scenario — and the affected retirees who live in the city and vote could number in the tens of thousands.

Continuing resistance to a Medicare Advantage Plan for retirees will depend on how the next mayor and the next City Council proceed. The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, or NYCOPSR, which brought the matter to court, has already made clear which candidates it deems acceptable, and which it does not.

Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the presumed front-runner, is touted as a supporter of retirees on the group’s website; Assemb. Zohran Mamdani, who’s polling right behind him, is not. Other "mayoral candidates who support retirees" include Brad Lander, Scott Stringer, Whitney Tilson and Michael Blake in the Democratic scrum, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in the November general election.

Those "supporters" pledged to oppose retirees being "forced into Medicare Advantage — preserving our promised paid-for supplement to Traditional Medicare & not permitting backdoor premiums onto us in the form of copays and deductibles." Opponents of Medicare Advantage plans fear they would face higher out-of-pocket costs, limited physician networks, and pre-authorizations for certain procedures.

Marianne Pizzitola, who heads the NYCOPSR and has been pushing the issue for four years, is a retired employee of FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service, a Georgia resident who hailed from West Babylon. The organization has not issued preferred rankings for the candidates. Last year, it first endorsed Jim Walden, an independent candidate.

A unique twist here is that the city’s biggest labor union, District Council 37, was part of the wage negotiation years ago that allowed the city to save costs by introducing a Medicare Advantage Plan for retirees. DC 37 has withdrawn support for at least one candidate who backed legislation pushed by retirees barring any change in their longtime free-Medicare deal.

DC 37 urges its members to support term-limited Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as their first ballot choice for mayor, Mamdani second, and Assemb. Zellnor Myrie third.

As reported by The City news site, Mamdani tried to flip-flop earlier this month — quietly changing his campaign website to suddenly add a pledge to "reject Medicare Advantage." Pizzitola, however, noted to The Point Thursday that the text of Mamdani’s statement cautiously covers only active employees and union members, which her members are not.

Last-minute news of interest to one constituency always has the potential to influence big elections. It remains to be seen whether this will be one of them.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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