L. Reuven Pasternak, MD, has been named Vice President for Health Systems and Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH), effective September 1, announced Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean, School of Medicine, Kenneth Kaushansky, MD.
A native of Hempstead, New York, Pasternak comes to Stony Brook from Inova Health System in Falls Church, Virginia, where he has served for the past four years as Chief Executive Officer of the Inova Fairfax Hospital campus and executive vice president of academic affairs. His leadership role included oversight of Inova Fairfax Hospital, Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children and the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute.
“Reuven Pasternak is a proven leader who has outstanding credentials and leadership qualities that make him an enormous asset to the University and our academic medical center,” said President Stanley. “We are pleased that he has joined our team during this transformative period for Stony Brook Medicine and look forward to his future contributions to the Hospital enterprise.”
“There was little doubt among our search committee that Reuven was simply outstanding,” said Kaushansky, who chaired the committee that conducted a nationwide search. “Every one of his academic and management experiences to date prepared him extremely well for the challenges and opportunities here at Stony Brook University.”
Pasternak’s title of Vice President for Health Systems reflects a new role at SBUH. “The Vice President for Health Systems will help me in developing a Long Island-wide network of facilities that deliver world-class academic healthcare to the citizens of New York,” Kaushansky said.
As CEO, Pasternak will work closely with Dr. Margaret McGovern, Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, and Physician-in-Chief, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital, who serves as Chair of the Governing Board of the Clinical Practice Management Plan (CPMP) at Stony Brook Medicine, to coordinate facilities, staff and physicians in providing patient-centered academic healthcare. He will also work with Dr. Basil Rigas, Interim Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at the School of Medicine, in providing strategic and operational leadership for clinical growth opportunities, and operational and cultural changes in preparation for healthcare reform.
“Reuven will work with me and the deans of the Schools of Dental Medicine, Health Technology and Management, Nursing and Social Welfare in developing plans for the education of students, residents, and medical and nursing staff on issues associated with healthcare delivery systems, strategies, and policy,” Kaushansky said. “He will work with the department chairs in the School of Medicine in coordinating and enhancing the operations of the medical center and individual practices, as well as meshing our educational goals and programs into the fabric of Stony Brook Medicine.”
“Based on the development of these educational programs within a private hospital system, it is clear that Reuven is an academic at heart, and it was a return to a truly academic healthcare environment and our potential for greatness in all three academic missions, that prompted him to accept the position at Stony Brook,” Kaushansky said.
“I am excited to be coming to Stony Brook Medicine at this unique time in its history,” Pasternak said. “The collegiality of the staff and the sense of commitment to the mission of extraordinary care, discovery and teaching was a constant reminder of what is best in academic medicine. During the course of my meetings with members of the Stony Brook community I felt an immediate comfort with the culture and sense that I was already ‘home.’ As we continue through a time of dramatic change in all aspects of medical care and systems, I look forward to working with colleagues to expand Sony Brook Medicine’s leadership on a regional, national and international basis.”
Pasternak replaces Fred Sganga, interim CEO of SBUH, who has served in this role since October. Sganga will return to his position as Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home.
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