Mount Sinai South Nassau Names Next President

Adhi Sharma, MD, to Be First Physician-Leader in Hospital’s 93-Year History

Adhi Sharma, MD, an experienced Emergency Medicine physician-leader who helped steer Mount Sinai South Nassau’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as Chief Medical Officer, will become the hospital’s new President starting Wednesday, September 1, the hospital’s Board of Directors announced.

Dr. Sharma, who is also currently Executive Vice President for Clinical and Professional Affairs, will succeed Richard J. Murphy, who is retiring at the end of 2021 after serving nine years as the hospital’s President and CEO and working in the health care field in leadership roles for more than 40 years.

During the past 18 months, Dr. Sharma was the clinical quarterback of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his guidance, the hospital surged capacity to 500 beds as it cared for more than 4,890 COVID-19 patients over the course of the pandemic. Dr. Sharma also helped devise strategy to meet daily unforeseen challenges, such as redeploying staff to meet the surge in COVID patients, the shortage of equipment and caring for patients stricken by a disease for which there is no known cure.

“Dr. Sharma has proven he is the kind of leader we need to continue our expansion of leading-edge clinical program growth,” said Joseph J. Fennessy, Co-Chair of the hospital’s board of directors, which conducted a formal months-long search for a new hospital president. “Mount Sinai South Nassau is posed 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. Dr. Sharma shares the board’s vision to bring more top-quality care close to home.”

Anthony Cancellieri, the Co-Chair of the hospital’s board, said Dr. Sharma “has the confidence of the board, the health system and, most importantly, the front-line staff to lead us going forward. He showed his mettle during the pandemic, every day, and we know he is the right leader for the job.”
    
Dr. Sharma said he was honored to be selected and will continue to help the hospital grow into a major regional medical center for the South Shore of Long Island.

“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 for Mount Sinai South Nassau,” Dr. Sharma stated. “The hospital is one of the leading facilities on Long Island, and its 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 twenty-first century.”

Mr. Murphy, who led the hospital’s response after Superstorm Sandy and during the pandemic, helped launch a $400 million capital construction building program to modernize the Oceanside hospital and helped guide the hospital to an affiliation in 2019 with the world-renowned Mount Sinai Health System.

Mr. Murphy praised the selection of Dr. Sharma and said he would work during the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.

“It has been my privilege to serve as CEO for Mount Sinai South Nassau. I am appreciative of the Board of Directors and medical staff leadership for the support they have given me through the many challenges we have faced, including most recently the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr. Murphy.  “The hospital’s staff are among the most talented and committed individuals you will ever meet, and it’s been my absolute pleasure to support them in their efforts. I have been fortunate to lead the ‘A’ team. Dr. Sharma is an excellent choice to be my successor. He has the confidence of the medical staff and the entire hospital community, including the leadership of the Mount Sinai Health System.”

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Rich Murphy for his tremendous leadership,” Fennessy added. “He took the reins of the hospital after our region was devastated by Superstorm Sandy, rising to meet the critical challenges it created for patients, staff, and the community. Since then, he has led the hospital through a period of unprecedented expansion, including, most notably, our partnership with Mount Sinai. “And his leadership throughout the pandemic has been extraordinary. Mr. Murphy has positioned Mount Sinai South Nassau to experience significant growth in the years to come. We are confident that the hospital, under Dr. Sharma’s leadership, will continue on this path.”
 
“Rich Murphy’s steady leadership and vision to constantly improve and expand services for our patients have helped establish Mount Sinai South Nassau as the premier regional medical center for the South Shore and the flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System on Long Island,” said Cancellieri, the Co-Chair of the hospital’s board.
 
“Rich Murphy’s visionary leadership has propelled Mount Sinai South Nassau to become a top-ranked, medical center in this region,” said Kenneth L. Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mount Sinai Health System. “His legacy will continue as we further our commitment to the residents of Long Island by expanding access to high-quality, advanced and compassionate care.”
 
Mount Sinai Health System leaders praised the selection of Dr. Sharma and Murphy’s stewardship of the hospital during a period of historic expansion.  “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Richard Murphy as he had led the organization into the Mount Sinai Health System and into an era of extraordinary clinical growth,” said Arthur A. Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network. “I look forward with enthusiasm to working with Dr. Sharma as we continue together to build upon the trajectory the Board, Rich and the Mount Sinai Health System have established to create a true tertiary center of excellence for Long Island.”
 
Mr. Murphy spearheaded the hospital’s $400 million capital plan that will transform its Oceanside and Long Beach campuses. Expansion projects on the hospital’s main campus in Oceanside include a new four-story patient wing to expand the Emergency Department, add nine new operating rooms and 40 critical care beds, a three-story parking structure, and a new central utility plant. Also planned is a $40 million Medical Arts Pavilion at the hospital’s Long Beach campus, and a multi-specialty health care center in Wantagh that will provide an array of specialty services all in one location to South Shore residents in Eastern Nassau County.

The Long Beach Medical Arts Pavilion, combined with the hospital’s existing free-standing Emergency Department and Primary Care Center, are centerpieces of an ongoing effort to revitalize health care services in Long Beach with an integrated network of specialists and highly skilled physicians.

As Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Clinical and Professional Affairs, Dr. Sharma has been responsible for facilitating medical staff interactions with hospital administration and the governing board, and for assuring the effective and efficient delivery of quality medical care consistent with the mission of Mount Sinai South Nassau. He also has been instrumental in identifying opportunities for service line development and expansion as well as the recruitment and retention of specialist physicians.

During Dr. Sharma’s tenure as Chief Medical Officer, Mount Sinai South Nassau has:

• Joined the world-renowned Mount Sinai Heart program of The Mount Sinai Hospital to become the first and only Mount Sinai Heart location on Long Island
• Expanded its robotic surgical program to include the da Vinci Xi Surgical Robot system, one of the world’s most advanced robotic surgical technologies
• Opened a new Center for Maternal Fetal Medicine, the only dedicated center of its kind for high-risk pregnancies on the South Shore of Nassau County
• Restored emergency medical and family medicine services in Long Beach, New York, with the opening of the Long Beach Emergency Department, and Long Beach Family Medicine Center, respectively
• Established a community-based ambulatory service devoted specifically to the treatment of men’s and women’s urinary tract and reproductive organ health problems
• Opened one of the first outpatient health care centers in New York State that integrates behavioral health, primary care, and pediatric health care services at a single location
  

“I can think of no one better prepared to lead Mount Sinai South Nassau than Dr. Sharma. He has been my clinical partner and became well known as a leader in the community during the pandemic. He has extraordinary clinical acumen and is well liked and respected by our entire staff,” said Mr. Murphy. “I am turning the keys over to very capable hands. I wish him the best of luck.”
 
Murphy is retiring after spending a career in leadership roles at hospitals across the region. He served as President and CEO at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island and was the Executive Vice President of Long Island’s Catholic Health System. He also served as CEO of Good Samaritan, St. Charles and St. Catherine of Siena hospitals. Murphy also served for two years as chairman of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), which acts as a statewide advocate for more than 550 non-profit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home health care agencies and other health care organizations across New York.
Dr. Sharma joined Mount Sinai South Nassau in 2014 as the hospital’s Medical Director for Utilization and was elevated to Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer in October 2015. Prior to joining the staff at Mount Sinai South Nassau, Dr. Sharma served at Progressive Emergency Physicians, where he was the Chief Operations Officer, responsible for strategic planning and operations; oversight and development of existing and future contracts; and contract negotiations with third party payers.

From 2007-12, Dr. Sharma held senior administrative positions at Catholic Health Services of Long Island, including Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center and Medical Director of Patient Safety and Simulation Center. Designed and implemented by Dr. Sharma, the Simulation Center is utilized by an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, educators, and specialists in ergonomics who work side by side with a focus on patient safety and quality.

A member of the American College of Emergency Medicine and American College of Medical Toxicology, serving on the practice and education committees respectively, Dr. Sharma launched his career in medicine at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was the Director of the Division of Toxicology and an attending physician in the emergency department from 2001-05. He then served as Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the former Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, until 2007.

Dr. Sharma is a graduate of New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Jacobi/Montefiore Medical Centers. He also completed a fellowship in Medical Toxicology at NYU/Bellevue. He is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. Dr. Sharma also holds a master’s degree in Health Care Administration from George Washington University in Washington D.C.

About Mount Sinai South Nassau
The Long Island flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai South Nassau is designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,700 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, Mount Sinai South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies. Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. Mount Sinai South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons; is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program; and an Infectious Diseases Society of America Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence. For more information, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau.