The leader of a beleaguered safety net hospital on Long Island was abruptly fired hours after alleging sensitive documents had been stolen from his home related to an FBI probe into the facility’s financial relationship with the state.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman terminated Matthew Bruderman, former chair of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, on Thursday, three years into a five-year term. He was replaced by Dr. Irina Gelman, former health commissioner of Orange County. The firing came hours after the New York Post reported a binder of documents was stolen from Bruderman’s home Wednesday that he said were part of a federal investigation into allegations the hospital had filed in a lawsuit against the state.
The firing is a dramatic twist in hospital leadership’s ongoing struggle with the state, after the board filed a lawsuit accusing the state of withholding roughly $1 billion over two decades through financial maneuvers that went unnoticed by regulators and the hospital’s own administration.
Bruderman became chair of the board in 2022 with the task of righting the finances of the struggling hospital, which was running over a $100 million annual deficit and on the brink of collapse. In November, while pushing for state funding, Bruderman said his administration discovered the alleged billion-dollar oversight and filed the suit.
The events at Bruderman’s Oyster Bay household are still under investigation. Center Island police confirmed an incident at the home is being investigated as a burglary. Police recovered items from two “persons of interest” and are still determining whether they were actually taken from the house, said Officer John Schmidt.
Blakeman’s office would not say why Bruderman was terminated and referred inquiries to a statement released Thursday, thanking Bruderman for his service as chair. “Under his leadership, NUMC was able to reduce its deficits by significant margins and improve its ratings. We wish him well in his future endeavors,” he said.
It is unclear what the leadership shakeup means for Nassau University Medical Center’s conversations with state leaders over funding. A source close to state budget negotiations between the Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders said legislation may be included that would modify the structure of the hospital.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office referred inquiries on the termination to the County Executive’s office.
“The state has been attempting to work with the hospital and Nassau County on the hospital’s financing and ensuring that patient care was of paramount importance to them,” said Gordon Tepper, a spokesperson for the governor. “The termination was something the state played no role in.”
