New chief executive at South Nassau Communities Hospital

The former chief executive of three Long Island hospitals has been named the new head of South Nassau Communities Hospital in Rockville Centre.

Richard Murphy will succeed Joseph Quagliata, 67, who is retiring at the end of the year after 14 years as chief executive, the hospital announced last week.

Since 2008, Murphy, 61, has been chief executive of Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island. From 1999 to 2008 he worked at Catholic Health Services, where he served in overlapping positions as chief executive of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson.

Joseph Fennessy, chairman of South Nassau’s board of directors, said the board was drawn to Murphy because of his knowledge of Long Island’s marketplace and the state regulatory environment.

“He has a proven track record and his values are very consistent with ours — high quality and patient-centric care,” Fennessy said.

Quagliata started his career at South Nassau in 1973. The next year he was appointed chief financial officer, a position he held until 1998 when he was named chief executive.

During his tenure, the hospital’s inpatient admissions grew by 90 percent and its ambulatory volume by 127 percent, according to the hospital. He also oversaw the opening of the hospital’s 174,000-square-foot north addition in 2006, a center for advanced orthopedics and a cancer center.

Above: South Nassau Communities Hospital