Children's hospital's new top doctor sees mental health 'crisis'
Dr. Fiona Levy assumes the role of Cohen Children’s Medical Center’s medical director. Credit: Northwell Health/LEE S.WEISSMAN
Northwell Health has appointed a new top doctor at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, and one of her top priorities is helping families cope with an "absolute crisis" in children's mental health.
Dr. Fiona Levy is the New Hyde Park hospital’s newly appointed medical director as well as vice president for Northwell Health’s pediatric services, the New Hyde Park-based health care system said Monday.
Levy returns to the hospital after an eight-year stint as executive director of the Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care at NYU Langone Health’s Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital. She also served as vice chair of clinical affairs for pediatrics at the NYU School of Medicine.
Before joining NYU in 2014, Levy spent three years as an attending physician in Cohen Children’s intensive care unit as well as its vice president and chief quality officer.
Levy oversees the hospital’s medical staff and will participate in community outreach efforts for Northwell, the state’s largest health care provider.
The COVID-19 pandemic “created an absolute crisis in mental health for children … not just in depression and anxiety, but a huge increase in patients with eating disorders, and those patients are often medically complex,” said Levy, 60, who lives in Manhattan. “There's a huge opportunity to partner with other institutions to think, ‘how do we support children and their families?’”
Levy takes over from Dr. Peter Silver, who was recently named senior vice president and chief quality officer at Northwell.
“It's great to be back, people have been incredibly welcoming,” Levy said in an interview. Levy said the “very strong esprit de corps” at the hospital is just as she remembered, though she said the hospital’s growth since 2014 makes it feel in certain ways “like a new place.”
The 202-bed hospital has seen annual outpatient visits rise by 30% since 2014, and its staff has increased by 21%, Northwell figures show. In that time, the hospital has doubled its cancer and heart surgery programs and created a new kidney transplant program, among other new services, according to Northwell.
Levy’s return to Cohen Children’s “will be such a great asset for us,” Dr. Charles Schleien, senior vice president and chair of pediatric services at Northwell, said in a statement, citing Levy's “experience in clinical and administrative duties, as well as her intellect, personality and ability to get through difficult issues.”
Levy “brings with her many years of patient-focused care with an emphasis on exemplary quality outcomes,” Carolyn Quinn, senior vice president of pediatrics at Northwell and executive director of Cohen Children’s Medical Center, said in a statement.
Levy earned her medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla, a Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She completed her residency at SUNY Health Science Center in Syracuse and a fellowship at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle. She began her medical career at children’s hospitals in St. Louis and Dallas.
Cohen Children’s interim medical director since January, Dr. Nancy Palumbo, has been promoted to be the hospital’s associate medical director. Previously, Palumbo served as chief of hospital medicine.
Maura McDermott covers health care and other business news on Long Island.
