Northwell Health announces more changes in leadership overseeing Long Island hospitals

Northwell Health has announced transitions within its eastern market leadership, which includes South Shore University in Bay Shore, Peconic Bay in Riverhead, Mather in Port Jefferson, South Oaks in Amityville, Glen Cove, Plainview, Huntington and Syosset hospitals, along with 290 ambulatory sites.

Following the retirement of executive vice president of business development Debbie Schiff, Northwell tapped physician assistant Steve Bello to succeed her.

Bello formerly served as executive vice president and president of Northwell’s eastern market, a role that will now be taken over by registered nurse Kerri Anne Scanlon.

"I'm excited because we're making investments in Suffolk County,” said Scanlon, who grew up in Suffolk and lives in Nissequogue. “As Suffolk County grows, we want Northwell to grow.”

Scanlon said Mather Hospital opened its new $78 million emergency room on Sept. 4, featuring a 29,000-square-foot facility. It can accommodate up to 55,000 patients annually, up from 38,000 patients, Newsday previously reported.

She said she will oversee the opening of several Northwell expansions, such as a $5 million obstetrics and gynecology center in Manorville set to open in January and a new cancer center slated for in Huntington in 2027.

A new pavilion tower at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore that will have 10 operating rooms and 90 private rooms for critical care capacity is expected to open in August.

“It's going to have a huge impact on our emergency department to make it so that the waiting times are reduced and patients can be seen more expeditiously,” Scanlon said.

The pavilion will provide more than 75 additional jobs for the hospital. Newsday recently reported that South Shore ended its in-person interpreter team after 22 years, sparking concern among language access advocates.

Northwell also plans to open a new multi-specialty center in Yaphank at the end of January, offering "everything from internal medicine to orthopedics to surgery to physical therapy."

Scanlon, who has been with Northwell for 31 years, formerly served as president of Northwell’s Glen Cove, Syosset and Plainview hospitals.

In Scanlon’s place, Michael Scarpelli has been named president of Plainview and Syosset hospitals.

He most recently served as president of Northwell's South Oaks and Zucker Hillside hospitals, and led Northwell’s behavioral health service line, overseeing the expansion of their outpatient behavioral health services.

Dr. Maria Torroella Carney, a board-certified internist, geriatrician and palliative care physician, will succeed Scanlon as president of Glen Cove Hospital. 

Carney joined Northwell in 2012 after serving as commissioner of the Nassau County Department of Health, where she oversaw public health services for 1.3 million residents. She also serves as executive director of the Northwell Aging Institute and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.

Deepa Avula is now president of South Oaks and Zucker Hillside hospitals and leads the behavioral health service line. Avula joined Northwell in 2024 from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she served as executive deputy commissioner for mental hygiene.

In addition, Michele E. Frankel has been appointed deputy eastern market president. She served as chief financial officer for Northwell’s eastern market for the past eight years, a statement said. 

The eastern market transitions come about one week after Northwell announced appointments to three top leadership roles in its central market.

Northwell, the largest not-for-profit health system in the Northeast, serves residents of New York and Connecticut with 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses and over 20,000 physicians.