NUMC seeks to claw back $1 million from former high-ranking employees

Nassau University Medical Center’s parent company is suing seven former high-level employees, part of an effort to claw back about $1 million in what it says are "improper" payouts.

The hospital is targeting seven employees — including Michael Sposato, now Nassau County’s commissioner of corrections — all of whom resigned from the hospital in May and reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in termination payments, according to the complaints.

Other former employees, meanwhile, have settled or returned money to the hospital, a spokesman said Monday.

"NUMC is sending a clear message: We will not stand for taxpayer dollars being abused, and we will use every tool available — legal and otherwise — to hold people accountable," Tommy Meara, a hospital spokesman, said in a statement.

The seven employees facing lawsuits include Simonsarkis Ulubabov, director of patient care services; Sposato, vice president of security; Sasy Salomon, chief information officer; Vincent Pinkney, executive vice president of labor relations; Michael Knee, director of pharmacy; Kim Edwards-Johnson, deputy chief nursing officer; and Patrick Degree, executive vice president of facilities and director of bureau of building services. (Some court records use different titles for the same employee.)

All seven resigned in May and received between about $26,000 and $106,000 in improper payouts, the suits allege. According to the nearly identical complaints, the hospital asked each former staffer to return the funds, but all "refused to do so."

Earlier this month, Andrew Garbarino, an attorney representing all seven defendants, filed motions asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuits. The suits were "a transparent attempt to recast lawful, fully-authorized employment decisions as misconduct," the motions read.

Garbarino said in a brief phone interview Monday that his clients "committed no wrongdoing of any kind." Garbarino is not related to U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Bayport Republican.

Nassau University Medical Center, a public safety net hospital, has spent years on unstable financial footing. The hospital has reported regular annual losses in the millions of dollars, and as of last year was carrying $1.4 billion in debt.

The cases stem from a period of upheaval last year following the state’s takeover of the hospital’s board of trustees. Last spring, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation that gave the governor and Democrats, rather than the Nassau County executive, power to appoint the majority of the hospital’s board of trustees and its chair. Hochul said the move was needed to put the hospital on firmer financial ground.

Following the legislation, the governor tapped six people, including former Hofstra University President Stu Rabinowitz, to lead the board.

That shake-up led to an exodus of many of the hospital’s top employees, including CEO Megan Ryan, chief medical officer Grace Ting, chief financial officer Perry Sham, and 11 others, according to court records.

In August, the hospital filed a $10 million lawsuit against Ryan, the former CEO, alleging she had mismanaged the hospital, destroyed documents, and signed off on $1 million in improper payouts to staff.

Ryan denied the allegations and the next month filed her own suit against the hospital, accusing its new leaders of defamation, retaliation and gender discrimination.

Both cases are ongoing.

The seven lawsuits against Ryan’s former deputies, all filed on the same day in November, appear to be the latest in the flurry of litigation between the hospital's new and old leadership in the wake of the state takeover.

Nassau University Medical Center announced this month that it would receive nearly $110 million in state funds, a much-needed injection but still not enough to fully put the hospital back on solid financial ground. The facility is still projecting an operating loss of over $80 million in 2026.