Fired NUMC CEO Megan Ryan disputes doling out total of $3.5M in excessive payments to herself and others in letter to hospital

The former chief executive of Nassau University Medical Center is pushing back against allegations she doled out excessive payments last month totaling $3.5 million to herself and a dozen other employees before resigning. 

Megan Ryan, who led the county's cash-strapped public hospital in East Meadow, was owed more than 1,000 hours of accrued work time plus salary payments for June 1 through June 14, according to a letter obtained by Newsday on Wednesday.

The letter last Friday from Ryan's attorney, Alex Hartzband, to interim NUMC CEO Dr. Richard Becker calls the allegations "patently false" and says Ryan is entitled to "full payment for accrued but unused vacation, personal and sick time." 

"NHCC merely paid Ms. Ryan the monies she is owed under her contract," Hartzband wrote, referring to Nassau Health Care Corp., the public benefit corporation that runs the hospital. He continued to say Ryan would pursue all payments including "contractual severance through April 15, 2027." 

Ryan last week was accused of authorizing the payments around May 30 — one day before Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced Stuart Rabinowitz as the new chairman to lead a revamped board, shifting the majority of its appointed members from county to state lawmakers.

The payments were authorized the same month  Ryan and others announced they would resign from the hospital. 

The new board voted June 10 to put Ryan on leave, appointing Becker as interim CEO of the hospital. On June 18, he sent Ryan a letter about the payments saying she was being “terminated for cause." There was "at least $1 million" in excessive payments, Becker wrote.

Becker had said that if Ryan can prove the payments served “a valid business purpose,” the hospital's leadership “would be willing to reconsider” her termination. Ryan had until the close of business last Friday to communicate her defense. 

Ryan, through a spokesman, declined comment. 

Hartzband previously told Newsday the termination was a "politically motivated hit." In the letter, he said the hospital was trying to "wriggle out of its obligations" under Ryan's employment agreement by "ginning up 'cause' where none exists."

NUMC's leadership on Wednesday, however, appeared to have doubled down on their allegations against Ryan. 

"After carefully reviewing the assertions made by Ms. Ryan’s counsel, we stand strongly behind the actions we took and the conclusions we made in our previous letter to her. Any further action we take regarding Ms. Ryan’s conduct will be addressed by our legal counsel," Rabinowitz said in an emailed statement.

Officials with the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the state-appointed panel that oversees Nassau County's finances including those at the county hospital, are continuing to review the payments and her employment contract, Chairman Richard Kessel said. 

"Obviously this is a complex legal issue. I don't agree with her attorney's conclusion," Kessel said. "NIFA never approved an employment contract for her and therefore the contract was invalid. Even if the contracts were valid, the payments were far in excess what the employees were entitled to under hospital policy." 

Hochul spokesman Gordon Tepper also declined comment.

CORRECTION: Former NUMC CEO Megan Ryan was accused of authorizing excessive payments of $3.5 million on May 30, days after she announced her resignation on May 21. A previous version of this story misstated the sequence of events.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.