Nassau Democrats seek probes into NUMC's spending and severance payouts

Nassau's Democratic county legislators are asking local, state and federal prosecutors to look into executive spending and the former leadership at the financially struggling Nassau University Medical Center following revelations that top hospital officials were reimbursed for thousands of dollars in dining, hotel and travel.  

The move comes a day after Newsday reported some former top executives at the safety net hospital — facing $1.4 billion in debt — ran up a $1,437.75 bill at a Manhattan restaurant, ordering a $175 lobster and $68 Wagyu skirt steak the night before $3.5 million in alleged improper severance was paid to the CEO and 12 other outgoing executives and two days before Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed a new board chairman who installed a new management team there.

"NUMC exists to save lives. It's not a luxury-funding entity for politically connected insiders," Minority Leader Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said Tuesday in Mineola. "We are taking this to the next step to ensure accountability." 

Tom Basile, a spokesman for former NUMC CEO Megan Ryan, accused Democrats of a "political hit job." 

“Democrats in the legislature didn’t care when members of their own party starved the hospital of resources for years but now are piling on nonsense claims as part of a clear political hit job orchestrated by pawns of Kathy Hochul,” he said.

In three separate letters sent Tuesday to the offices of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, state Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella of the Eastern District, the legislature's Minority caucus requested a probe of:

• "Lavish and questionable" spending by former NUMC executives.
• Allegations that Ryan authorized $3.5 million in "improper exit payments," including at least $1 million in excess of policy.
• The events leading up to former NUMC Board Chairman Matthew Bruderman reporting the theft of hospital documents from his Centre Island home. 

Two offices confirmed receipt of the letters. A spokesman for Nocella and a spokeswoman for James declined to comment further.

A spokeswoman for the Nassau DA's office also confirmed receipt of the letter and said in a statement that the office "previously initiated an investigation into NUMC management. That investigation remains active and ongoing." She declined to comment further.

Under Ryan and Bruderman, the hospital had been at odds with state officials who had called for more financial transparency and a national search for a new CEO. In late 2024, the former NUMC leadership filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the state for federal Medicaid payments they claim were withheld for a decade.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman declined to comment on the executive spending or other management decisions at the hospital. Blakeman, who appointed Bruderman as chairman in March 2022 and ousted him in April 2025, had backed the hospital's former leadership and protested Hochul's shifting control of the board from county to state lawmakers. 

Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle on Tuesday did not directly address county Democrats' referral for further investigation, saying in an email statement that Blakeman is "waiting for an explanation" from the state on the $1 billion in federal aid "that was alleged to have been taken by the state illegally.”

The hospital, according to a draft financial statement in May, posted an operating loss of $144 million in 2024. 

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.