Richard Kessel appointed chair of NUMC's board; resigns from NIFA

Gov. Kathy Hochul has appointed Richard Kessel, a perennial leader of state boards on Long Island, to head the governing board of Nassau University Medical Center, officials confirmed Monday. 

As chairman, Kessel, 76, of Merrick, will lead a board redesigned by state lawmakers last year to include 11 members — six of whom are appointed by the governor — at a time when major state funds are being used to keep open and transform the county's only hospital for the poor and uninsured. 

In a statement, Hochul said Kessel "brings decades of leadership experience in government, public policy and complex organizations." 

"His proven record of public service, commitment to Long Island and ability to navigate challenging issues make him exceptionally well-suited to lead the Board," she added. 

The board of directors governs the 530-bed East Meadow hospital, community health centers, inmate care at the county jail and the A. Holly Patterson nursing home.

Kessel will fill the post vacated by Stuart Rabinowitz, former longtime president of Hofstra University in Hempstead, who served as the hospital board's chairman for about 10 months, ending in March. Kessel's appointment is effective immediately and his term ends in 2029.

Kessel resigned as chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, he told Newsday Monday, a position he has held since Hochul appointed him in October 2023. Mohsin Y. Meghji, one of NIFA's five directors and an appointee of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will be the authority's new chairman.

As chairman of NIFA, the county's state-appointed fiscal control board, Kessel was involved in overseeing the efforts by the Hochul administration to install new governance and leadership at NUMC, including its current CEO Thomas Stokes, who started in January.

In a telephone interview with Newsday, Kessel said he believed the new leadership at the hospital was "making real progress." 

"I want to be able to continue that progress and help move that institution forward to be one of the top hospitals on Long Island," Kessel said. 

Kessel has been a fixture in state and local politics, having held positions on key governance bodies including as chairman of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency and chairman of the Long Island Power Authority, where he was responsible for decommissioning the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, which fully closed in 1994. 

Kessel began his career in public service as executive director of the State Consumer Protection Board from 1984 to 1995.

He is best known for having served nearly three years as president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility.

 Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican challenging Hochul in the governor's race, called Kessel "a career political hack." 

Blakeman said Rabinowitz "had the integrity to resign rather than watch the systematic destruction of the region's safety net hospital."

Blakeman in 2022 appointed GOP donor and Centre Island hedge fund executive Matthew Bruderman to chair the hospital's board, a period marked with political clashes with the Hochul administration. Blakeman relieved Bruderman of his position in April 2025, before his term was up, and a month later Hochul through the state budget, restructured the board of directors transferring power from county to state lawmakers.

Kessel, in response to Blakeman's comments, said: "If I'm a political hack, then what is he? ... We should be working together, not tearing each other apart."  

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.