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General University News
“Dr. Strongwater has the depth of experience in academic medicine and the strong administrative skills we sought,” Kenny said. “People rely on us to provide the highest quality of care, and he is just the right person to make sure that Stony Brook is second to none in that area.” As Hospital Director and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at UConn, Dr. Strongwater, 52, was responsible for managing all clinical operations at UConn Health Center. Among several accomplishments, he conceptualized and developed a patient safety center, the Collaborative Center for Clinical Care Improvement, ran the faculty practice plan and served on numerous local and national boards. With 224 beds, John Dempsey Hospital is considered the region’s leader in neonatal intensive care and is widely-recognized for its comprehensive cardiovascular, cancer and musculoskeletal services. Located 10 miles outside Hartford, it is part of the UConn’s Health Center, which the last two years has been recognized as a “Top 100 Hospitals® Performance Improvement Leader.” The award given by Solucient, a healthcare information and data analysis software company, is based on statistical analysis and a comparison of rates of improvement over five years, covering more than 6,000 acute and specialty hospitals in the U.S. “Stony Brook is a remarkable hospital with an outstanding workforce and medical staff and is supported by a thriving scientific research enterprise and a world-class university,” Dr. Strongwater said. “That makes Stony Brook a powerhouse in the region, and our objective is to be the best possible hospital we can be. We will serve our patients with humanity, skill and human touch, creating an environment that is safe and supportive of patient needs and also builds upon the knowledge discovered by Stony Brook scientists and clinicians.” Dr. Strongwater will assume his new post on January 1. He will be consulting with President Kenny and Dr. Fine on a regular basis in the interim. His appointment comes a week after Stony Brook received full accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and nearly two months after the National Research Corporation (NRC) announced that the Medical Center was named a 2006/07 “Consumer Choice Award” recipient for the Long Island metropolitan area. Before joining UConn, Dr. Strongwater was Medical Director at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. He also was a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology. He graduated from the University of Rochester magna cum laude with a degree in biology in 1974 and earned his M.D. with honors at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in 1978 and was selected to join the national medical society Alpha Omega Alpha. At Stony Brook – Suffolk County’s only tertiary hospital, providing the most advanced and specialized patient care – Dr. Strongwater will head a facility that treats more than 400,000 patients annually and has 450 full-time medical staff faculty, 4,800 full time employees, 504 adult beds, and an annual operating budget of $827 million. The medical center is in the midst of a $300 million Major Modernization Project, the first major renovation to the hospital since it opened in 1980. As part of the renovation, the hospital will open a new Cancer Center in January. In announcing the appointment, President Kenny and Dr. Fine thanked Interim CEO Fred Sganga for his efforts in guiding the hospital during the formal search process; Sganga will now return to his position as Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home. Dr. Strongwater and his wife, Elaine, will relocate to Long Island with their family. Stony Brook is a 504-bed tertiary hospital and part of Long Island’s only academic medical center and the only tertiary care hospital in Suffolk County. With 504 beds and 4,800 employees, it is Suffolk County’s largest hospital. The Heart Center performs the only open-heart surgery in Suffolk and the Stony Brook University Cancer Center attracts patients from throughout the region with cutting edge diagnostic and treatment facilities. Stony Brook has Long Island’s only kidney transplantation program and initiated the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center. The hospital is also the regional referral center for trauma, perinatal and neonatal intensive care, burns, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation, cystic fibrosis, pediatric/adult AIDS, and is home to the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. © Copyright 2005 by Stony Brook University |
