Surgeon Dr. Cosgrove opens office in Oyster Bay

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Dr. John Cosgrove had his first introduction to the medical field when he was in the fourth grade. That’s when a family friend, who was a physician, brought young Cosgrove with him to his office and then to the hospital. “That’s when I took a liking to medicine,” said Cosgrove, 62, of Manhasset.

In August, Cosgrove will be joining Dr. William Bennett and Dr. Barbara Keber at Northwell Health Physician Partner Family Medicine in Oyster Bay. Initially, Cosgrove will see patients twice a month until he establishes his practice. He said he will also continue to see patients at his other office, at 10 Medical Plaza in Glen Cove.

A surgeon, Cosgrove has been practicing general and acute care surgery for 28 years. He specializes in abdominal wall hernias, including more complex hernias, appendectomies and small and large bowel procedures, among other surgeries.

His reason for coming to the Oyster Bay office is simple. “There isn’t a surgeon in Oyster Bay, at least that I’ve heard of,” he said. “Being there will help patients who live in the area to see a surgeon closer to where they live.”

Cosgrove understands how important that can be. He worked for four and a half years at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Stony Brook before accepting a position at Glen Cove Hospital in 2018. He lived part time in Shelter Island, which is near the hospital. Married with three grown children, he’d commute home to Manhasset an hour and 45 minutes when he wasn’t on call. He said that this was hard on his family.

He’d been in the Northwell system as the chief of surgery in its hospital in Forest Hills (1998-2001) and an attending trauma and general surgeon at Manhasset’s North Shore University Hospital (1998-2007). When Susan Kwiatek, the executive director of Glen Cove Hospital called him, he was ready to come back to Northwell and his home.

“Dr. Cosgrove is an excellent and extremely skilled surgeon,” Kwiatek said. “I wanted him to come to our hospital as the chair of surgery so he can help us grow our surgical program. And it has grown since he’s been here.”

Cosgrove said he wanted to be more involved with patients, adding that the position at Glen Cove Hospital was attractive because it is a community hospital.

Kwiatek said she wanted Cosgrove to have office hours in Oyster Bay to expand his reach. “Our vision at Glen Cove Hospital is to service the local community based on the needs of the community,” Kwiatek said. “Dr. Cosgrove can perform general surgery like gall bladder and appendectomy surgeries.”

And Glen Cove Hospital’s model is not academic, which appealed to Cosgrove because, he said, he wouldn’t have to put in as many hours teaching as he had at Eastern Long Island Hospital.

“I had leadership positions at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Downstate Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital,” Cosgrove said. “After 25 years I don’t want to teach as much. I wanted to get back into operating.”

He said has a lot of respect for Northwell. “I was able to perform surgery in New York City and helped many people who were indigent which I believe is important,” Cosgrove said. “In Glen Cove there are indigent people and Northwell never puts pressure on me to see more of the insured than the uninsured. I think they just want you to be a good surgeon and do the right thing at the right time.”

Kwiatek said that Cosgrove is popular at the hospital. He’s personable, works well with the staff in general and those in the operating room, she said. “He’s very collaborative, very caring, patient and kind,” Kwiatek said. “We often get letters from patients expressing what a wonderful experience they had with Dr. Cosgrove.”

Doctor Cosgrove will open his office at Northwell Health Physician Partner Family Medicine, 70 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, N.Y. in early August. Contact him at (516) 922-1151.