By:Angela Marshall
Baldwinite the latest to lead struggling medical center in past year
Dr. Marilyn A. Robertson of Baldwin is no stranger to challenges. Finding time to raise her four boys, run a private practice and help direct the Women's Health Center at Franklin Hospital Medical Center are just part of her weekly demands. Now she adds the duties of chairman of the board for Nassau University Medical Center, maybe her toughest challenge yet.
She is the third chairman in less than a year. Her predecessors left many unanswered questions in their wake. Bobby Kumar resigned in May, citing personal reasons, and then allegedly faked his own kidnapping last month. Sexual harassment charges preceded Eric Rosenblun's removal from the position last August.
But removing herself from the stigma surrounding the position is the least of Robertson's problems. The medical center has been in dire financial straits since it spun off from the county as a public benefit corporation in 1999. The medical center ended 2000 with a deficit of more than $26 million, and a $36-million shortfall looms this year.
As one of the county's only Level I trauma centers, NUMC receives many of the area's most-severe cases. It is the only Long Island hospital authorized to treat the President of the United States.
In an effort to climb out of the financial slump, the NUMC board at the end of last year brought in a business-oriented president, Richard Turan.
"I think we see things exactly the same," Turan said when asked about working with Robertson. He described her as "very bright and no nonsense."
Turan also praised the knowledge Robertson brings with her from having worked at many of the area's hospitals. In addition to Franklin, Robertson has worked with Mercy Medical Center. She did her residency at NUMC.
"We're making progress and I think we're going to continue to make progress," Turan said of the hospital's future. "It's an ongoing effort. We're basically trying to reinvent the entire medical center."
A board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist specializing in high-risk pregnancies, Robertson has had a private practice in Hempstead since 1983. She was appointed to NUMC's board almost four years ago and does not receive compensation for the position.
She believes her experiences thus far have set the stage for her to lead. "I've seen how it works, what our agendas are, and I've seen the things that haven't been accomplished," she said.
Robertson was to meet with Turan this week to coordinate efforts. "I think that he's guiding the hospital in the right direction," she said.
And how does she plan to tackle her newest challenge? The same way she does everything else.
"You've got to be organized, you've got to stay on top of things and have good people working with you," she said.
The chairman also stressed the need to always know what's going on and to hold people accountable for their actions.
Robertson, 41, is married to Curtis Fisher, deputy county executive and former Town of Hempstead councilman. It was Fisher's boss, county Executive Thomas Gulotta, who appointed Robertson to her new role.
She met Fisher a little over 20 years ago while attending Nassau Community College. She continued her studies and earned degrees at both Hofstra University and the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
Robertson was one of seven women honored by Gov. George Pataki during a Women's History Month celebration in March. At the time, she credited her parents, Nina and David, for encouraging her to achieve. In 1960, they emigrated from Curacao with their four children, to realize the American dream.
