Nassau University Medical Center’s new leadership has made explosive claims that its recently ousted CEO stole at least $1 million from the hospital through improper exit payouts, leaked documents show.
The letter, signed by interim CEO Dr. Richard Becker and sent to former CEO Meg Ryan on Wednesday, accused her of stealing the lump sum of money for herself and 12 other employees who resigned along with her at the end of May.
“It has come to our attention that you authorized payments of approximately $3.5 million to yourself and 12 former employees,” Becker asserted in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. “It appears that at least $1 million of this amount was in excess of amounts that were due to you and the other employees for wages and leave payouts.”
Becker ends the letter by firing Ryan, removing her from administrative leave and giving her until Friday to respond to the allegations and possibly retain her job. The letter was leaked Thursday night by state officials as Ryan was preparing to present her case.
A rep for Ryan told The Post that the allegations and the subsequent leak are part of a “political hit-job” to try and derail her credibility and career by turning her resignation into a for-cause termination tied to claims of fraud.
The representative said Ryan unequivocally denies the accusations made in the letter — and is now firing back with a lawsuit against Becker and NuHealth, the public benefit company that runs the hospital, claiming that the corporation is “trying to wriggle out of its obligations” in Ryan’s contract by “ginning up ‘cause’ where none exists.
“This is an attempt to distract from the State’s own corruption in the handling of NUMC’s finances,” the rep for Ryan said. “This leak came straight from the second floor of the governor’s office. The people who perpetuated the fraud fired the people who uncovered the fraud — and now control the hospital.”
The former CEO has been battling with state officials for years and opposing the recent state takeover of the hospital. She is now part of a federal investigation into her bombshell claims of a $1 billion scheme by state and local officials to defund the public hospital.
The state denies it has any intention to shut down the medical center, which serves nearly 300,000 patients a year. But documents obtained by The Post revealed a letter that NUMC received from the state’s Department of Health, signed by Gov. Hochul, in March 2024 that said the hospital’s current model was financially unsustainable and specifically recommended it cut staff and be converted into a 120-bed behavioral health facility.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced he and the GOP majority in the county legislature would not be making their four combined picks to the newly formatted hospital board out of protest — and instead would be naming Hochul in another lawsuit to overturn the “illegal takeover.”
Since the takeover earlier this month, roughly 75 employees have resigned, including the hospital’s chief medical, nursing, human resources and information officers, as well as senior leaders in pharmacy, facilities, finance, and special projects.
Sources with the hospital also revealed to The Post that the new board may have violated state open meetings laws on top of others.
They claimed that the day Ryan was ousted as CEO in the first board meeting since restructuring, a finalized meeting agenda was not shared until an hour before the session.
They also accused hospital and board officials of breaking state procurement rules by signing an undisclosed contract with Deloitte to handle the hospital’s finances and operations.
NuHealth did not respond to a Post request for comment.
“The state’s focus at NUMC remains on patient care and the hospital’s fiscal stability. That’s all that matters — everything else is just noise,” said Gordon Tepper, the governor’s Long Island rep, last month.
