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The ousted head of Nassau University Medical Center is suing her former employer, charging breach of contract, gender discrimination and defamation — and alleging she was retaliated against by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s allies for seeking to recoup $1 billion in funding from a state Medicaid “scheme.”
Ex-NUMC CEO Meg Ryan sued the Nassau Health Care Corporation (NHCC), her former hospital’s parent organization, and its interim CEO Richard Becker as well as the board of directors chosen by Hochul in June.
“Despite her years of service to NHCC and Nassau County residents, NHCC abruptly terminated her employment following a political takeover of the Corporation’s Board of Directors by the State of New York, and mischaracterized the termination as for ‘Cause’ to gain political points and deny Ms. Ryan contractual severance payments she is owed,” stated the complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court on Friday.
Becker, NHCC board chairman Stuart Rabinowitz and Nassau County Interim Finance Authority Chairman Richard Kessel allegedly engaged in “a shameless, relentless media campaign to defame Ms. Ryan’s character to further their own political ends and distract from government malfeasance that Ms. Ryan helped uncover,” the suit further alleges.
As president of NUMC, Ryan had brought a December 2024 lawsuit against New York State to reclaim $1.06 billion the hospital had been denied for decades in federal Medicaid funding.
If successful, the suit would have forced the state to return the federal funding back to the hospital, the only public one in Nassau County. At least 80% of its 275,000 patients are either uninsured or low income, uninsured, and rely on programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Hochul’s alleged “takeover,” which led to the firing of attorneys representing the hospital against the state and the withdrawal of the Medicaid fraud suit, was apparently part of an effort to plug a $1 billion hole in New York’s budget, the suit noted.
A June budget deal struck with Albany legislators included an agremeent that imposed a state-run board at NUMC, removing local officials from the hospital’s leadership.
The Hochul appointees allegedly leaked to media that Ryan and other outgoing NUMC executives racked up a $1,500 tab at the Lobster Club in Midtown the night before the state takeover — claims which her lawyers called categorically false in their complaint.
The new NHCC board sued Ryan in August seeking $10 million in damages and accusing her of stealing at least $1 million from the medical center through improper exit payouts
Ryan’s complaint has countered that the NHCC board awarded more than $10 million in no-bid contracts in violation of “state procurement, transparency and public officers’ laws.”
Hochul’s reps have denied wrongdoing in the past and affirmed that the “newly restructured board has been empowered to take the steps necessary to protect these priorities and to safeguard the future of this essential community hospital.”
Becker, the interim CEO, was also awarded a base salary 28% higher than Ryan’s, “a massive pay discrepancy that can only be explained by the fact that Becker is a man and Ms. Ryan is a woman,” the complaint also alleges.
“Since June, members of NHCC leadership have leveled countless false accusations against Ms. Ryan to score cheap political points ahead of the November election,” Ryan attorney Alex Hartzband said in a statement.
“Ms. Ryan brings this suit to set the record straight and recover what she is owed.”
Reps for Hochul’s office and NHCC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
