Susan Fox, a hospital administrator who began her health care career as a pediatric intensive care nurse, will succeed Jon B. Schandler as CEO at White Plains Hospital in 2015.
Her selection by the hospital”™s board of directors was announced by J. Michael Divney, board chairman at the 292-bed hospital. Fox, president of White Plains Hospital since January 2013, will hold both top executive posts when Schandler retires as CEO next year after 38 years at the hospital on East Post Road. No date for his retirement has been announced.
Fox, a Larchmont resident, was hired at the hospital in 2010 as senior vice president of administration after 14 years at North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, where she was senior vice president for physician and ambulatory network services. Two years later, she was named president of the White Plains institution as Schandler handed off day-to-day duties to her in his gradual transition to retirement. Fox became the first woman outside of a religious order to serve as president of an acute care hospital in the county.
Divney in a press release said Fox “has been instrumental in advancing our hospital”™s mission of providing high-quality and compassionate health care for the residents of the Westchester community and has demonstrated to the board that she has the skill and vision to lead us into the future.”
Schandler in the announcement called his successor “the right choice to secure White Plains Hospital”™s future in the new world of health care. She has established herself as a progressive leader, who understands the complexities and challenges that exist in the rapidly changing health care environment, and has a strong vision for the success of our hospital.”
Schandler has served as hospital president and CEO since 1981. A certified public accountant, he was hired as the hospital”™s comptroller in 1976.
Fox has made connecting with the physician community a primary focus of her work here as it was on Long Island. Among other initiatives, she led the creation of White Plains Hospital Physician Associates, which now includes more than four dozen physicians in its multispecialty practice.
“I look forward to building on the foundation of exceptional care that already exists here,” she said in the announcement. “Additionally, I am fortunate to be able to continue collaborating with Jon Schandler during this time of transition and growth. His legacy of three decades of solid leadership is a great asset for us as we ensure the hospital”™s continued success in this new health care era.”
