Winter has been a big season for Westchester Medical Center – the flagship hospital in the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), a 1,700-bed health-care system headquartered in Valhalla, with nine hospitals on seven campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the medical center received a $5 million donation from John and Brenda Fareri, whose daughter Maria was the inspiration for the center’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. The center’s five-story, 162,000-square-foot Brenda Fareri Pavilion, which is projected to open in 2026 at a cost of $220 million, will feature 128 private patient rooms, all Intensive Care Unit capable to support the technology and level of care necessary for the most critically ill and injured individuals.
Maria Fareri is the only hospital in the United States named for a child. Maria was 13, an eighth grader at Central Middle School in Greenwich, when she succumbed to rabies after being bitten by a bat one night as she slept. The unnoticed incident left only a pinprick mark and early symptoms that mimicked other viruses. If caught early, rabies is curable by vaccine. By the time the classic symptoms appeared in Maria, however, including a refusal to drink water, it was too late. Maria died on Oct. 3, 1995 at Westchester Medical Center.
Learning that their daughter had wished for the health and well-being of the world’s children as part of a school project, John and Brenda – a developer (Fareri Associates LP) and a nurse respectively – dedicated themselves to helping create a children’s hospital that would combine state-of-the-art care with a nurturing environment for young ones. The $150 million Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital opened in 2004. (Ten years later, its and Maria’s stories would become the subject of the film “Louder Than Words,” starring David Duchovny and Hope Davis.)
With the new building project has come new leadership. In August, Erika Berman Rosenzweig, M.D., succeeded Michael Gewitz, M.D. as director of the medical center’s Department of Pediatrics and the William Russell McCurdy physician-in-chief of the children’s hospital. She also succeeded Leonard Newman, M.D., as a professor and chair of pediatrics at the affiliated New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine. (See related story here)
In January, WMCHealth has named Leo Bodden, MBA, CHCIO, CDH-E, CCIE as senior vice president, chief information officer (CIO), to integrate and standardize all the technologies the network uses.
Then two weeks ago, the network appointed David Lubarsky, M.D., MBA, FASA, president and CEO of WMCHealth. Lubarsky, who previously served as CEO of University of California Davis Health, is no stranger to the area or the medical center.
A graduate of Edgemont High School in Greenburgh; Washington University in St. Louis (Bachelor of Arts in history and medical degree, first graduate of its Scholars Program in Medicine); and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, (finishing as valedictorian with his MBA), Lubarsky began his medical career as an internal medicine intern at Westchester Medical Center.
“While I wasn’t actively seeking a new role, I was open to considering an opportunity where I could make a real impact on patients’ lives – especially in a place that holds personal significance,” he said. “I have always admired WMCHealth’s mission – delivering top-tier, specialized medical care while staying deeply connected to its communities. Returning to WMCHealth is incredibly meaningful to me. This is where I began my career, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to give back to a community that was so formative.”
Overseeing more than 12,000 employees, nearly 3,000 attending physicians and 1,700 inpatient beds across its hospitals, Lubarsky is tasked with strengthening the health network, expanding access to care, integrating facilities, advancing AI-driven health care, optimizing system operations and shepherding capital initiatives like the critical care tower.
He succeeds Michael D. Israel, who led WMCHealth for nearly two decades and last year announced his retirement.
“Throughout his career, Dr. Lubarsky has demonstrated visionary leadership in managing complex health-care organizations,” said Zubeen Shroff, chairman of the Westchester County Health Care Corp. (WCHCC) Board of Directors. “His track record of driving financial and operational excellence, while prioritizing patient experience and expanding community access to care, makes him exceptionally qualified for this role. With his dedication to innovation and patient care, Dr. Lubarsky will position WMCHealth to continue growing and evolving to serve our diverse communities.”
