Derek D. Anderson, FACHE, executive director
(part of Northwell Health)
400 E. Main St., Mount Kisco
914-666-1200
What was your path to becoming a hospital executive director?
“My path started when I spent my college years working at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah in surgical services at its major trauma center. Between my time at Intermountain, studying public health in college and also living in Cambodia (Southeast Asia) for a few years, I learned to appreciate the complexity of health care. I learned the value of building relationships with communities, local economies, the culture of an organization or community and the need to have access to great care. My introduction to New York came with my graduate studies at Columbia University in public health. At the time, however, I did not have a clear idea or path in mind, nor did I think that I would end up running a hospital. I simply enjoyed the challenges to be solved in health care. After more than 10 years working at a major institution in Manhasset, Long Island (North Shore University Hospital, part of Northwell Health), I gradually grew from being an intern, to various operations”™ positions and finally a senior leadership role, all the while working with colleagues across Northwell on system-based projects and initiatives. I am grateful to have transitioned to Northern Westchester Hospital in the fall 2019 ”“ just enough time to get settled before rolling up our sleeves for early 2020 when the pandemic began and our communities needed us the most.”
What makes Northern Westchester Hospital distinctive?
“What makes Northern Westchester Hospital unique is our emphasis on culture and people. As a ”˜Planetree Gold Certified Hospital With Distinction,”™ with some of the highest customer and patient satisfaction in our area, our processes and culture promote person-centered health care. Our extraordinary people make this happen and provide evidence-based, compassionate care every day. There is an incredible amount of investment in the organization on the well-being and satisfaction of our team. We still have strides to make and the pandemic introduced new challenges on this front, but it”™s a priority for us to listen to the voice of our team and help it grow professionally. This culture of truly prioritizing the patient, their families and our team is what sets Northern Westchester Hospital apart.”
What are its specialties?
“We specialize in several surgical services, including, but not limited to thoracic surgery, orthopedics and spine, neurosurgery, Robotics Center of Excellence, bariatric and vascular. Additionally, we offer 24/7 comprehensive cardiac care, including cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology services, which can serve emergency cardiac care. Our obstetrics and gynecology program is one of the largest in the region with a level III neonatal ICU program, an OB attending physician and neonatologist physician in the hospital 24/7/365. The cancer program at Northern Westchester Hospital offers the full continuum of cancer care in partnership with the Northwell Cancer Institute and our sister-hospital, Phelps in Tarrytown. Working together as a health system, patients have access to nearly every type of subspecialty cancer care, clinical trials and innovations in radiation medicine, including the only Gamma Knife in this region here at Northern Westchester Hospital.”
Increasingly, hospitals are becoming part of health-care systems. What are the advantages of such networks?
“Our hospital is part of the Northwell Health family of health care, which spans from upper Westchester to Staten Island to Riverhead, Long Island, and everywhere in between. The strength and value of a truly integrated health system, like Northwell, has been most clearly defined and proven during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time when independent hospitals struggle on their own to procure PPE, create bed capacity, research and outline clinical protocols and treatment options while managing workforce issues, we did all of this (and much more) with significant benefit to thousands of patients in our region and beyond. There is nothing more reassuring to me as a leader that at any time, day or night, I can call an expert or team at Northwell and work through a problem in a matter of minutes. This builds trust and gives our communities the reassurance that we arrived at the safest, best solution, because that expert or team is working across 23 hospitals, 800-plus ambulatory locations and 77,000 team members. Ultimately, an effective health system fosters collaboration and helps everyone arrive at a better, stronger solution.
What do you see in the future for Northern Westchester Hospital?
“Our drive is to provide the highest-quality health care possible close to home, while fulfilling the needs of our community. We are learning and working to improve access to our most vulnerable patients by transitioning health care to the home and, with the help of our community partners, we are unrelenting in our focus on health equity. Health care needs to be more focused outside of the hospital and on preventative care.
Simultaneously, we continue to find ways to bring more innovation, the latest technology, modernized facilities, better access to clinical trials and the best physician and health-care talent to our region. All of this results in improved quality services, close to where people live. Northern Westchester will continue to grow and serve as a regional destination for advanced health care. Additionally, we take our responsibility as a major economic driver in our communities very seriously and are continuing to find more ways to give back to the communities we serve.”
For more, visit northwell.edu.
