Man Who Saved Dobbs Ferry Hospital Promoted

The man who saved Dobbs Ferry hospital, Ronald J. Corti, has been named President and CEO of the St. John's Riverside Hospital system. In 2006, a New York State panel recommended the closure of the Dobbs facility. Corti led the charge and engineered the eventual merger with Riverside, where it is now know as the Dobbs Ferry Pavilion.

"At the end of the day, if you have right staff, talented doctors and you get the message out to the people, a place like that saves itself," he said.

Though he lives in Connecticut, Corti has worked in Yonkers and Dobbs Ferry for over 20 years. He played a key role in the merger of Yonkers General Hospital with Riverside, for instance, before he took the helm at Community Hospital in Dobbs Ferry in 2002.

Corti, an accountant by trade, enjoys the hospital environment. Besides striving to provide quality care, which is a given, his twin goals include maintaining fiscal solvency and improving the patient experience.

"Most people don't judge the clinical care they receive, they judge the experience," he said. "They want access to good health care but they also want to be treated with kindness and respect."

Several innovations introduced during his helm at Dobbs include national accreditation for the Breast Cancer Center and the Sleep Center, along with establishing a partnership with two primary care practices that moved into the pavilion.

 "It's a symbiotic relationship where we both need to do well," he said. "It's a good strategy that helped take the hospital from financial ruin to success."

 He also revamped three houses that the hospital owns, where staff members now live, including the director of engineering and the head of surgical nursing, so they can be on-call 24/7. He also plans to spearhead an overhaul of the emergency rooms in Dobbs and in Yonkers, which will be rolled out by the end of this year.

"You hear all the time how people have to wait around the emergency room for six hours," he said. "From the time you come in the door to the time you leave, we want to be the fastest and the best ER in the area."