Mary P. Leahy, MD, is one of only 18% of female hospital CEOs in the US, and a pivotal leader in setting the Bon Secours Charity Health System’s strategic vision and operational performance standards. Three acute-care hospitals (Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Anthony Community Hospital, and Bon Secours Community Hospital); a regional home health care agency; two long-term care facilities; an assisted living facility; and an adult home fall under her purview. To expand advanced clinical services to local residents, she facilitated Bon Secours’ entry into the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, and secured a $24.5 million grant for an extensive Medical Village in Port Jervis.
Dr. Leahy is a Long Island native, but has been a resident of Rockland County for more than 30 years. Her first professional job, as a nurse’s aide at a hospital, instilled appreciation for the hard work that nurses do. Today, as a board-certified internist who has practiced medicine for more than 25 years, Dr. Leahy still sees a few patients. “It keeps me focused, and reminds me why what I’m doing now is so important.”
She laughingly admits, “Being an administrator was never on my bucket list, but you do your job and doors open. You have to make the decision to walk through or not.”
What was your first job?
“I was a babysitter at the age of 9, but I held a lot of other early jobs, including driving a school bus one summer.”
