Michael J. Spicer, president and CEO
127 S. Broadway, Yonkers
914-378-7000
What was your path to becoming a CEO?
“I have more than 35 years of hospital and long-term care experience. I am the first male and first lay president of Saint Joseph’s, a Roman Catholic health-care facility founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1888. I began my career with Saint Joseph’s in 1984, serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer and was named president prior to assuming the title of CEO in 2000. I’ve been instrumental in the hospital’s dramatic expansion and development over the past 20 years. Today’s Saint Joseph’s includes a 194-bed acute care hospital; a 138-bed psychiatric hospital; St. Vincent’s Hospital Westchester; two affordable senior-housing facilities; 1,500 supportive housing apartments throughout New York City and Westchester County; and numerous out-patient programs and services for the residents of Westchester and New York City. Recently, I was elected chairman of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) for the 2022 term. HANYS is New York’s statewide hospital and continuing care association, representing nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home-care agencies and other health-care organizations.”
What makes Saint Joseph’s Medical Center distinctive?
“What makes Saint Joseph’s Medical Center unique is its ability to integrate primary and behavioral health and that its vast scope of outpatient care results in over one million visits a year across its broad spectrum of services. Saint Joseph’s Medical Center has been a leader in the area of behavioral health services. Through its 2010 acquisition of St. Vincent’s Hospital Westchester, Saint Joseph’s became one of the largest providers of behavioral health in New York state. With that acquisition, the hospital expanded it inpatient behavioral beds by 139 and added a full spectrum of behavioral health services, including supportive housing. In recognition of its ongoing commitment to mental health services, Saint Joseph’s recently received a $250,000 grant from the Westchester Community Foundation to increase access to its behavioral health crisis services at St. Vincent’s, which has become the home of Westchester County’s Suicide Hotline.”
What are its specialties?
“The hospital’s high-quality, specialized programs include orthopedics, cardiology, family medicine, wound care with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, ambulatory surgery and behavioral health. The hospital has a network of primary care offices in Yonkers, the Bronx and Manhattan. Saint Joseph’s Medical Center has consistently received the prestigious annual American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, which recognizes our commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive timely and evidence-based stroke care.”
Increasingly, hospitals are becoming part of health-care systems. I think you’ve discussed the advantages to this in talking about Saint Joseph’s acquisition of St. Vincent’s. So, tell us how your hospital is addressing disparities in the care of minorities and the underserved?
“As the only remaining Catholic hospital in the five boroughs and Westchester County, Saint Joseph’s has been true to its mission of providing excellence in health care to all those in need, no matter what the need for more than 133 years. Saint Joseph’s prides itself on being part of the community by providing affordable housing for seniors at Griffin House in Yonkers and supportive and affordable housing at the recently completed Landy Court housing complex in downtown Yonkers. To combat the social determinants of health, the hospital also provides a monthly mobile food distribution center with it partners at Feeding Westchester and last year opened a food pantry in its Family Health Center to meet the food insecurity needs of its patients. Saint Joseph’s tagline “Here for You” was no more evident than during the terrible Covid-19 pandemic when its courageous health-care heroes rose to the challenge, saving countless lives.”
What do you see in the future for Saint Joseph’s Medical Center?
“What began over a century ago as a small community hospital on the corner of Vark Street and South Broadway in downtown Yonkers has emerged as a robust and growing health-care system serving patients with programs and services in cities, towns and villages from Port Chester to Yonkers, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. Saint Joseph’s plans to continue to build on its 133-year legacy and looks forward to continuing to meet the medical and behavioral health needs of all those in need and continue to combat the social determinants of health and remain adaptable in the ever-evolving arena of health care.”
For more, visit saintjosephs.org.
SAINT VINCENT’S HOSPITAL
(a division of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center)
275 North St., Harrison
914-967-6500
Michael J. Spicer, president and CEO
(See also Saint Joseph’s Medical Center.)
For more, visit stvincentswestchester.org.
