SHARE

Dutchess's Health Quest Names New CEO

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- A veteran healthcare manager is continuing his climb up the ladder at one of the leading nonprofits in the region.

Robert Friedberg, a veteran of the healthcare industry, has been named as Health Quest's new CEO.

Robert Friedberg, a veteran of the healthcare industry, has been named as Health Quest's new CEO.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Robert Friedberg, who joined Health Quest Systems, Inc., in 2014, first served as president of Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie and as Health Quest’s vice president before becoming its president.

Friedberg, now its chief executive officer (CEO), the highest ranking position in a company, will succeed Luke McGuinness.

McGuinness retired at the end of 2016.

Friedberg, who has more than 30 years’ worth of experience in the industry, was with Cadence Health in Winfield, Ill., as its executive vice president of operations. He has also served as president of Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Ill.

Delnor, a 159-bed hospital, has, Health Quest said, earned national recognition in patient, employee and physician satisfaction.

It is designated a Magnet® hospital, the American Nursing Association’s highest honor for nursing excellence, and is also the first hospital in Illinois designated by the Planetree organization for patient-centered care.

Prior to serving at Delnor Hospital, Friedberg was the senior administrator at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.

He also was vice president and chief operating officer (COO) for MacNeal Health Network in Berwyn, Ill.

Health Quest this week credited Friedberg with its “rapid growth and expansion.”

He was instrumental in the planning, it said, of a $510 million, 696,000-square-foot, seven-level inpatient pavilion at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

Construction of the building started last year and is expected to be complete in 2019, Health Quest said.

As president and now CEO, Friedberg is in charge of the system’s network of facilities in Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam, Orange, Columbia and Westchester counties.

These include Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel and Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

He also oversees Health Quest primary and specialty care locations, two urgent care locations and affiliates including the Thompson House, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility on the Northern Dutchess Hospital campus.

He is also responsible for Health Quest Home Care and The Heart Center, a provider of cardiology services.

Health Quest said it is planning to add Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Conn., to its “family” this year.

Friedberg received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester in New York and his master’s degree in health administration from Cornell University in Ithaca.

For more information, visit www.healthquest.org.

to follow Daily Voice Northwest Dutchess and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE