Catholic Health Services names Edelstein CNO

Catholic Health Services of Long Island has named Gara Edelstein chief nursing officer of the Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based system and COO for its St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, N.Y., effective July 23.

Edelstein has been with the system since 2000 when she joined St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, N.Y., as assistant director of performance improvement before moving to St. Catherine in 2002. Most recently, Edelstein, whose age was not immediately available, served as senior VP and CNO at St. Catherine.

“The broad and varied experience Gara brings to her new role as CNO will be a great benefit to our system,” Catholic Health Services' President and CEO Dr. Alan Guerci said in a news release.

As CNO—a newly created role for the system—Edelstein will coordinate with the chief nursing executives from Catholic Health Services' six hospitals to develop patient care strategies and with Dr. Patrick O'Shaughnessy, chief medical officer, to manage quality and patient safety initiatives across the system. And as St. Catherine's COO, Edelstein will be in charge of nursing, clinical and ancillary support services for the hospital.

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