Leadership Bios

President and Chief Executive Officer, Montefiore Medicine

Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD

Dr. Ozuah is the President and CEO of Montefiore Medicine, the umbrella organization for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Montefiore Health System’s 13 member hospitals, 300 ambulatory sites, and 7.5 million patient encounters per year. A nationally recognized physician, leader, executive, researcher, teacher and author, Dr. Ozuah leads an organization with 10,000 physicians and 53,000 employees serving a diverse group of patients.  A National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded researcher and award-winning educator, he also served as Professor and University Chairman of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM).

In his role, Dr. Ozuah has expanded access to care for underserved communities, recruited and cultivated outstanding talent, advanced programs of excellence, fostered innovations in medicine and science, and improved financial and operational performance by integrating care across a rapidly growing and evolving Montefiore system that sees over 7.5 million patient interactions a year with $8 billion in annual revenues. Under his leadership, Montefiore Health System’s specialties have ranked in the top 1 percent of the nation’s hospitals, and CHAM was recognized as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” according to U.S. News & World Report.

Dr. Ozuah also leads the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, one of the nation’s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. Einstein receives more than $200 million in annual research awards from the NIH and is home to 800 M.D. students, 190 Ph.D. students, 120 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 250 postdoctoral research fellows.

In addition to his research and clinical accomplishments, Dr. Ozuah has been recognized repeatedly by Modern Healthcare as one of the “Top Physician Executives” in the country.  He has also been recognized nationally for excellence in patient care and medical education, including as an inductee into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and a two-time recipient of the Academic Pediatric Association’s prestigious Helfer Award for Innovation in Medical Education.

Executive Leadership

Colleen M. Blye

Executive Vice President
Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Blye is responsible for the financial strategy, financial reporting, investments and performance, revenue cycle and supply chain across Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Ms. Blye has a distinguished background in large, complex healthcare organizations. Prior to joining Montefiore, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Catholic Health Services of Long Island, an integrated healthcare delivery system comprising six hospitals and three nursing homes. Earlier, she served as Executive Vice President for Finance and Integrated Services at Catholic Health Initiatives, a health system with 78 hospitals in 20 states. Her previous experience includes responsibility for treasury management, revenue cycle, financial reporting and planning, third-party contracting, supply chain, accounts payable, payroll, and information technology. Ms. Blye is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Susan Green-Lorenzen, RN

System Senior Vice President - Operations
Susan Green-Lorenzen has been associated with Montefiore for nearly three decades. She began her career as a staff nurse and served in a variety of progressive positions before being appointed Senior Vice President, Operations in 2009.

Green-Lorenzen is responsible for overseeing operations at the Moses, Einstein and Wakefield Campuses, as well as at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore and all hospital-based ambulatory care programs.

Throughout her career, Green-Lorenzen has created new and innovative programs and developed high performing healthcare teams. With a particular interest in performance improvement, she has focused on improving the patient experience. She has led projects focused on quality of care and improving patient access to services, as well as the flow of patients throughout the hospital.   

Christopher S. Panczner

System Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer
Chris Panczner is the System Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer of Montefiore. As a member of the senior management team since 2008, he oversees the operation of the Office of Legal Affairs, Compliance Department, Audit Services Department and the legal aspects of the Risk Management Department.

Panczner's broad legal experience in healthcare law, large commercial and not-for-profit healthcare transactions, as well as managed care structures and transactions will serve Montefiore well in the coming decade of healthcare reform. Prior to his appointment at Montefiore, Panczner was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers in New York City and a senior partner at Epstein Becker & Green.

Panczner has been an Adjunct Professor in the Health Law Program at the Pace University School of Law.

Andrew Racine, MD, PhD

System Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
Andrew D. Racine, MD, PhD is System Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Montefiore Medical Center and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is responsible for Quality and Safety, Medical Affairs, Graduate Medical Education and the 22-site Montefiore Medical Group.

Dr. Racine joined Montefiore in 1992 as Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics where he was responsible for two large academic practices that include attending pediatricians as well as pediatric residents. Before that, he served as Associate Director of Pediatrics at Jacobi Medical Center and as a faculty member in the Division of General Pediatrics at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

On a national level, Dr. Racine has been active in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), serving as Chairman of the Advocacy Committee and Vice-President and President of Chapter 3, District II. He also serves on the National Committee on Child Health Financing of the AAP and has achieved national recognition for his work on the use of hospital data to measure the effect of policy changes on health outcomes.  Dr. Racine has received numerous awards, including the Lewis M. Fraad Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Emily Fenichel Award for Leadership in the New York Zero to Three Field. He was inducted into the Leo M. Davidoff Society of Albert Einstein College of Medicine for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Racine completed his undergraduate education at Harvard and holds combined doctorates in medicine and economics from New York University. He trained at Harvard’s Boston Children’s Hospital and went on to join the faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Marcos A. Crespo

Senior Vice President - Community Affairs
Marcos Crespo joined Montefiore in 2020 after serving for 11 years as a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 85th District, which encompasses 130,000 residents of the South Bronx. When first elected in 2009, at age 28, he was one of the youngest members ever elected to the State Legislature. During his tenure he served as chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force and the Assembly Committee on Labor; he was co-chair of the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. In 2015, he was unanimously elected chairman of the Bronx County Democratic Committee.

Mr. Crespo retired from politics to join Montefiore and is responsible for all community affairs functions at Montefiore.

He is a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Joseph A. D’Amico

Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer
Joseph A. D’Amico is responsible for all security operations across Montefiore Health System. He joins Montefiore after a distinguished 35-year career in law enforcement with New York City and New York State Police. As the head of the State Police, he led the department through natural disasters, terror threats and prison breaks including the manhunt following the Dannemora prison escape in Upstate New York. Mr. D’Amico served as Chief Investigator for the Office of the New York State Attorney General and before that spent 27 years in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) where he ran the Real Time Crime Center and rose to the rank of Deputy Chief.

Mr. D’Amico graduated from the State University of New York, and the Columbia University Police Management Institute.

Kathleen Kearns

Senior Vice President - Development and Chief Philanthropy Officer
Kathleen Kearns is Senior Vice President for Development and Chief Philanthropy Officer. Ms. Kearns is responsible for all fundraising programs and the strategic direction for the advancement of philanthropic support.

Ms. Kearns’ 25-year-long distinguished career is dedicated to building support for mission-driven institutions. Most recently with the New York Genome Center, she successfully led development and external affairs initiatives to support the innovative work of the Center. Prior to that she served as Senior Vice President of Development and External Affairs at Continuum Health Partners hospital system in New York where she held successive and progressively responsible positions over her long tenure there. Earlier in her career she was the director of marketing and public affairs for the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Active in civic and professional organizations, Ms. Kearns recently served on the board of the Hudson Square Business Improvement District and the development committee of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York, among other civic leadership positions.

Ms. Kearns holds an MBA from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University and a BA from Boston University, College of Communication, where she recently served as chair of the college’s annual fund.

Gloria Kenny

Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
Throughout Gloria Kenny’s three-decade career at Montefiore, she has held positions of increasing responsibility and complexity, successfully leading Recruitment and Staffing, Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources Business Partners, Volunteer and Student Services, Corporate Employee Events and Community Workforce Programs.

Ms. Kenny was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Montefiore Medicine in 2021 and provides strategic leadership in the planning and execution of high quality, customer focused, and progressive human resources (HR) services, developing the processes and systems that attract, retain, develop, and engage the best talent. She oversees HR activities across all Montefiore entities.

Ms. Kenny holds an MBA and a Post Masters Certificate from the Hagen School of Business at Iona College and is a graduate of the Advanced Human Resources Executive Program at the University of Michigan.

Edward Pfleging, PE

Senior Vice President - Facilities and Real Estate
As Senior Vice President - Facilities and Real Estate, Mr. Pfleging leads Facility and Real Estate operations across the Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is responsible for Engineering, Design and Construction, Real Estate, Environmental Health and Safety, Medical Equipment Engineering, Telecommunications, Security, Housekeeping, Food Services, Parking and Mail Services.

Mr. Pfleging has been associated with Montefiore for over 25 years, initially as an entry-level engineer and advancing in various positions of greater responsibility before being promoted to Senior Vice President in 2015. Mr. Pfleging is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York, holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from SUNY Maritime College, a Masters of Business Administration from Manhattan College, and is a Certified Energy Manager and Energy Procurement Professional by the Association of Energy Engineers.

Mr. Pfleging was re-elected Councilman in his home town in 2015 and has served on the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. Pfleging has also been an Adjunct Professor of Engineering Economics at SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx.

Stephen Rosenthal

Senior Vice President – Population Health Management
Stephen Rosenthal is Senior Vice President - Population Health Management for Montefiore’s integrated delivery system and President of CMO, Montefiore Care Management, a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of Montefiore Health System. Mr. Rosenthal has been a leader in the development of programs and initiatives in Care Management interventions. These programs and those for the frail and vulnerable populations have supported the growth of Montefiore’s integrated delivery system, and its provider network of approximately 5,000 physicians, its Home Health Agency, Rehabilitation Facility and acute care hospitals.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Rosenthal served as Vice President of Montefiore’s Professional Services, where he developed and managed Montefiore’s Faculty Practice of employed physicians. Earlier in his career, he practiced as a Clinical Audiologist. He is also an Associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Peter P. Semczuk, DDS, MPH

Senior Vice President & Executive Director, Moses and Wakefield Campuses
Peter P. Semczuk serves as Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Moses and Wakefield Campuses, Montefiore’s largest campus which includes Montefiore Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. He is well known for his work in emergency services, having overseen the expansion of Montefiore’s Department of Emergency Medicine to the second busiest in the nation. Dr. Semczuk has lectured extensively and received numerous awards in patient satisfaction from eminent industry organization including Press Ganey and Studer Group.

Prior to joining Montefiore, Dr. Semczuk was the Associate Director of Operations at North Central Bronx Hospital, a position which primarily focused on leadership development and performance improvement. He holds a BA in Economics from Hofstra University, a MPH from Columbia University and a DDS from New York University. He also completed his general practice residency at the VA Medical Center in Brooklyn. He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and was recently profiled as one of the Healthleaders 20 who are making a difference in healthcare.

Joe Solmonese

Senior Vice President - Government Relations and Strategic Communications
Joe Solmonese is Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategic Communications. He oversees the organization’s government relations efforts at both the federal and state levels, as well as managing all aspects of strategic communications.

Mr. Solmonese has broad experience managing large and complex organizations, most recently serving as CEO of the Democratic National Convention, successfully planning and executing the first entirely virtual convention. Prior to this, he was the transition chair for Planned Parenthood Federation, managing the day-to-day operations of the national office, interfacing with 50 affiliates in providing care to those who need it most. And, as a partner at Gavin/Solmonese, he assisted corporate clients in navigating public policy issues and improving corporate responsibility.

Having spent an entire career advocating for equality and human rights, Mr. Solmonese served as president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. Prior to joining the Human Rights Campaign, Mr. Solmonese worked for thirteen years at EMILY’s List, serving as CEO in his final two.

Mr. Solmonese is currently on the board of directors of the National Partnership for Women and Families, as well as the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the advisory board of the Obama Scholars Program at Occidental College.