Debra Albert, DNP, RN
Chief Nursing Officer & Senior Vice President | AHA Board of Trustees Member | Patient Care Services — NYU Langone Health
Affiliations
- •AHA Board of Trustees — appointed for a three-year term (announced August 2025). Framed as ensuring "the voice of nursing professionals" in national healthcare strategy.
- •AONL (American Organization for Nursing Leadership) Professional Practice Committee — member, 2011–2023.
- •AONL Future Patient Care Delivery Subcommittee — member, 2010–2023.
- •New York Academy of Medicine Board of Trustees — current member.
- •Operating revenue (FY2024): $14.2 billion, up 14.2% from 2023.
- •Q1 FY2026 (three months ended Nov. 30, 2025): $4.2 billion operating revenue, 3.9% operating margin, inpatient discharges up 6.4%, outpatient visits up 10.0% YoY.
- •Employees: 53,000+.
- •Locations: 250+ across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, Hudson Valley, and Florida.
Financial / Compensation
- •Former CEO Robert I. Grossman earned $22.8 million in total compensation in 2023 ($8.83M base salary + deferred/other compensation).
- •NYU Langone's total executive compensation reported on its 990 was $41.9 million.
- •Total salaries and wages system-wide: $2.35 billion.
- •NYU Langone provided first-class or charter travel to key employees or officers per its 990 filing — details on Schedule J.
- •Charity care spending (FY2024): ~$108 million, comprising 1.2% of total expenses — less than half the national average of 2.6% (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2020 baseline).
- •Lown Institute Fair Share Deficit (2024 report): NYU Langone ranked #3 nationally with a -$222 million fair share deficit — meaning it received $222 million more in tax exemptions than it returned in meaningful community investment.
- •Only New York-Presbyterian (-$274M) and UPMC Presbyterian (-$268M) had larger deficits.
- •NYU Langone's defense: Spokesperson Steve Ritea claims the medical center spends $1.4 billion (21% of expenses) on "health benefits," disputing Lown's methodology. The AHA has publicly backed this counter-narrative, calling Lown's reports "cherry-picked."
Lobbying and Political
- •2024 lobbying expenditure: $80,000 (per OpenSecrets, based on Senate Office of Public Records filings).
- •This is a modest figure by hospital system standards, but NYU Langone also benefits from New York University's separate lobbying operation, which spent $700,000 in 2024.
- •NYU Langone's Office of Government and Community Affairs coordinates visits for government officials and manages city, state, and federal lobbying compliance.
- •Total contributions (NYU Langone Medical Center): $596,473 in the 2024 election cycle.
- •Outside spending: $0.
- •Former CEO Robert Grossman personally donated ~$65,000, including $25,000 to the Schumer Majority Committee (backing Democrats in swing states).
- •NYU's institutional policy prohibits direct or indirect campaign contributions from University funds, including in-kind contributions. However, individual employee contributions aggregate to a significant total.
- •In December 2025, NYU Langone joined a lawsuit against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging unlawful cuts to Medicare funding for Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH). The suit claims HHS distorted patient counts and retroactively applied a 2023 rule to payments dating back to 2004. NYU Langone joined on behalf of its southwest Brooklyn site, which serves one of the largest Medicaid populations in the country.
Pattern Summary
The Core Pattern: NYU Langone Health is a $14.2 billion nonprofit system that behaves like an aggressive for-profit growth company — expanding into affluent markets (Palm Beach, Garden City), converting retail real estate into facility-fee-generating outpatient departments, absorbing the last independent hospitals on Long Island, and compensating its former CEO at $22.8M — while spending less than half the national average on charity care and carrying a $222 million fair share deficit. It then sends a nurse leader, not a CEO, to represent it on the AHA Board of Trustees.