Hospital Chief Facing U.S. Charges Is Fired

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

A hospital executive who has been accused of bribery in a federal corruption investigation has been ousted by his board and replaced by his second in command, the board announced on Tuesday.

The executive, David P. Rosen, 63, chief executive of MediSys Health Network, was among eight people, including two state legislators, charged last week by federal authorities in Manhattan with participating in bribery schemes. In his case, prosecutors said the scheme revolved around getting favorable treatment from state officials for his health care organization.

In a statement, the board of MediSys — the nonprofit sponsor of four hospitals, three nursing homes and several neighborhood health centers in Queens and Brooklyn — said it voted on Monday to appoint Mr. Rosen’s second in command, Bruce J. Flanz, to take over Mr. Rosen’s job as chief executive. Mr. Flanz, 59, had been the chief operating officer at MediSys.

An official associated with the health system, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said Mr. Rosen’s contract had been “terminated for cause.”

Claudia Hutton, a spokeswoman for the New York State health commissioner, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, said the department would “reserve judgment” on the MediSys board’s choice of Mr. Rosen’s deputy as his replacement. But Ms. Hutton said in an e-mail that the state would be asking for a meeting with the boards of MediSys and its constituent hospitals “to discuss additional steps to ensure financial viability and the integrity of their management.”

The federal complaint accuses Mr. Rosen of conspiring to bribe State Senator Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, paying more than $177,000 in bribes through a no-show consulting job to State Assemblyman William F. Boyland Jr. of Brooklyn and paying $390,000 in bribes through a sham consulting company to former State Assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio of Queens in exchange for their influence with state officials on behalf of MediSys.

Mr. Kruger and Mr. Boyland were also charged, and have not yet entered pleas. Mr. Seminerio had pleaded guilty to a related fraud charge and died while appealing his case.

Mr. Rosen’s lawyer, Robert G. Morvillo, said Tuesday, “He’s very disappointed about leaving MediSys and continues to maintain his innocence, and he hopes to establish for the entire hospital community the fact that he has not breached his duties to the hospital when he gets to trial.”

Mr. Rosen had served as chairman of two of the state’s most influential hospital lobbying organizations, the Healthcare Association of New York State and the Greater New York Hospital Association.

He became assistant director of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in 1970, and went on to build the MediSys organization.