Longtime Mount Sinai Medical Center CEO Sonenreich stepping aside
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After 19 years as CEO — and a full 44 years on staff — the head of Mount Sinai Medical Center is stepping aside.
Steve Sonenreich will become president and CEO emeritus of the Miami Beach-based institution. Former Broward Health CEO Gino Santorio will take over as new president and CEO in early 2021.
Prior to the pandemic, Mount Sinai found itself on firm financial footing. In its most recent ratings action, dated December 2019, Fitch affirmed the hospital’s A- bond rating, citing “solid” operating performance and strong patient volumes.
More recently, the hospital was forced to shore up coronavirus-related losses, cutting nearly 1,000 jobs in May 2020.
Sonenreich said he nevertheless believes the hospital system is transitioning its leadership from a position of strength.
“Many times, organizations transition due to difficult circumstances,” he said in an interview. “Fortunately we felt that the medical center is at a point in its history where it’s doing very well, and doing very well at an extraordinary time given the pandemic.”
A University of Miami graduate, Sonenreich came to Mount Sinai in 1976, holding various administrative roles including serving as the hospital’s first director of marketing and business development. In 1990, he was named chief operating officer. Six years later, he left to head Cedars Medical Center, now University of Miami Hospital. He was recruited back to Mount Sinai in 2001.
As CEO, Sonenreich led an extensive expansion campaign that brought the launch of 12 Mount Sinai primary and specialty care facilities across multiple Miami-Dade locations, including Hialeah, Aventura, Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. He also oversaw the development of a $275 million, 154-bed surgical tower and emergency center at its main Miami Beach campus.
In 2018, Mount Sinai was named one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals by IBM Watson Health — the only hospital in Miami-Dade to earn that distinction.
“Steve’s dedication and focus over the past 40 years instilled an organizational culture built around the idea of family and compassion for all,” said board of trustees chairman Mark Hildebrandt in a statement.
Sonenreich also oversaw Mount Sinai during multiple crises, including a financial crunch in 2007 that took the hospital’s bond outlook into negative territory. In July 2019, federal regulators approved a Mount Sinai corrective action plan that withdrew the threat of a Medicare funding termination after an alleged incident of sexual abuse.
Sonenreich said he will continue to help Mount Sinai compete in South Florida’s crowded healthcare landscape.
“My plan in my new role will be to support our new CEO and support the board in every way that I can with my institutional community knowledge amassed over my 45-year history in this community,” he said.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
