Deirdre Salanger
Deirdre Salanger
May 08, 2025
Deirdre Salanger, MHA, a health care administrator with deep experience at high-profile urban health systems, will join URMC as chief operating officer of Strong Memorial Hospital beginning July 21.
Salanger, who is currently vice president of operations at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, fills the role held for 24 years by Kathy Parrinello, who became president and CEO of Strong Memorial and Highland hospitals in early 2024 and has managed COO duties at Strong Memorial until now. Maura Snyder was appointed COO of Highland Hospital in October 2024.
Parrinello said Salanger will bring to Strong Memorial an impressive combination of experience, leadership, and commitment to a positive work culture.
“Deirdre is a highly talented, enthusiastic leader who has accomplished a great deal early in her career at health systems very similar to ours in size and scope. She values collaborative problem-solving and is a mission-focused advocate for faculty, staff, patients, and families. I’m delighted to welcome her to Strong Memorial’s leadership team,” Parrinello said.
As Strong Memorial’s COO, Salanger will be responsible for a range of duties, including overseeing patient-care services, clinical departments and ancillary-support services; leading departments and service lines to support the strategic goals of the hospital; facilitating completion of major capital improvement projects; and fulfilling the hospital’s mission to deliver high-quality, patient- and family-centered care.
“I’m joining a great organization, and I’m very excited to be working with the accomplished leadership team at Strong Memorial Hospital,” Salanger said. “Working at a university-based health system has always been my professional focus. I’m attracted to the mission, the complexity, and the critical thinking that’s required at the University of Rochester. This is an opportunity to work with smart, engaged, and dedicated people to drive the organization forward.”
Salanger brings more than a decade of experience at large, complex systems to her new role. Since 2020, she has been vice president of operations at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital, an 877-bed, Magnet designated hospital that has a Level 1 Trauma Center, Level III NICU, over 30,000 acute discharges, and more than 80,000 ED visits annually. In that role her primary duties included oversight of all hospital ancillary support services, surgical services, cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs, and parking services. She also managed capital and construction projects across a 3.2M square foot campus and partnered with department leaders to promote and execute on quality and safety.
Previously, Salanger was vice president of operations at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, a 400-bed hospital with a free-standing health and surgery center. Prior to joining Henry Ford, Salanger spent seven years at Johns Hopkins Medicine in administrative leadership roles, including administrative director at Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she had oversight of ambulatory operations, financial management of the department of oncology, and partnered on multidisciplinary service-line development and implementation.
“Deirdre has significant operations experience at large institutions that have much in common with URMC, where she demonstrated skillful oversight of a wide variety of clinical programs, hospital operations, and facility improvements, said Michael Apostolakos, MD, chief medical officer of Strong Memorial. “Her experience and commitment will serve us well as we work to ensure that high-quality care is available to all the communities we serve.”
Chief Nursing Executive Kate Valcin said she was impressed with recruitment and retention strategies Salanger implemented at Henry Ford during the Covid pandemic, when the organization at one point faced a 50 percent nurse and surgical technologist staff turnover. “Her partnership with staff, particularly nurses, to identify workplace challenges and opportunities resulted in an impressive turnaround,” Valcin said. “We look forward to working with her to continue our progress in building a highly satisfied workforce that drives advances in quality and patient satisfaction.”
Parrinello chaired the search committee and thanked Apostolakos, Valcin, and other members for their help in selecting Salanger from a group of highly qualified candidates.
Search committee member Brian Martin, interim COO of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group, said Salanger was the clear choice given the breadth of her operations experience and her success in managing clinical programs. “Deirdre has experience overseeing cancer services, surgical services, ambulatory campuses, facility projects, and so much more. She is bright, collegial, and very committed to the work we do as an academic medical center. I look forward to working with her.”
A native of Binghamton, Salanger graduated cum laude from Binghamton University with a bachelor’s degree in human development and earned a Master's in Health Administration from Cornell University.
Salanger, who is currently vice president of operations at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, fills the role held for 24 years by Kathy Parrinello, who became president and CEO of Strong Memorial and Highland hospitals in early 2024 and has managed COO duties at Strong Memorial until now. Maura Snyder was appointed COO of Highland Hospital in October 2024.
Parrinello said Salanger will bring to Strong Memorial an impressive combination of experience, leadership, and commitment to a positive work culture.
“Deirdre is a highly talented, enthusiastic leader who has accomplished a great deal early in her career at health systems very similar to ours in size and scope. She values collaborative problem-solving and is a mission-focused advocate for faculty, staff, patients, and families. I’m delighted to welcome her to Strong Memorial’s leadership team,” Parrinello said.
As Strong Memorial’s COO, Salanger will be responsible for a range of duties, including overseeing patient-care services, clinical departments and ancillary-support services; leading departments and service lines to support the strategic goals of the hospital; facilitating completion of major capital improvement projects; and fulfilling the hospital’s mission to deliver high-quality, patient- and family-centered care.
“I’m joining a great organization, and I’m very excited to be working with the accomplished leadership team at Strong Memorial Hospital,” Salanger said. “Working at a university-based health system has always been my professional focus. I’m attracted to the mission, the complexity, and the critical thinking that’s required at the University of Rochester. This is an opportunity to work with smart, engaged, and dedicated people to drive the organization forward.”
Salanger brings more than a decade of experience at large, complex systems to her new role. Since 2020, she has been vice president of operations at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital, an 877-bed, Magnet designated hospital that has a Level 1 Trauma Center, Level III NICU, over 30,000 acute discharges, and more than 80,000 ED visits annually. In that role her primary duties included oversight of all hospital ancillary support services, surgical services, cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs, and parking services. She also managed capital and construction projects across a 3.2M square foot campus and partnered with department leaders to promote and execute on quality and safety.
Previously, Salanger was vice president of operations at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, a 400-bed hospital with a free-standing health and surgery center. Prior to joining Henry Ford, Salanger spent seven years at Johns Hopkins Medicine in administrative leadership roles, including administrative director at Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she had oversight of ambulatory operations, financial management of the department of oncology, and partnered on multidisciplinary service-line development and implementation.
“Deirdre has significant operations experience at large institutions that have much in common with URMC, where she demonstrated skillful oversight of a wide variety of clinical programs, hospital operations, and facility improvements, said Michael Apostolakos, MD, chief medical officer of Strong Memorial. “Her experience and commitment will serve us well as we work to ensure that high-quality care is available to all the communities we serve.”
Chief Nursing Executive Kate Valcin said she was impressed with recruitment and retention strategies Salanger implemented at Henry Ford during the Covid pandemic, when the organization at one point faced a 50 percent nurse and surgical technologist staff turnover. “Her partnership with staff, particularly nurses, to identify workplace challenges and opportunities resulted in an impressive turnaround,” Valcin said. “We look forward to working with her to continue our progress in building a highly satisfied workforce that drives advances in quality and patient satisfaction.”
Parrinello chaired the search committee and thanked Apostolakos, Valcin, and other members for their help in selecting Salanger from a group of highly qualified candidates.
Search committee member Brian Martin, interim COO of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group, said Salanger was the clear choice given the breadth of her operations experience and her success in managing clinical programs. “Deirdre has experience overseeing cancer services, surgical services, ambulatory campuses, facility projects, and so much more. She is bright, collegial, and very committed to the work we do as an academic medical center. I look forward to working with her.”
A native of Binghamton, Salanger graduated cum laude from Binghamton University with a bachelor’s degree in human development and earned a Master's in Health Administration from Cornell University.