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.

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