Audrey Meyers, one of the longest tenured and most admired health care CEOs in the state, announced Monday she is retiring from her role as CEO of Valley Health System, the system that oversees the Valley Hospital.
Meyers, who will be succeeded in the CEO role by Dr. Robert Brenner, will assume the role of system CEO emeritus.
Meyers, who was named CEO of the Valley Hospital in 1999 and then CEO of Valley Health System in 2003, has worked for the organization for more than four decades.
As CEO, Meyers was responsible for the strategic and day-to-day operations of one of New Jersey’s busiest hospitals, annually ranked among the Top 3 hospitals in the state by U.S. News & World Report, included as one of the World’s Best Hospitals by Newsweek and in the Top 2% of hospitals nationwide as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades.
She also oversaw a busy home care agency, and an award-winning medical group of close to 500 physicians and advanced practice providers across 50 specialties and multiple locations.
Her legacy, however, may be leading the organization through a successful debt offering to support the construction of an $868 million state-of-the-art replacement hospital on a new 40-acre site in Paramus.
Meyers said the time was right for a change.
“It has been my honor to be a part of the Valley family for more than 44 years and a privilege to lead Valley for more than 25 years,” she said. “Having recently celebrated the milestone of opening our new campus in Paramus, it is the right time to appoint Rob as our system president and CEO.
“He has the vision, the experience, the talent and the skills to ensure Valley’s continued success.”
Kevin Lobo, chair of the Valley Health System board of trustees, said Meyers’ efforts were extraordinary.
“The entire board wants to express their deepest thanks to Audrey for her years of visionary leadership and success, culminating in the opening of the new Paramus hospital campus,” he said. “We are so fortunate to have Audrey lead the transformation of Ridgewood into an ambulatory care campus.”
As part of the ribbon cutting event for the new hospital, Meyers introduced her recently published book, “A Privilege to Serve,” which tells the story of Valley and the journey to being one of the region’s premier health systems. The hospital was successfully relocated from Ridgewood to Paramus on April 14, providing a first-class health and wellness destination for the entire region.
Of course, Valley has been doing that for decades.
Under Meyers’ leadership, Valley thrived as one of the few successful standalone hospital systems in the country through the development of key strategic relationships with leading national health care systems; fostering a culture of service, performance and high reliability; and driving a rigorous systemwide approach to margin enhancement through growth and cost control.
Since she first became president in 1999, revenue has grown from $250 million to over $1 billion.
Meyers, an annual honoree in ROI Influencer awards, was one of the Top 3 female leaders and one of the most influential individuals in the business world on the Super 60 Power List.
In July, Meyers will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey Hospital Association in recognition of her 44 years of service to Valley.
