Angela Gonzalez-Perez was a student volunteer in the gift shop at what is now NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center when an administrator recruited her to become an executive assistant. That moment, some 20 years ago, changed her life. Being exposed to senior hospital leadership “inspired me to focus my education on healthcare because I wanted to be a leader in the field,” she says.
Mission accomplished: Today, Gonzalez-Perez oversees multiple departments within the 128-bed NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt Manor, as well as at satellite locations in Croton-on-Hudson and Cold Spring. In all, she supervises more than 400 employees.
Upon her arrival, Gonzalez-Perez spearheaded a project to analyze patient data with the goal of growing and improving the hospital’s currently-under-construction
maternity-services unit. “We wanted to make sure we designed our new unit to include the right spaces, not just for the patient but also for patients’ partners and families,” she explains. The hospital’s Cancer Center has also become more comprehensive under her guidance, offering a greater variety of support services, including nutrition counseling, and actively holding and participating in community outreach events.
Gonzalez-Perez says she makes sure she “stays visible” by doing regular rounds, attending team huddles, and taking the time to walk in her staff members’ shoes. “I recently put on an environmental-services uniform and spent the morning working alongside staff that report to me,” she shares. “You have to be willing to go just a little deeper in building relationships with the people who report to you.”
