Meet Rockland County's new health commissioner

Dr. Mary Leahy, a longtime Rockland resident with more than three decades of medical and administrative experience, has been appointed as the new commissioner of the Rockland County Health Department.

Leahy started the new job,  which carries a salary of $224,681, on Feb. 25. She succeeds Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, who stepped down in March 2023.

“I look forward to working with our dedicated health professionals and community partners to enhance public health programs and ensure that every resident has access to quality healthcare," stated Leahy, former CEO of the Bon Secours Charity Health System.

Leahy's appointment, which awaits confirmation by state and county officials, was announced Feb. 27 by Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Day stated that Leahy's experience and commitment "makes her the ideal choice to lead our Health Department. Her leadership will be instrumental in strengthening public health initiatives and advancing healthcare access for all.”

Leahy is a board-certified internist who has practiced medicine in Rockland County for more than 30 years. She earned her master’s degree in healthcare administration from Boston College and completed her internal medicine residency at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in the Bronx, where she served as chief medical resident from 1985-86. She completed a fellowship in nephrology at New York Medical College’s Westchester Medical Center campus.

She started a solo medical practice before co-founding Rockland Pulmonary & Medical Associates, which is now part of the Bon Secours Medical Group.

In 2012, Leahy was appointed senior vice president of physician operations for Bon Secours Medical Group, overseeing more than 120 practitioners. In 2013, she was named CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System, where she set the strategic vision for systemwide operations, including three acute care hospitals, a regional home healthcare agency, and several long-term care facilities.

Leahy has been named one of Hudson Valley Magazine’s Women in Business Award winners, Rockland’s Woman of the Year, and a New York State 2024 Woman of Distinction, nominated by Sen. Bill Weber.

Robert Brum is a freelance journalist who writes about the Hudson Valley. Contact him and read his work at robertbrum.com.