Sands Point’s Michael Epstein elected chair of Northwell Health Board of Trustees

Jessica Parks
Michael A. Epstein (left) succeeds Mark L. Claster as chair of the Northwell Health Board of Trustees. (Photo courtesy of Northwell Health)

Michael A. Epstein, a resident of Sands Point, was elected as the new chair of the Northwell Health Board of Trustees.

He has served as a Northwell Health trustee for 14 years, and before that filled the role of an associate trustee on the board since December 2002.

The 24-year resident of Sands Point has also been a board member of Northwell’s Feinstein Institute for Medical Research since 2002.

Epstein said that he has always had an interest in health care and when the time came where he could think about giving back to his community, he decided to give his time to Northwell Health.

He said his primary goal as board chairman is to work with management to maintain and enhance Northwell’s position as the premier health care provider of the region.

Epstein is a senior partner at Manhattan-based law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he focuses on intellectual property law, a topic on which he has published over 60 articles.

He chairs the firm’s Technology and Intellectual Property Transactions Practice Group and is a member of the American Bar Association’s intellectual property law and business law sections.

Other boards Epstein has been a member of include the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, the Jonas Salk Foundation, Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Arts at Lehigh University and advisory panels to Congress and the National Academy of Sciences’ National Academy of Medicine on intellectual property matters.

“Michael Epstein has been a good friend and strong supporter of the health system for 17 years,” said Northwell Health President and CEO Michael J. Dowling. “He is a community-minded, mission-driven individual who has been very active with numerous other philanthropic endeavors.”

Epstein said he looks forward to helping everyone in the region by providing great health care services.

He succeeds Mark L. Claster, who served as chair of the 31-member board for five years. Northwell announced the creation of the Mark L. Claster Annual Lecture in Neurosurgical Leadership on Wednesday to honor the former chair who served on the Northwell Board of Trustees for 25 years. The lecture will be held each year at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

Epstein said Claster served as a role model to him and set a great example as chairman of the board.

“What I learned from him was really to spend time listening to all points of view,” Epstein said.

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