Care Close To Home
NORTHWELL IN WESTCHESTER, THE HUDSON VALLEY AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT
NORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL
When David Seligman describes Northwell’s vision for the Hudson Valley, he doesn’t talk about growth in terms of numbers or square footage. Instead, he talks about access. “High-quality care shouldn’t be something you have to leave your community to find,” says the Executive Vice President, Chief Integration Officer, and Market President for Northwell in Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Connecticut.
Anchored by two major hospitals, Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco and Phelps in Sleepy Hollow, Northwell now has more than 280 physicians and 72 practices in Westchester alone. What sets Northwell apart, however, is not simply the breadth of services, but the sophistication of care offered and provided in community-centric settings.
In 2025, Northwell merged with Nuvance Health, a seven-hospital system serving the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut. The move extends Northwell’s model of providing local access to top quality health care across a broader geography, while also creating increased opportunities to share programs, research, and infrastructure—like expanding clinical trials and novel therapies in fields like bioelectronic medicine to treat rheumatoid arthritis. “The merger wasn’t about creating a bigger system for its own sake,” says Seligman. “It was about strengthening local care by pooling resources and talent.” Northwell’s local footprint has evolved to offer both expertise and convenience to patients with the most complex medical needs.
“Northwell’s mission of providing the best care available right where you live shapes our steady expansion in the Hudson Valley… and now guides Northwell in western Connecticut as well,” Seligman says.
In a health care landscape increasingly dominated by private equity and for-profit ventures, Seligman is adamant about the advantages of Northwell’s nonprofit structure. “Every dollar earned is a dollar reinvested in healthier lives, advanced services, and accessible care for all.”This allows for consistent investment in crucial services, like behavioral health, that are often under-resourced in the community. It also means reinvestment in infrastructure, innovation, and patient services.
For Seligman, who lives in Westchester, the expansion is personal. “When I walk into Northern Westchester or Phelps, I want it to feel like a neighbor’s hand guiding you through care. At the same time, that hand should be backed by the resources of New York State’s largest health system. It’s about making something big feel small.”
This ethos extends to education and prevention as much as to hospital care. Northwell sponsors school partnerships that expose students to careers in medicine, runs free vaccination and screening programs, and emphasizes nutrition as a pillar of health. “Prevention and early detection are the cornerstones of long-term health,” Seligman proclaims, underscoring a holistic vision that includes preventive medicine as much as treatment.
Seligman advises, “The most sophisticated care doesn’t always announce itself with dramatic headlines. Sometimes it looks like a routine checkup in a primary care office, or a safe delivery in a modern maternity suite. What matters is that residents of the Hudson Valley can count on both excellence and proximity.”
As Northwell deepens its roots in the Hudson Valley, several expansions are already underway. The Chappaqua Crossing facility on the historic Reader’s Digest campus has become a model of integrated ambulatory care, housing specialties from cardiology and surgical specialties to wound care under one roof. Northwell’s programming at the site continues to expand, with internal medicine, medical subspecialties and neurology scheduled to launch in early 2026.
PHELPS HOSPITAL
At the same time, philanthropy is fueling renovations to create more modern, patient- centered spaces, including redesigned mother- baby units at both Northern Westchester and Phelps. “Community support is not just welcome, it’s essential,” says Seligman. “These hospitals are here for everyone, and we’ve been able to accelerate the advancement of programs and services as a direct result of philanthropic support, for which we are incredibly grateful.”
For all the talk of expansion and innovation, Seligman insists that the true measure of Northwell’s impact is found in the everyday experiences of patients who no longer must choose between local convenience and advanced care.
“Comprehensive neurosciences services, interventional cardiology and electrophysiology programs are supporting the community today … these are things people once had to leave Westchester to find,” Seligman says. “Now they’re right here in our neighborhood!”
CENTER FOR ADVANCED PROCEDURES (CAP) AT PHELPS HOSPITAL