UES Hospital Names New CEO Amid Building Blitz

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A new leader is coming to the corner suite of an Upper East Side hospital currently engaged in two simultaneous expansions in the neighborhood.

The Hospital for Special Surgery announced this week that Bryan T. Kelly will succeed Louis A. Shapiro as president and CEO of the top-ranked musculoskeletal center.

Shapiro had led the hospital since 2006, overseeing a massive period of growth at the center, HSS said.

"Lou shaped and cultivated a groundbreaking vision for HSS that saw the institution transform from a specialty hospital in New York to an international network with universal prominence," HSS board co-chairs Thomas Lister and Robert Steel said in a release.

Prior to HSS, Shapiro has a background in healthcare management and a stint as a consultant at McKinsey.

New HSS head Kelly has been a surgeon specializing in sports medicine and hip preservation at HSS since 1996, where he also completed his residency and fellowship after training at Brown and Duke Universities, according to the hospital.

In 2019, Kelly became the surgeon-in-chief and medical director at HSS.

Kelly, who also holds a MBA, would be the first surgeon to lead HSS in its 160 year history, the hospital said, and plans to continue seeing a handful of patients while leading the massive hospital.

At the moment, the hospital is involved in two expansions in the Upper East Side.

Next to its main campus on East 71st Street, HSS is constructing a new tower, called the HSS Kellen Tower. A platform for the new 12-story tower next to its main campus is currently under construction above FDR Drive, with a projected completion date in 2024.

HSS and other major Upper East Side institutions, like Cornell Medical Center and Rockefeller University, have already covered much of the FDR Drive between East 64th and East 71st streets.

The hospital has also pledged a number of improvements to the East Side Esplanade near the construction site, including a new pedestrian bridge.

The hospital plans to share updates about its new building construction via email, and neighbors can send questions to publicrelations@hss.edu.

Access to the Esplanade around East 71st and 74th streets is currently restricted due to the installation of piles for the new platform.

Further uptown, HSS plans to be the main tenant of a 30-story medical tower under construction at a long-vacant site on First Avenue between East 79th and 80th streets, according to developer Extell.

Extell demolished the existing block of rowhouses in 2019.

HSS also purchased two East 74th street buildings in 2021 to use for administrative purposes, they said at the time.