Laura P. Gaffney

Laura P. Gaffney is the Chief Strategy Officer for Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and is responsible for developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives. Laura joined Columbia in January 2021 with over thirty years of healthcare experience and has held administrative posts in New York including CEO of a community hospital, COO of a large teaching hospital, and Executive Director of a large post-acute care organization. Laura was recently with NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP), where she spent seven+ years in various roles leading significant strategic projects. A few successes at NYP include: leading operational transformation efforts across the NYP enterprise and improving operating margin by over $300M annually, building and implementing service line growth plans for Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester counties with ColumbiaDoctors, Cornell Medicine and NYP, and opening several physician practice sites in Brooklyn. 

Prior to Laura’s healthcare administrative roles, she was a partner with Ernst &Young’s healthcare consulting practice in New York. Laura has a business degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.