Community Corner

Meet Sherry Patterson, A Face of Riverhead

Patterson is the first woman to chair the Board of Trustees at Peconic Bay Medical Center; she's also a well known local businesswoman who cherishes time with her children and grandchildren.

For the first time in its 61 year history, the Board of Trustees at has elected a woman, Riverhead resident Sherry Patterson, to chair the board.

Patterson succeeds Jesse R. Goodale III, who chaired the board for four years.

"I’m really pleased to be the chair, and I hope I can do as good a job as my predecessor,” Patterson said. “I try not to think of it as a woman/man thing. Gender really shouldn’t have anything to do with it."

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A member of the PBMC Board of Trustees since 2000, Patterson has filled a lot of shoes since signing on. Since then, she has served as vice chair of the Board of Trustees, was a member of the Board’s Executive Committee and Finance Committee and currently serves on the Joint Conference Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Nominating Committee and Government Relations Committee.

"Sherry’s commitment to PBMC is exemplary,” said PBMC President and CEO Andrew Mitchell. “Consistently, she has demonstrated leadership qualities and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the medical center’s mission and remains committed to the medical center’s Foundation. She is an invaluable member of the PBMC Board, willingly sharing her wisdom, perspectives and ideas.”

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Patterson, who lives in Riverhead with her husband Stephen, has three children, Tammy, Tara, and Kyle, and four grandchildren, Carley, Travis, Ella and Ava.

“I’ve been here for 40 years, which by Riverhead standards, makes me a newcomer,” she laughed. “They go back generations here in this town. I love Riverhead,” she said.

All of her children, and now, her grandchildren, have been enrolled in Riverhead schools, and on weekends, Patterson is most likely found on local sports fields, cheering on her grandkids as they play lacrosse and soccer.

Her kids and grandchildren, she said, lives close by, on adjacent blocks. ““My husband calls it the Bermuda Triangle. I see them all the time. It’s great,” she said.

A real estate broker for over 30 years, Patterson, who works at Tuccio, said the time is right for her to assume the position as chair, after she has served on the board for over 10 years and spent time fundraising and doing volunteer work.

“It’s quite a learning curve,’ she said. “It’s like you’re going to pre-med; you’ve got to learn the medical terms, and about the doctors and their duties, and about insurance, before you get to the stage where I am now. It takes a good 10 years to learn about the hospital and how they operate.” 

Self-described as “somebody who can’t sit still,” in her free time, Patterson enjoys the beach and spending time with her family.

Some of the most meaningful experiences she’s had at PBMC, Patterson says, involve hands on moments. “We do a thing called board rounds, where members of the board do rounds in the hospital,” she said. Visiting patients, she said, is rewarding. “The best thing is when you visit a patient and they tell you how wonderful their care was That’s when you feel you’re accomplishing something. It makes you feel good.”

Patterson believes she brings her people skills to proverbial table at her new post. “I think that I have a really good rapport with the staff,” she said.

No stranger to giving back, Patterson is also a member of the board and past president of the Riverhead Rotary Club and was the first woman president in that organization. She serves on the board of the East End Health Alliance, and is a former trustee of the Riverhead Free Library. Patterson has also been honored as East End Women’s Network Woman of the Year.

"It is a privilege to have the opportunity to lead such a distinguished organization and serve with a group of individuals who passionately work toward the mission of PBMC," said Patterson. "My governing priority is to ensure that PBMC transitions into the next phase of developing its healthcare services and continues providing clinical excellence to fulfill our nonprofit mission and meet the needs of the communities we serve.”


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