Manhattan’s first free-standing ED opened in Greenwich Village in 2014, under Dr. Eric Cruzen’s leadership. His role as founding chairperson of the Department of Emergency Medicine involved the development of innovative models of emergency care, quality oversight, delivery of clinical services, as well as ambassadorship for the Northwell Health System in the downtown New York City region.

Dr. Cruzen also acts as the systemwide chief medical informatics officer for emergency medicine, ensuring seamless integration of advanced information technology in the clinical space.

In 2021, Dr. Cruzen transitioned into the new role as vice president of the newly conceived Integrated Solutions division at Northwell Health. Here, he leads a multidisciplinary team of software architects, data analysts and medical informaticists to engineer innovative solutions to complex problems at the intersection of medicine and technology.

Dr. Cruzen is a graduate of the integrated six-year BA/MD program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. After completing his residency in emergency medicine in Orlando, Fla., he worked all over the United States as a physician in the Army Reserve before joining the health system in 2003 as associate director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Southside Hospital.