An esteemed surgeon with more than two decades of executive, clinical, and academic leadership, Dr. Albert will oversee clinical strategy, care standardization, and the expansion of Legent’s physician-focused partnership model as Legent accelerates the growth of its platform nationally. In addition to his new position, he will continue to serve as Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus and Richard Rogers Chair to Advance Spine Care at HSS, as well as Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dr. Albert’s appointment follows Legent’s acquisition in October 2025 by HSS and General Atlantic, a leading global investor, as part of the launch of a new, independently operated national platform of ambulatory surgery centers dedicated to orthopedic and spine care. To support the platform’s buildout, HSS and General Atlantic agreed to acquire Legent. The transaction is intended to support Legent’s long-term strategy to expand patient access to high-quality, accessible orthopedic and spine care nationwide and meet rising demand for advanced outpatient solutions, while the company continues to operate independently under its existing name and leadership team.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Albert to the Legent team as Chief Medical Officer. He brings a unique combination of clinical innovation, governance, and physician leadership that will be instrumental as we execute our growth strategy and continue building a leading national platform for orthopedic and spine care, reaching more patients and communities nationwide,” said Jordan Fowler, Chief Executive Officer of Legent Health.

“I’m very excited to join this team of talented and highly experienced professionals as we continue to build a national platform for orthopedic and spine care,” said Dr. Albert. “I have deep conviction in Legent’s mission to deliver consistent, high-quality care while expanding patient access closer to home and look forward to contributing to the further expansion of this important organization.”

Dr. Albert brings extensive clinical, academic, and executive leadership experience to his role at Legent. In addition to his current roles, he previously served as Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief Medical Director of HSS from 2014 to 2019, where he led transformational growth for HSS, increasing the hospital’s annual revenue from $600 million to $1.7 billion while expanding ambulatory and international collaborations, launching physician-enterprise partnerships, and advancing institution-wide safety and opioid stewardship initiatives.

Earlier in his career, as President of The Rothman Institute and Chair of Orthopedics at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals between 2006-2014, Dr. Albert drove sustained growth from $15 million to $300 million in annual revenue while building hospitals, surgery centers, and imaging platforms. A nationally recognized spine surgeon specializing in cervical spine disorders, Dr. Albert has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, 14 books, and 90 book chapters, holds multiple patents tied to more than $2 billion in technology sales, and has served in senior leadership roles across major professional societies.

“What makes our new center unique is that we offer a ‘one stop shop’ where a patient can be seen by a surgeon and other experts as needed, get updated imaging and other tests, receive a diagnosis and be given a treatment plan tailored to their specific needs all on the same day,” says Han Jo Kim, MD, director of the new center and HSS spine surgeon. He adds that other centers could take weeks or even months to line up all the necessary appointments and provide a care plan recommendation.

Spine care at the CSSC is bolstered by a combination of highly specialized experts across multiple specialties and a decade of HSS-led research on advanced surgical techniques and recovery pathways. This has helped them transform the most challenging spine surgeries into much more straightforward operations with lower complication rates and faster recovery times.

“We have shortened the time it takes to do these surgeries, reduced complications, decreased patients’ length of stay in the hospital and shortened their recovery time, allowing patients to get back to what they love most,” says Dr. Kim.

The range of specialties the CSSC offers include anesthesiology, infectious disease, interventional radiology, metabolic bone, neurology, pain management, physical therapy, physiatry, and spine surgery. Care navigators help make the care experience easier by guiding patients through next steps, coordinating appointments and when possible, arranging visits with the appropriate physicians and receive any necessary imaging on the same day.

“We are integrating clinical triage so we can get the right patient to the right physician the first time for the care they need, as well as ensure a smooth experience for the patient and the physicians involved,” says HSS spine surgeon Andrew Sama, MD, co-chief of HSS Spine.

This streamlined approach is particularly helpful for the over 1,000 patients who travel to HSS annually from out of state or out of the country to see our surgeons, nearly 500 of whom receive surgery here.

“We want to meet patients where they are, and if they’re traveling a far distance, it’s especially important to make the most of their time here,” says HSS spine surgeon Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA, co-chief of HSS Spine.

CSSC care is available to adult and pediatric patients at HSS locations in Manhattan, Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey, and Connecticut. “HSS has invested a lot into our regional sites so that we can bring complex spine care to the communities we serve,” adds Dr. Qureshi. This builds on the recently opened multidisciplinary Spine Center in Paramus, which expands access to world-class spine care through a collaborative approach and state-of-the-art facilities.”

Another focal point of the CSSC at HSS is the development of a clinical registry to detect and study genetic indicators of risk for a variety of postoperative complications.

“This is next-level precision medicine, where we are using a person’s genetic makeup to mitigate certain risks or complications that they are likely to face after surgery,” explains Dr. Kim. “For example, if we find that somebody is genetically prone to infection or blood clots, we can give them medication to minimize or prevent those risks and ensure they have the smoothest recovery possible.”

To learn more or to request an appointment by submitting your case to the CSSC at HSS, please visit: https://www.hss.edu/departments/spine/complex-spine-and-scoliosis-center

Patient Success Story:

For 20 years, Long Island resident Susan had been living with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), an osteoarthritic condition that causes ligaments and tendons in the spine to calcify, leading to stiffness and pain. In 2023, after two traumatic falls, Susan endured a spinal cord injury, leaving the 57-year-old unable to lift her head. She scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kim for an evaluation for reconstructive surgery.

“I was totally looking down, and I couldn’t lift my head to see ahead of me. I was very limited, and it was challenging to get around with my walker. I would have been miserable if I had to live the rest of my life like that,” says Susan.

“I knew from my research that Dr. Kim was a superior surgeon, but I was also impressed with how he spoke to me and not at me, and used words I could understand,” Susan recalls. “I felt a connection with him right away and was relieved when he said he could help me.”

Susan had surgery in June of 2025 and after six weeks of recovery and rehabilitation, she says her life has changed for the better.

“Dr. Kim corrected my posture immensely so I can stand up straight, look forward, and see people ahead of me now. My chin is up!” she says. “He changed my appearance and made me look healthier, so I don’t appear distorted or in pain. I’m deeply grateful for what he’s done. Dr. Kim and the care team at HSS made such a meaningful difference in my life.

While Susan has some lingering weakness from the prior spinal cord injury and DISH, having surgery with Dr. Kim has improved her quality of life, allowed her to continue living independently and given her the chance to help care for her aging parents.

A pars fracture ­— also called spondylolysis — is a break in the pars interarticularis, a narrow area of bone connecting two vertebrae in the spine. It typically occurs in the lumbar spine (lower back). About 7 percent of all adolescents experience a pars fracture, and that number can rise to as much as 50 percent among teens engaged in high-risk sports such as gymnastics, football, and soccer.

While these injuries can heal on their own after a six- to eight-week break from sports, one in five adolescents continues to experience a non-healing fracture (nonunion). The pain often returns after resuming activity, and some athletes have been told to quit sports entirely. "Nonunion can cause persistent back pain and, in certain cases, even require lumbar fusion later in life if the fracture results in a vertebral slip, where the vertebrae slip out of place," explained Austin Kaidi, MD, an orthopedic surgery resident at HSS and the study's lead author.

About seven years ago, HSS spine surgeon Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, Co-Chief of HSS Spine and the study's senior author, began using a spine surgery robot to plan the placement of surgical screws in novel ways. His work sparked a shift in the way the HSS surgeons approached pars fracture repairs.

The new minimally invasive technique involves the placement of a single screw through a 1 cm incision — far smaller than traditional surgery to repair a pars fracture, which is performed through a larger incision and requires bone grafting. The robotic procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and is associated with an easier, shorter recovery.

Study: Robotic Pars Repair Allows Early Return to Activity for Adolescents with Symptomatic Spondylolysis: A Case Series

Dr. Kaidi, Dr. Qureshi, and their colleagues performed a retrospective review of nine adolescent patients with lumbar spondylolysis (mean age 16) who had robotic-assisted pars repair at HSS using the single-screw technique. Patients had endured back pain before the surgery for an average of 8 months. After surgery, they participated in an 8-week physical therapy program that started with walking and gradually re-introduced sports-specific exercises.

After a mean follow-up of 11.4 months, five patients had returned to the same or an even higher level of sports. One patient had residual back pain and did not return to sports. Three patients had CT scans at one year demonstrating union of the fracture. The athletes were able to return to activity in as little as six weeks. "Although nonsurgical treatment should always be tried before considering surgery, we were surprised by the effectiveness of this technique for enabling athletes to return to sport," said Dr. Kaidi.

HSS is a leader in robotic-assisted single-screw pars repair and one of only a handful of institutions worldwide who have published on this technique. This study is the largest series ever reported in these patients.

"This safe and effective procedure is changing the way the medical community thinks about these injuries. We are moving away from 'do nothing for 6 weeks' to a more elegant, proactive solution," concluded Dr. Qureshi. “Early minimally invasive spine surgery can prevent future complications. We're not only caring for patients while they are young, but also helping them in the long run.”

Reference

Robotic Pars Repair Allows Early Return to Activity for Adolescents with Symptomatic Spondylolysis: A Case Series

Authors: Austin Kaidi MD, MSc, Michelle Zabat, MD, Amy Xu, MD, Adin Ehrlich, BS, Tomoyuki Asada, MD, PhD, Harvinder Sandhu, MD, Russel Huang, MD, Sravisht Iyer, MD, and Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA

The new Spine Center joins two additional facilities HSS recently opened to expand its footprint in Northern New Jersey: HSS Paramus – Midland Ave, a full-service outpatient center; and the HSS Northern NJ Surgery Center in Mahwah, which marks the first-ever HSS surgery center dedicated to ambulatory procedures in the state. Together, these facilities provide Bergen County residents and beyond with greater access to world-class surgical and non-surgical care across a broad range of specialties.

“HSS has long set the standard for excellence and innovation in spinal care,” said HSS President and CEO and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus, Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “Together with the HSS Northern NJ Surgery Center and HSS Paramus – Midland Avenue, the Spine Center reflects our commitment to making high-quality care accessible to local communities as well as the growing need for spine services in New Jersey.”

A key feature of the center is its integrated approach to spinal health. A multidisciplinary team of experts—including specialists in spine surgery, pain management, neurology, physiatry, and radiology—work together to deliver consistent, first-rate care.  

“Each of our physicians specializes in treating people with conditions and injuries affecting the spine,” said Anil S. Ranawat, MD, a sports medicine surgeon and medical director of the HSS Spine Center in Paramus. “This high degree of expertise and collaboration ensure that each patient receives an individualized treatment plan tailored to their specific needs, supporting optimal outcomes and continuity of care.”

The spine center, located at 140 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Suite 175S, spans 14,000 square feet and includes 11 exam rooms.

“The HSS Spine Center provides specialized care for all types of conditions and injuries affecting the back and neck, from the most common problems to the highly complex, including scoliosis,” said Andrew A. Sama, MD, a spine surgeon and co-chief of HSS Spine. “Our team includes physicians with expertise in the latest nonsurgical approaches, as well as skilled spine surgeons with advanced training and special expertise.”

At HSS, conservative treatment is always the first line of care, while surgery is the last resort, said Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA, a spine surgeon and co-chief of HSS Spine. “A variety of therapies are available to address pain, prevent further damage and help patients regain mobility without the need for surgery,” he explained. “However, if it is needed, HSS spine surgeons are at the forefront of robotic-assisted and minimally invasive procedures that are beneficial for patients.”

Surgeries are performed at the HSS Northern NJ Surgery Center in Mahwah or at the main hospital in Manhattan.

For more information about the HSS Spine Center, please visit: www.hss.edu/njspine

The Tribute Dinner is HSS’s premier fundraising event recognizing physicians, philanthropists and business leaders who have made a major impact in the field of musculoskeletal medicine. The evening, hosted by WABC-TV Eyewitness News anchor Sade Baderinwa, featured entertainment by Emmy Award-winning comedian Jim Gaffigan and a musical performance by The Castellows.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest recognition for an outstanding healthcare leader at HSS. “Both Dr. Albert and Dr. Press have made significant contributions to the advancement of musculoskeletal medicine and exemplify the finest qualities found in physicians,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, surgeon-in-chief and medical director at HSS. “Their knowledge and skill in their respective fields and commitment to providing the highest quality of care make them the kind of doctors you would want for your own family.”

The HSS Tribute Dinner Award recognizes outstanding achievements in business and service to the community. “We celebrate Ken Wilson not only for his illustrious career but also for his many years of leadership and support at HSS,” said HSS President and CEO Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “We are privileged to recognize him for his 24 years of service on the HSS Board of Trustees, including five years as Board Chairman. During his tenure, his strong leadership and vision for the future led to unprecedented growth, with an expansion of HSS services not only in New York but also in Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida.”

This year’s Tribute Dinner, attended by over 800 guests and raised more than $6.5 million for patient care, research and medical education.

HONOREES

Kendrick R. Wilson, III

Mr. Wilson is Chairman Emeritus of the HSS Board of Trustees, having served in that role from 2013 to 2018. During his tenure, he oversaw a major expansion of HSS services and locations. In total, he served on the Board from 1998 to 2022, at which time he became a Life Trustee.

Mr. Wilson is best known for his career in the banking industry, where he gained the respect of his peers for his strategic insight and leadership. During his long career on Wall Street, he played a role in some of the most significant transactions in the financial services industry. At the height of the financial crisis of 2008, President George W. Bush asked him to work as an adviser to then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to help resolve the financial crisis.

Mr. Wilson retired as Vice Chairman of BlackRock, Inc. in the first quarter of 2018 and was a member of its Global Executive Committee. He also served as Chairman of BlackRock's Human Capital Committee and BlackRock Alternative Investors. Before going to Washington in the summer of 2008, he was Vice Chairman, Investment Banking of Goldman Sachs & Co. and a member of Goldman's Executive Office. He also served as Chairman of Goldman's Financial Institutions Group.

He has served on the boards of numerous public and private corporations in the United States and overseas. In addition to HSS, he is a Trustee Emeritus of the Montana Land Reliance and Middlebury College. Mr. Wilson also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Montana State University Foundation.

Todd J. Albert, MD

Over the years, Dr. Albert has earned a reputation as a highly skilled and greatly respected spine surgeon nationally and internationally. He is Surgeon-in-chief Emeritus and Richard Rogers Professor to Advance Spine Care at HSS, as well as a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical School. His practice specializes in the treatment of cervical spine disorders as well as degenerative and traumatic conditions of the spine.

Dr. Albert is a member of multiple national and international medical societies. He is president- elect of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons and served as president of the Cervical Spine Research Society and Scoliosis Research Society.

Dr. Albert has written more than 90 book chapters, edited 14 books and published more than 450 peer-reviewed articles. He has received outstanding paper awards from the North American Spine Society, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the Cervical Spine Research Society. He serves on the editorial boards for several academic journals. He has been recognized with the John J. Gartland Award for Resident Education and the Jean McDaniel mentorship award at HSS. He was also awarded the Nicolas Andry Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.

Joel M. Press, MD

Dr. Press is Physiatrist-in-Chief and the Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz Chair in Physiatry

at HSS and a professor of rehabilitation medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has published and edited multiple articles and textbooks, chaired numerous courses and lectures extensively nationally and internationally on the rehabilitation of spine and sports-related injuries.

Prior to joining HSS, Dr. Press was an attending physician at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago from 1988 to 2016. In 1989, he founded and directed the Spine and Sports Rehabilitation Centers at the Institute. He was a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Chair of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He served as Vice President of External Relations and the Executive Medical Director for Outpatient Physician Services at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

He has been an oral board examiner and written board examination-item writer for the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is a past president of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the North American Spine Society and the Physiatric Association of Spine, Sports and Occupational Rehabilitation.

Many spinal surgeries require the use of implants called pedicle screws to stabilize the spine, and precise positioning is critical for a successful surgery. “Compared to conventional free-hand techniques, both robotic-assisted navigation and the use of augmented reality have demonstrated superior accuracy,” said Darren R. Lebl, MD, MBA, a spine surgeon and director of research at HSS, and principal investigator of the study. “Our study is the first to directly compare RAN to AR with respect to screw placement precision.”

Over the last decade, numerous robotic-assisted navigation and augmented reality systems designed for spine surgery have emerged. “In addition to enhanced accuracy, the potential advantages of both technologies include reduced radiation exposure and provide for improved safety in spine surgery,” Dr. Lebl notes. “A growing number of major medical centers nationwide are using at least one of these technologies.”  

RAN involves robotic guidance of surgeon-operated instruments. A robotic arm, along with 3D images of the patient’s anatomy and navigation technology similar to GPS, enables the surgeon to perform a minimally invasive procedure that is planned ahead of time on advanced software. AR-assisted spine surgery superimposes 3D images of a patient’s anatomy onto the surgeon’s visual field during surgery via an augmented reality headset. A preoperative CT scan of the patient’s spine is used to plan and perform the surgery.

The HSS study included 212 adult spine surgery patients who had a total of 1,211 pedicle screws placed using either robotics (108 individuals received 827 screws) or augmented reality (104 patients received 384 screws) between June 2020 and October 2023. They underwent surgery in the lumbar and/or sacral spine for degenerative spinal conditions. One experienced surgeon performed all of the robotic cases, while two other experienced spine surgeons used the AR system.

The position of each pedicle screw was assessed after surgery based on either CT scan or 3D fluoroscopy using the Gertzbein-Robbins classification system, which assigns a grade of A, B, C or D to evaluate accuracy. The HSS researchers considered Grades A and B to be acceptable. The A rating is assigned to screw placement completely within the pedicle, a bony structure on the vertebra that protects the spinal cord. Grade B, still acceptable, is assigned to a screw that is 2mm (1/16 inch) outside of the desired location. In the study, any screw with a Grade C or D would be deemed unacceptable.

After surgery, two independent spine surgeons assigned a grade to all the pedicle screws. No significant difference was found between RAN and AR screw placement in terms of accuracy, with 99.6% of RAN screws rated as Grade A or B, and 98.7% of AR screws classified as A or B. Overall, 92.6% of the screws achieved the top Grade A rating.

“Our results confirmed excellent accuracy for both techniques, making both robotics and AR safe tools for accurate positioning of lumbosacral pedicle screws,” Dr. Lebl said. “However, a higher rate of Grade A screws was seen in the RAN group, potentially highlighting superior precision for robotics.”

Dr. Lebl believes the study represents the future of spine surgery. “Our team at HSS is working to advance spine surgery to make it safer, less invasive and more precise, with less radiation exposure,” he explains. “Our team has already implemented spine surgery with real-time confirmation of implant accuracy in the operating room so that everything is optimally positioned before the patient goes to the recovery room. In the future, more focus will be on decisions regarding the timing and type of surgery, and the actual execution of the surgery will become much more automated.”

As Co-Chief of HSS Spine and holder of the Patty and Jay Baker Chair in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Dr. Qureshi is an internationally recognized leader in the field of minimally invasive and motion-sparing spine surgery. In his expanded role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Qureshi will oversee clinical operations and quality across all HSS Florida locations and for HSS at NCH. He will also partner with HSS Florida CEO Tara McCoy to make HSS care more accessible to more people across the state of Florida and cultivate relationships with industry, employers and other strategic partners. Dr. Qureshi will maintain his leadership role and clinical practice at the HSS Main Campus in New York.

“I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Qureshi to our team. He brings a wealth of clinical experience and proven leadership history to HSS Florida,” said Ms. McCoy. “I’m looking forward to collaborating with him to expand high-quality leading-edge treatment options to patients across the state.”

“I am honored and deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with a dynamic Florida clinical team and staff who are dedicated to improving orthopedic care in the communities we serve,” Dr. Qureshi said. “Together, we will continue to provide more people with the high-quality orthopedic care they have come to expect from HSS.”

David Backstein, MD, is Appointed Medical Director of HSS at NCH

Dr. Backstein is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in primary and revision total knee replacement and primary hip replacement. He has special expertise in the use of minimally invasive and robotic techniques in joint replacement surgeries. Dr. Backstein, who joined HSS at NCH earlier this year from the University of Toronto where he led the division of orthopedics at Mount Sinai Hospital, is the recipient of numerous awards for clinical research and has published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He regularly presents his work at conferences all over the country and around the globe.

Dr. Backstein succeeds Dr. Helfet, who has helped to guide the first year of the HSS at NCH collaboration. As Founding Medical Director, Dr. Helfet will continue to serve the Naples community, providing education on HSS and the new HSS at NCH Musculoskeletal Center as well as partnering with the HSS and NCH philanthropy teams. Additionally, he will serve as a conduit between HSS at NCH and HSS’s main campus in New York City, helping to foster increased clinical alignment.

“Dr. Helfet’s expertise has been paramount in establishing the musculoskeletal center and the Orthopedic Service, and his collaboration with Dr. Backstein will ensure that our world-class orthopedic care and outstanding patient experience are seamless for communities in southwest Florida,” said Dr. Padgett. “Dr. Backstein’s leadership complements our dedication to excellence and to move healthcare forward for the residents of Florida and beyond.”

“We are excited about these additions to leadership. We continue to strengthen our collaboration while enhancing our ability to deliver outstanding orthopedic health services,” said Paul Hiltz, President and CEO, NCH. “This marks an exciting new chapter for HSS at NCH.”

“Fostering a stronger collaboration between HSS and NCH clinicians, researchers, and industry partners to find clinical solutions for patients in our Florida communities will be a primary focus for me in my new role,” said Dr. Backstein. “I’m looking forward to working with Dr. Helfet and the greater care team to bridge the gap between clinical need and outcomes.”

The HSS at NCH musculoskeletal center, now under development, spans more than 80,000 square feet and will be the centerpiece in the HSS at NCH collaboration to elevate orthopedic care in Naples and Southwest Florida. The facility will offer outpatient and inpatient orthopedic services, including an ambulatory surgery center, imaging, and rehabilitation, and will be jointly operated by HSS and NCH. The HSS at NCH facility is scheduled to open in 2025.