KONSTANTINOS AGORITSAS
Douglaston,USA
Summary
Transformative healthcare leader skilled in flow optimization and patient safety enhancement. Utilizes strategic leadership and data-driven decision-making to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. Champions continuous improvement and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Deputy Chief Medical Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
Brooklyn, USA
01.2022 - Current
- Served as senior physician executive overseeing clinical operations, care management, social work, research, complex care, hospital flow, simulation, and infection prevention.
- Led capacity management and hospital flow efforts for System Strategic Initiative, targeting reductions in length of stay and ALOC days.
- Developed and lead the Transfer Center Committee—redesigning workflows and implementing data-driven escalation protocols that cut medical approval time by 50%, reduced patient leakage, and drove a 100% increase in inbound pediatric transfers, with additional growth in trauma and surgical subspecialty volume.
- Partnered with the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer to optimize hospital-wide patient throughput, achieving a 35% reduction in bed idle time, 25% decrease in ED boarding, and 0.3-day reduction in length of stay—while increasing inpatient discharge volume by 6%.
- Built a Complex Care Department dedicated to facilitating the discharge of the most medically complex inpatients, resulting in a 25% reduction in avoidable days for ALOC patients, a 30% decrease in ALOC patient length of stay, and a 50% improvement in time to identification of these high-need patients—meaningfully expanding capacity and improving care transitions.
- Reduced LOS for patients transferred out of hospital by 50% and decreased LOS for patients discharged to post-acute care facilities by 2 days—accelerating care transitions and freeing inpatient capacity.
- Streamlined discharge transportation logistics, reducing costs by 50% and saving $400,000 annually.
- Collaborated with multidisciplinary team to enhance appropriate use of urinary catheters and urine culture testing, reducing urinary catheter days by 33% and CAUTIs, directly enhancing patient safety.
- Restructured the Simulation Department—overhauling curriculum, faculty engagement, and scheduling—growing simulation learning hours by 200% and expanding access to high-fidelity training for clinical staff across departments, directly supporting patient safety and clinical competency goals.
- Successfully recruited Chiefs of Service for Ambulatory Care, Internal Medicine, and Otolaryngology following leadership vacancies—restoring departmental stability and driving measurable improvements in clinical and operational performance across these divisions.
- Conducted comprehensive staffing analyses across clinical departments, identifying locum tenens inefficiencies and implementing permanent staffing solutions that reduced locum spending by 50%—saving $2.5 million annually while improving workforce stability and continuity of care.
- Built real-time dashboards at the hospital, department, and unit level—enabling data-driven decision-making at every tier of the organization and driving measurable improvements in operational and financial performance.
- Developed and launched a Physician Leadership Series for Clinical Department chiefs, building leadership capabilities in areas including strategy, operations, finance, and communication—strengthening alignment between medical staff and hospital leadership and enhancing chiefs’ capacity to drive departmental performance.
- Led the planning and facilitation of two Physician Leadership Retreats: the first, conducted as ACMO, focused on SWOT analyses for each CMO-led clinical department—identifying strategic priorities and workforce gaps; the second, held as Deputy CMO, built on those findings and focused on expanding the GME program, directly contributing to the establishment of Kings County Hospital’s first independent Pediatrics residency.
- Collaborated with hospital and academic leadership to establish Kings County Hospital’s first independent residency program—a Pediatrics residency launching July 2026—with planned expansion into Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, marking a transformative milestone in the institution’s graduate medical education mission.
- Developed strategic partnerships with local hospitals to bring advanced endoscopy, interventional cardiology, and orthopedic trauma services on-site—eliminating the need to transfer patients for these conditions, generating $12 million in new revenue, and selectively consolidating lower-priority services to optimize the institution’s clinical portfolio.
- Presents hospital flow performance and operational improvement initiatives directly to the Executive Quality Review Committee and Board translating complex clinical and operational data into strategic insights that inform executive level decision-making and demonstrate progress toward institutional goals.
- Led the development of a centralized peer review process for the hospital, including specialty-specific performance metrics tailored to each clinical department—standardizing physician performance evaluation, promoting a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, and ensuring a fair, consistent, and transparent review framework across clinical departments.
- Served as Incident Commander during multiple emergency management situations, including mass casualty events, infrastructure failures, and public health crises, and led the development of after-action plans with the emergency management team to improve preparedness.
- Completed a comprehensive review and process optimization of provider hiring and credentialing workflows, reducing average time to credential new hires from 6 months to 4 months—accelerating physician onboarding, improving operational readiness, and ensuring faster access to care for patients.
- A 627-bed academic Level 1 Trauma center with $2.4 billion in annual revenue, 130,000 ED visits, 19,000 inpatient discharges, and 600,000 ambulatory care visits per year. Part of NYC Health + Hospitals—the nation’s largest municipal health care system—comprising 11 acute care hospitals, 29 ambulatory care centers, and 5 post-acute care centers.
Associate Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
Brooklyn, USA
11.2017 - Current
- Oversees clinical operations of a 130,000-visit Emergency Department—including a 30,000-visit Pediatric Emergency Department—with supervision of 100+ physicians.
- Led Pediatric Emergency Medicine division and system-wide PEM service line, enhancing pediatric care delivery across the organization.
- Transformed ED operations by implementing a Provider in Triage model and Vertical Process, reducing left-without-being-seen rates by 60%, cutting total ED length of stay by 25%, and decrease arrival-to-provider time by 40%—substantially improving access and patient experience across a high-volume urban emergency department.
- Fulfilled the role of interim Chief of Emergency Medicine for 6 months before transitioning to ACMO position.
- Improved access to adult and pediatric subspecialty services by creating referral guidelines and ED referral templates.
- Launched the inaugural Emergency Medicine Administration Fellowship.
- Chaired the EPIC Orders Group for the 11-hospital system implementation and led development of EPIC ASAP pediatric emergency medicine modules—producing 15+ standardized clinical guidelines, order sets, and care pathways that reduced practice variation and established a consistent, evidence-based standard of pediatric care system-wide.
- Implemented ED Utilization Review process, decreasing one-day-stay denials by 50% and enhancing resource stewardship; initiative expanded into system-wide ED UR group standardizing utilization management practices across 11 emergency departments.
- Served as Co-Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Administrative Fellowship (2019–2023), recruiting and training 2 fellows who advanced to Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Director of Adult Emergency Medicine at Kings County Hospital.
- A 627-bed academic Level 1 Trauma center with $2.4 billion in annual revenue, 130,000 ED visits, 19,000 inpatient discharges, and 600,000 ambulatory care visits per year. Part of NYC Health + Hospitals—the nation’s largest municipal health care system—comprising 11 acute care hospitals, 29 ambulatory care centers, and 5 post-acute care centers.
Chair, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Service Line
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
Brooklyn, USA
03.2007 - Current
- Led the pediatric emergency medicine strategy across all 11 NYC Health + Hospitals emergency departments.
- Built a formal governance structure to expand and standardize PEM services across the system, established interfacility agreements to foster appropriate patient transfers and equitable distribution of resources, and drives quality and safety performance for pediatric patients across the largest municipal health system in the nation.
- Oversaw Pediatric Emergency Medicine strategies within the ED Covid Action Team to ensure effective response to Covid-19.
- Created guidelines for the management of pediatric patients during Covid Surges.
- Formed Service Line Council to enhance collaboration in pediatric emergency medicine across the system.
- Established performance metrics to evaluate and track progress in pediatric emergency medicine.
- Created standard order sets and clinical guidelines for pediatric emergencies across the health system.
- Developed Pediatric Urgent Care curriculum for Emergency Medicine physicians to improve care for pediatric patients system-wide.
- Partnered with pediatric leaders across all 11 NYC Health + Hospitals facilities to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of available pediatric services at each site, identifying service gaps and opportunities to strengthen system-wide pediatric care delivery.
- Collaborated with ambulatory care leadership to implement targeted strategies that reduced Third Next Available Appointment wait times and decreased patient no-show rates, improving access and continuity of care for pediatric patients across the system.
- Developed pediatric sepsis guidelines across the system to meet New York State Department of Health requirements.
- A 627-bed academic Level 1 Trauma center with $2.4 billion in annual revenue, 130,000 ED visits, 19,000 inpatient discharges, and 600,000 ambulatory care visits per year. Part of NYC Health + Hospitals—the nation’s largest municipal health care system—comprising 11 acute care hospitals, 29 ambulatory care centers, and 5 post-acute care centers.
Site Director, PEM Education
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Brooklyn, USA
01.2013 - 12.2023
- Led pediatric emergency medicine education programs for residents, Physician Assistant trainees, and medical students, enhancing clinical skills and knowledge application.
- Supported academic medical center with five schools, including College of Medicine, serving as major training site for over fifty residency and fellowship programs, educating more than 300 residents and fellows annually.
- Coordinated academic programs and ensured compliance with institutional regulations.
- Developed training materials and led staff workshops to enhance service quality.
Associate Chief Medical Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
Brooklyn, USA
01.2019 - 01.2022
- Reporting to the Chief Medical Officer, oversaw case management, social work, and discharge planning.
- Chaired Executive Hospital Flow Committee, reporting to CEO, to develop and implement a system-wide hospital flow improvement strategy that enhanced operational efficiency.
- Collaborated with the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer to drive patient throughput improvements, reducing bed idle time by 35%, ED boarding by 25%, and length of stay by 0.3 days—while growing inpatient discharge volume by 6%.
- Implemented a Pediatric Observation Service, improving care coordination for pediatric inpatient cases.
- Acted as Incident Commander during multiple emergency management situations, coordinating hospital-wide response and partnering with the emergency management team to develop after-action plans that strengthened institutional preparedness.
- Decreased the time to social work consultation by 75%, while increasing the # of consults.
- Decreased open charts by 40% and charge capture delays by 33% through clinical improvement documentation programs.
- Standardized interdisciplinary discharge planning rounds and launched a daily 9:30 AM hospital-wide patient flow huddle serving as a real-time command center—evolving from a status check into a data-driven forum where clinical and operational leaders set daily goals, identify barriers, and deploy same-day tactics to optimize throughput, capacity, and patient placement.
- Reviewed and revised medical staff bylaws as member of Bylaws Committee, ensuring compliance with regulations and alignment with institutional policies.
- Contributed to the implementation leadership of EPIC EMR at go-live in December 2019, serving as the operational lead for the Emergency Medicine, Grand Central, Case Management, and Social Work modules—ensuring successful adoption across clinical and operational workflows.
- Led hospital COVID-19 surge response as Incident and Deputy Incident Commander, directing the rapid opening of 150+ additional beds, executing system-wide level loading, and sustaining safe, high-quality operations at peak pandemic demand.
- Built three new clinical service lines—Bariatric Surgery, Total Joint Replacement, and Neuroscience—expanding the hospital’s clinical portfolio and generating $10 million in new revenue, demonstrating the ability to grow programmatic offerings and drive financial performance alongside clinical mission.
- Collaborated with Chief Quality Officer to create individualized quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) plans for clinical departments, fostering a structured, data-driven approach to quality oversight and aligning departmental objectives with hospital-wide priorities.
- Implemented a Step-Down Service for medical and surgical patients, optimizing appropriate level of care placement and dramatically reducing boarding times—cutting ICE-level boarding from 240 to 90 minutes (63% reduction) and ICU boarding from 18 hours to 6 hours (67% reduction)—improving patient safety, care transitions, and throughput across the hospital.
- Chaired a Patient Retention Committee focused on expanding outpatient access and reducing leakage—personally visiting and collaborating with community partners to strengthen referral relationships, resulting in a 100% increase in community referrals and a meaningful reduction in patient leakage to competing institutions.
- Negotiated and launched a pediatric surgical partnership with a local children’s medical center, expanding pediatric subspecialty access for the institution.
- Planned and led the inaugural Physician Leadership Retreat, engaging CMO-led department chiefs in SWOT analyses to identify strategic priorities, operational gaps, and workforce development opportunities—laying the groundwork for departmental alignment and institutional planning that directly informed the subsequent expansion of the GME program.
- A 627-bed academic Level 1 Trauma center with $2.4 billion in annual revenue, 130,000 ED visits, 19,000 inpatient discharges, and 600,000 ambulatory care visits per year. Part of NYC Health + Hospitals—the nation’s largest municipal health care system—comprising 11 acute care hospitals, 29 ambulatory care centers, and 5 post-acute care centers.
Director, PEM Fellowship
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Brooklyn, USA
01.2009 - 06.2013
- Created the second PEM Fellowship program in Brooklyn, NY at SUNY Downstate—training 30 fellows over the life of the program through ACGME-compliant curriculum, rigorous faculty mentorship, and a focus on developing the next generation of pediatric emergency medicine leaders.
- Facilitated career advancement of alumni into leadership positions locally and nationally, enhancing the influence and reach of the PEM field.
- Supported training at academic medical center with five schools, serving as a key training site for over fifty residency and fellowship programs, educating more than 300 residents and fellows annually.
Associate Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Brooklyn, USA
07.2006 - 09.2009
- Led planning and operational transition into a new 90,000 square foot adult and pediatric Emergency Department—five times the size of the previous facility—coordinating workflows and staffing models to ensure seamless launch of one of Brooklyn’s largest emergency care facilities.
- Oversaw clinical operations and fostered interdepartmental collaboration between emergency medicine and pediatrics to enhance patient care.
- Supported academic medical center with five schools, including the College of Medicine, and facilitated training for over fifty residency and fellowship programs with more than 300 residents and fellows annually.
Attending Physician, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
Brooklyn, USA
- A 627-bed academic Level 1 Trauma center with $2.4 billion in annual revenue, 130,000 ED visits, 19,000 inpatient discharges, and 600,000 ambulatory care visits per year. Part of NYC Health + Hospitals—the nation’s largest municipal health care system—comprising 11 acute care hospitals, 29 ambulatory care centers, and 5 post-acute care centers.
- Diagnosed patient conditions through comprehensive medical evaluations.
- Developed treatment plans in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
- Managed patient care in a fast-paced hospital environment.
Education
CMO Academy -
American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)
Washington, DC10-2026
Master in Business Administration -
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA01-2016
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship -
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Columbus, Ohio01-2006
General Pediatrics Residency -
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Brooklyn, NY01-2002
Doctor of Medicine -
State University of New York, College of Medicine
Brooklyn, NY01-1999
Bachelor of Arts - Biology
New York University
New York, NY01-1995
Skills
- Quality improvement
- Patient safety
- Regulatory compliance
- Utilization management
- Clinical program development
- Data-driven decision making
- Emergency management
- Hospital-wide flow optimization
- Strategic leadership
- Physician leadership development
- Change management
- Medical staff affairs
Affiliations
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American College of Healthcare Executives
- American Association of Physician Leadership
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Academy of Pediatrics- PEMNAC Subcommittee
- Hellenic Medical Society of New York
- Institute of Healthcare Improvement
Publications
- Pediatric emergency care in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown and reopening periods, Krinsky-Diener, M., Agoritsas, K., Chao, J. H., Sinert, R., The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 56, 280–285, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2022.03.056
- Critical care and emergency department response at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, Uppal, A., Silvestri, D. M., Siegler, M., Natsui, S., Boudourakis, L., Salway, R. J., Parikh, M., Agoritsas, K., et al., NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 Research Group, Health Affairs, 39, 8, 1437–1444, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00901
- Inhaled foreign bodies in pediatric patients: Proven management techniques in the emergency department, Agoritsas, K., Pediatric Emergency Medicine Practice, 12, 9, 1–20, 2015
- Screening for asymptomatic chlamydia and gonorrhea in adolescent males in an urban pediatric emergency department, Maraynes, M. E., Chao, J. H., Agoritsas, K., Sinert, R., Zehtabchi, S., World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, 4, 4, 140–146, 2015, https://doi.org/10.5409/wjcp.v4.i4.140
- Predicting flow in the pediatric emergency department: Are holidays lighter?, Agoritsas, K., Krinsky-Diener, M., Chao, J. H., Sinert, R., Pediatric Emergency Care, 30, 11, 773–777, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0000000000000259
- Veinlite transillumination in the pediatric emergency department: A therapeutic interventional trial, Katsogridakis, Y. L., Seshadri, R., Sullivan, C., Agoritsas, K., Pediatric Emergency Care, 24, 2, 83–88, 2008, https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0b013e318163db5f
- Evaluation of the Quidel QuickVue test for detection of influenza A and B viruses in the pediatric emergency medicine setting by use of three specimen collection methods, Agoritsas, K., Mack, K., Bonsu, B. K., Goodman, D., Salamon, D., Marcon, M. J., Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 44, 7, 2638–2641, 2006, https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00624-06
Licenses Board Certificates
- New York State License, 236504-1
- DEA Certificate, BA7896446
- Board Certified in General Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics, 2002
- Board Certified in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics, 2006
Professional Development
- CMO Academy
- IHI Hospital Flow
- ACHE Coaching Program
- PAGNY Leadership Development Program
Timeline
Deputy Chief Medical Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
01.2022 - Current
Associate Chief Medical Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
01.2019 - 01.2022
Associate Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
11.2017 - Current
Site Director, PEM Education
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
01.2013 - 12.2023
Director, PEM Fellowship
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
01.2009 - 06.2013
Chair, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Service Line
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
03.2007 - Current
Associate Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
07.2006 - 09.2009
Attending Physician, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals Kings County
CMO Academy -
American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)
Master in Business Administration -
University of Massachusetts
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship -
Nationwide Children's Hospital
General Pediatrics Residency -
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Doctor of Medicine -
State University of New York, College of Medicine
Bachelor of Arts - Biology
New York University