Autumn Years Summer 2024

udrey began her career with Valley in June 1980. She came to the healthcare

From the very beginning, Valley was a great fit. Audrey found a supportive work environment and a staff dedicated to serving and caring for others, values that resonated with her. Starting in the role of Planning Associate in 1980, Audrey was instrumental in growing all aspects of the organization over her long career, a role she continues to play having recently celebrated the opening of The Valley Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey. Sitting in a conference room at the Medical Arts Building on the Paramus Campus, wearing a tailored suit with her badge clipped to her lapel, she has “The Mark,” the 1980 employee newsletter, welcoming Audrey to the organization and introducing her as the newest Planning Associate.

system after completing her Master of Business Administration degree at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “I had looked for positions in Philadelphia, as I had worked down there,” Audrey says. However, her husband Scott Agins, a doctor of podiatric medicine, had been offered a residency in northern New Jersey so she began to consider opportunities there instead.

“Valley Update,” the employee newsletter, announcing Audrey’s appointment as President and CEO of The Valley Hospital.

the aura of a person at ease with her leadership role. As the CEO of Valley Health System, she leads more than 6,200 people, which includes over 300 Valley Medical Group physicians practicing in some 50 specialties across 90 locations. The conference room included trifold mock-ups of panels that were painted by Polish-born artist, Stefan Knapp, in 196l. His mural titled “The World”

Audrey and Michael W. Azzara, former Valley President and CEO, as she is announced President and CEO of The Valley Hospital. Audrey sought the advice of her father, Don Meyers, who worked as a hospital administrator in New York for decades. She smiles when noting that for her, being a hospital administrator is in the genes. “Dad said he had a friend at the hospital association and would call and ask him, which were the best run hospitals in New Jersey with the best hospital administrators,” Audrey says. “The friend gave him two names. The first was John Peterson, who led Valley at the time. John invited me in for an interview and we met, and here I am. I never called the second person on his list.”

Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ, campus.

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AUTUMN YEARS I SUMMER 2024