Autumn Years Summer 2024

“This move culminates years of hard work and dedication spent on this project and marks the beginning of Valley’s new chapter. I am overjoyed to see our vision become a reality and for Valley’s future.”

“Having both campuses allows us the flexibility to offer services from these two convenient locations. This makes healthcare more accessible to our community,” she says. “For example, in Paramus our patients can schedule an appointment with a Valley physician in our medical arts building, seek emergency care at the hospital or undergo a same-day surgery in our ambulatory surgery center. In Ridgewood, patients can have their blood drawn for testing, undergo diagnostic screening procedures or Audrey is the youngest of three daughters. Her mother Sue was a teacher, and, as noted, her father Don was a hospital administrator. “I grew up in multiple places in New York, first in Queens and then on Long Island,” says Audrey. At Jericho High School she met her future husband, Scott have a mammogram.” From the beginning

Valley Hospital, Paramus, NJ.

beach,” says Audrey. “When our kids were growing up, we needed a place to take them where we could relax and reenergize. We all love to read, and well before Kindles we used to pack one suitcase full of books. For many years, we vacationed with another family, and I remember the day we turned around and the three kids were in their beach chairs, hats on, with sodas and snacks, reading books. The four of us looked at each other and said, ‘we have made it!’” Audrey recently published a book titled A Privilege to Serve, the words she used in her address to staff in 1999 when she was appointed President and CEO of The Valley

Audrey, her sisters Bernice and Rose.

Agins. “Scott was in my sister’s grade,” recounts Audrey. “He came home from college on a school break and was playing tennis on the court next to mine at a nearby park. The next night he called to ask me out and the rest is history. We have been married now for 46 years. The fun part of the story is about my mom who always took credit for our being married as she was the one who said, ‘go play tennis with your friend,’ on that day.” Audrey and Scott raised their two “Valley babies,” daughters Mara and Jenna, in Ridgewood, and she speaks about their family vacations in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. “My go to place to vacation has always been the

Hospital. Her book continues the history chronicled in the 1964 book The Story of The Valley Hospital written by J. Robert Stout, the first chair of the

hospital board. She dedicated her book “to the incredible people of Valley Health System. They make

Left to right standing are Don (dad) and Julius (grandfather); seated are Lena (grandmother) and Sue (mom); and standing are Bernice, Audrey and Rose.

SUMMER 2024 I AUTUMN YEARS 33