Patrick Coonan, the inaugural dean of Adelphi University’s College of Nursing and Public Health, passed away on Jan. 24 at 71. He was surrounded by his family at the hospital, a family that has continuously supported him after he suffered a heart attack in 2017 that resulted in a brain injury.
Coonan was a passionate member of the Malverne and Lynbrook communities.
Born on April 12, 1954, Coonan was raised in Lynbrook and attended Malverne schools before pursuing his bachelors of science in nursing from Adelphi University. He worked in the emergency department at several hospitals, where he oversaw the nurses before taking on more administrative roles.
He met his wife, Anita, 72, at an event to support the Lynbrook Volunteer Fire Department, where Coonan and Anita’s brother, Michael Vetere Jr., both served as members. He remained an active member for 53 years after joining the department at the age of 18. He served as department chief from 1993 to 1997.
“He was loving, a force of life,” Anita said. “He’d walk in a room and it would light up. He was a great family man. His kids meant everything to him.”
Both Coonan and Anita were attending Adelphi University before they married on May 22, 1977.
Coonan trained paramedics before he began his career in academia, training the next generation of nurses. He started as a part time program director at Columbia University before becoming assistant dean at the School of Nursing.
Coonan received his Master of Public Administration in Health Care Administration from Long Island University and both his Masters and Doctorate of Education in Education and Nursing at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
In 2004, he became dean of Adelphi University School of Nursing. “That was his dream job,” David, Coonan’s son, said. “He took everything that he had learned and everything he’d worked towards, and he put it all back into the school that gave so much to him.”
Coonan was integral in the opening of the Nexus building, the home of the College of Nursing and Public Health, which he founded in 2013. As the inaugural dean, he helped oversee an expansion of students, staff, facilities, and programs before his retirement in 2017.
The Nexus Building included a state of the art nursing simulation lab that Coonan helped design. “He made sure the lab included all aspects of nursing care, maternal health, ICU, Home Care and individual patient examination rooms with high fidelity, state of the art manikins,” Deborah Ambrosio Mawhirter, an associate clinical professor at Adelphi University who worked closely with Coonan during his time as Dean, said. “He knew that simulation was the future in nursing education.”
“He wanted Adelphi’s nursing program to be on the cutting edge of technology and advancing the profession whether it was with new curriculum, continuing education or new programs,” she said.
He founded the Nursing Adelphi Sigma Theta Tau Leadership conference, which was help at Adelphi for over 15 years and attracted hundreds of nurses to the area to learn about nursing and leadership. Funds raised during the conference supported scholarships for Adelphi nursing students.
“He was devoted to developing competent clinicians, confident professionals and compassionate leaders,” Mawhirter said. “He was truly a transformational leader who found the potential in everyone, he was inspiring and motivating to students and faculty, best described as an empowering and visionary leader and a mentor to many.”
Coonan also served as the academic director of the Center for Health Innovation at Adelphi. Coonan served on several boards, including as the president of the New York State Council of Deans and Directors of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Nursing Programs, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, and advised on course learning for Nurse.com. He was a subject matter expert for consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal while also acting as the principal consultant for his own management consulting business, Infinite Horizons Consulting LLC.
Coonan’s impact through education was present outside of Adelphi, as he was a trustee on the Malverne Board of Education from 1997 to 2001 and from 2007 to 2012, four of which he served as president.
“He was a remarkable individual whose service to our school district has left an enduring legacy,” Josephine Bottitta, President of the Malverne school board, told the Herald. “Patrick Coonan devoted ten years to strengthening our schools, empowering our educators, and ensuring that every student had the opportunity to thrive.”
He received several honors over the course of his career, including lifetime achievement awards from the Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health and the Alpha Omega Chapter of Sigma Theta Tao in 2017, as well as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award from the Malverne school district in 2019.
In his personal life, Coonan enjoyed, Disney, travel, the New York Rangers, and entertaining friends in his home. “He was a Disney fanatic,” David said. “The house was covered in Disney memorabilia. He looked up to Walt Disney and studied his leadership ship style to apply in his professional life.”
Coonan designed and helped build his home in Malverne, which the family moved to in 1998. He did the carpentry, brickwork, plumbing, electrical, and landscaping, then continued to maintain the home while enjoying his pool. During Superstorm Sandy, Coonan welcomed his coworkers and community members into his home to access running water and electricity.
Family was important to Coonan. Every week his family would gather for dinner at The Brick Café in Lynbrook. In a 2016 interview with Nurse Leader, Coonan said “Friday nights center me and help me keep my life in focus.”
“He created and cultivated a family life that made sure we were never far,” David said. “We were always close.
“We all want to be people like him,” David continued.” “We want to be successful, do things to the best of our ability, work hard, and impact people.”
Coonan is survived by his wife of 48 years Anita, his children David, Lauren, Phillip, and Amy, their spouses, his grandchildren Lennon and William, and his mother Jeancarol.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association.
