Rosemary McLaughlin Named Board Chair at United Hebrew

Rosemary McLaughlin, a senior vice president with Signature Bank, has been named the chair of United Hebrew of New Rochelle’s board of directors, Rita Mabli, President & CEO of United Hebrew, announced today. In her new role, McLaughlin will help to ensure the organization’s leadership position in senior care and maintain its nonprofit mission to provide quality care to seniors in need.

“I’m humbled to be the first woman chair of the board,” said McLaughlin. “I’m also privileged to serve in this role at United Hebrew, where the staff is so invested in the residents’ health and well-being. The delivery of care is simply excellent here; it is head and shoulders above United Hebrew’s peer institutions.”

According to Rita Mabli, United Hebrew’s president and CEO, “Over the past several years, Rosemary has been an active board member, providing us with invaluable advice. With her guidance I know United Hebrew’s future is bright.”

McLaughlin succeeds James Staudt, attorney and partner in the firm McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, who will remain on United Hebrew’s board as a senior chair. In her announcement, Mabli thanked Staudt for his steadfast support and leadership.

“We met the growing demand for senior care services extraordinarily well in the past few years, in no small part because of the leadership of Jim Staudt and our board of directors,” said Mabli. “We are so grateful for the expertise and passion he brought to his role.”

“It’s personal”

McLaughlin’s says her relationship with United Hebrew is deeply personal. A 43+ year resident of New Rochelle, she grew up down the street from the original nursing home. “United Hebrew was always a good neighbor, a community institution. My mother lived in United Hebrew’s assisted living facility and nursing home and we couldn’t have been happier with her care. When Rita Mabli asked me to join the board in 2014, I didn’t hesitate to get involved.”

Since then, McLaughlin has provided United Hebrew with critical counsel and thoughtful advice on several initiatives, including the 2016 opening of Willow Gardens Memory Care, Westchester's first assisted living residence dedicated to those with Alzheimer's and dementia. She also served as the board liaison on the nursing home’s quality assurance and improvement committee.

“Staff efforts around quality are consistently amazing,” says McLaughlin. “They’ve earned five stars and have quality scores far better than the national averages. And it shows—the residents are always smiling and happy. So, my goal as board chair is to lend my expertise to keep the organization on firm footing and to help uphold their incredibly high standard of care.”

While up to the challenge, McLaughlin says she has big shoes to fill. “Jim Staudt has been a rock, particularly through these challenging times. I am fortunate to have worked with him and with Rita, who has incredible vision and is an extraordinary leader in her own right.”

For his part, Staudt says serving as board chair was “among the most rewarding experiences of my life.” Among the most meaningful moments of his tenure occurred when he had the chance to personally thank staff and acknowledge the importance of their work.

“One morning during Covid, I arrived very early to clap for the staff, which had become a tradition after the onset of the pandemic,” he recalled. “I saw Rita greeting individuals at 5 a.m. as they arrived by bus and train, and thanking them for putting their own health at risk to come to work. I heard staff reply, ‘My residents need me,’ or ‘I want to be here.’ For these individuals, work is not just a job. It is a vocation. They care with such energy and love. That was an inspiration to me.”

About Rosemary McLaughlin

Rosemary McLaughlin, a senior vice president with Signature Bank, began her career at National Bank of Westchester (now JP Morgan Chase) in 1977. She joined Republic National Bank in 1988 (later known as HSBC), and moved to Signature Bank in 2001. Her extensive community work includes serving as past president of the Board of Directors of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce; current chair of the New Rochelle Republican City Committee and treasurer of the Westchester County Republican Committee; member of the City of New Rochelle Youth Bureau Board of Commissioners; and chair of the New Rochelle Board of Assessment Review. She also served as president of the New Rochelle Day Nursery Board of Directors, president of the New Rochelle Zonta Club, vice president of the Huguenot-New Rochelle Historical Association, and chair of the Salvation Army Advisory Board. McLaughlin is also a past vice chair of the Westchester County Women's Advisory Board. She is married to Charles G. McLaughlin and has two sons: William Robert and Thomas Charles.