Daniel T. Pickett, III, has led Albany Medical Center, Albany Medical College and local hospitals in Saratoga, Hudson and Glens Falls for less than a year.
Lori Van Buren/Times Union
ALBANY — Albany Med Health System President and CEO Daniel T. Pickett III was placed on leave Saturday, less than a week after a former girlfriend publicly accused him of sexual assault in a civil court case that he characterized as a “malicious” attempt to smear his reputation.
The board of the health system, which operates Albany Medical Center, Albany Medical College and local hospitals in Saratoga, Hudson and Glens Falls, announced in a statement issued late Saturday afternoon that it had placed Pickett on paid leave for 30 days to conduct a full review of the allegations included in the ex-girlfriend’s civil action. Pickett has “categorically” denied her claims.
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An outside firm will conduct an independent review of the allegations made against Pickett “and their potential impact on the system,” according to the statement from the board that was released through Marathon Strategies, a public relations firm retained by Albany Med on Friday.
“These steps allow for a thorough and fully independent review while ensuring Albany Med’s work of caring for patients, supporting our employees, and contributing to the community continues without interruption,” the statement said.
The move comes less than a year into Pickett’s tenure at the helm of the region’s largest employer.
The assault allegation against Pickett spilled into public view Tuesday afternoon, when he and the former girlfriend appeared at a hearing in state Supreme Court in Saratoga County to dispute ownership of property from a Manhattan apartment they shared during a 15-month relationship.
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Previously: Albany Med CEO denies sexual assault claim | Albany Med CEO faces scrutiny as bitter legal fight goes public
In court documents and in sworn testimony during the hearing, Pickett’s ex-girlfriend alleged that he forced himself on her while she was sleeping in the early-morning hours of Feb. 15, 2025. The woman, who is representing herself, said in court filings that the experience caused her to withdraw from friends and family in “severe emotional distress.”
Pickett denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex. Through his attorneys, Pickett alleged that the ex-girlfriend was acting as part of a coordinated campaign to ruin his professional reputation, carried out in league with his ex-wife and another woman he dated following his contentious 2023 divorce. The three women denied that they were cooperating to smear him.
News of the allegations spread quickly among Albany Med staff. One Albany Medical College student said it was brought up in a collegewide group chat. Others said they spotted a handful of hospital employees wearing teal ribbons in support of sexual assault survivors.
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On Thursday, Albany Med Board Chair Raimundo Archibold Jr. addressed the allegations, writing in an email to Albany Med’s 16,000 employees that Pickett was involved in “civil lawsuits between two adults” that were not connected to the hospital network.
The board chair called the allegations “unsettling to read” but said the woman’s claims had been investigated by the New York City Police Department, which “closed the matter within days without charges,” he wrote.
Archibold’s comments echoed earlier statements made by Pickett’s attorney, Matthew Chauvin, who said the NYPD investigated the sexual assault allegations after the woman filed a domestic incident report in March 2026. Pickett “voluntarily and fully cooperated” and submitted to a recorded interview with investigators, Chauvin told the Times Union.
In his letter sent Thursday, Archibold praised Pickett’s leadership, which he said reflected Albany Med’s “very high standards of conduct.”
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“We expect our leaders to live our values every day,” he wrote. “Dan is doing that.”
After “several individuals” approached her at the hospital in recent days, Columbia Memorial Health President and CEO Dorothy M. Urschel said she sent a separate email to Hudson-based staff Friday.
“I recognize that these reports and related communications may have raised questions, concerns, and emotions across our workforce,” Urschel said in her email to Columbia Memorial Health employees, a copy of which was obtained by the Times Union.
Urschel did not directly mention Archibold or Pickett as she thanked staff for their work treating Hudson Valley patients.
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“We cannot allow outside circumstances to distract us from that responsibility or from the culture we have worked so hard to build together,” she added.
Albany Med leaders gave little information Saturday about what will happen during Pickett’s leave of absence. Hospital operations will be led by “senior-level teams at the system and affiliate levels” during his 30-day leave, officials said.
Pickett replaced former CEO Dennis McKenna last year as part of a sudden leadership shake-up that took many observers by surprise. Pickett was five months into a two-year term as Albany Med board chairman when he assumed the top job. A hospital spokesperson at the time called him “uniquely qualified” to oversee the region’s only academic health system, which serves a population of 3 million people across northeastern New York and western New England.
Also unclear Saturday was the fate of Pickett’s defamation lawsuit against his former girlfriend, whom he dated from late 2023 to February 2025, about 10 months before he became Albany Med CEO. His attorneys filed a civil case Monday in Saratoga County Court seeking $1 million in damages.
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New York law offers some protection to people making sexual assault claims. State lawmakers in 2020 made it harder to bring what are known as SLAPP cases, or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, designed to stifle allegations of misconduct and other types of protected speech.
The amended laws were intended to prevent retaliatory defamation suits against people who comment on public issues or speak out against public figures, Albany attorney Paul DerOhannesian II said.
“There are a lot of public people who bring suits to try to intimidate people,” he said. “The statute is designed to minimize that.”
