"I'm like the big bartender for the hospital; everyone comes up to me to tell me what's going on," the father of three and avid Mets fan said of his elected position with a two-year term.

Aside from screening applicants and performing hundreds of surgeries a year, Dr. Ouzounian makes sure concerns among the hospital's ever-growing number of surgeons are immediately addressed. "They make a lot of money for the hospital," he said.

They've also been making headlines.

Peconic Bay, which last year opened a state-of-the-art surgical center, just accepted a prestigious award as one of the top hospitals in the country for general (abdominal) surgery.

The five-star rating by the Healthgrades group distinguished Peconic Bay as among the top 10 percent in the U.S. The Riverhead hospital was one of only three Long Island hospitals to receive the rating.

Having performed almost 400 surgeries last year at Peconic Bay, Dr. Ouzounian played no small part.

We caught up with him in his Hampton Bays offices.

Q: How was last year, working in the new surgical center?

A: It's just like a playground. It's the most cutting edge out there. And you can see outside the building. Windows are a big thing for people, because sometimes you can go all week without seeing the light of day. And with the facility being so nice and big, we're getting surgeons interested from all over. I've been reviewing a lot of applications, so it's really exciting.

Q: What else does your day entail?

A: Now that I'm the chairman, I have to know about what's going on. That could be interesting because, at all the [administrative] meetings, they're always talking about what's next for the hospital. Now they're talking about the potential for a robot, where you'll be able to control the surgery from across the room, like a big video game. Eventually people will be able to perform surgeries from around the world.

Q: How did you feel when you first got word of the five-star Healthgrades rating?

A: I didn't expect it. I didn't know anything like that even existed, to be honest. It was one of things where you go and you do your job and help people and then somebody comes along with an award. So it was kind of neat.

Q: What does the rating mean for the hospital?

A: The doctors know, but something like this is good in the sense that it helps the community realize all the progress. People see the five stars and maybe they think, 'I don't have to go into city. I can stay right here at home.'

mwhite@timesreview.com

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