Robert N. Swidler, JD

Adjunct Faculty, Alden March Bioethics Insititute

Robert N. Swidler was general counsel to St. Peter's Health Partners from 2011 until July 2023 when he retired from that position. From 2022-23,  Swidler was also general counsel to St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse. He held many other positions during his distinguished career. While at the NYS Task Force on Life and the Law from 1985-1990, Swidler helped develop proposed laws and regulations on brain death, do-not-resuscitate orders, health care proxies, organ transplantation, and surrogate parenting arrangements – many of which were enacted. While in the governor’s counsel’s office in the early 1990s, he helped draft and secure enactment of numerous health laws, including the state's Medicaid Managed Care Law, Health Care Proxy Law, and Standby Guardianship Law. Later, he participated in negotiations among state legislators and governor’s office staff that resulted in enactment of New York's Family Health Care Decisions Act.

Swidler is a graduate of Columbia Law School ('82), SUNY Binghamton (BA '77, MA '78 U.S. History) and Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan ('72).