NYC Health + Hospitals Leadership Named to City & State’s “2023 Health Care Power 100” List

NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD, Chair of the Board of Directors José A. Pagán, PhD, President and CEO of MetroPlusHealth Talya Schwartz, MD, and infectious disease specialist Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA were named to City & State New York’s “2023 Health Care Power 100” list. This year, the publication considers the legislative victories, labor battles, newly launched initiatives and other noteworthy developments from the past 12 months. Dr. Katz and Mr. Pagán moved up three ranks from last year to the number six spot for their continued work protecting New Yorkers from COVID-19. Dr. Katz is also working closely with Mayor Eric Adams’ team to treat homeless patients, and Mr. Pagán last fall was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

“Thank you to City & State New York for this wonderful distinction alongside my esteemed colleagues. NYC Health + Hospitals’ mission has always been to provide the city’s marginalized communities with the high-quality health care they deserve. This wouldn’t be possible without the tireless work of our 43,000 employees,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “Every day we get to serve New Yorkers is a privilege and I look forward to continuing our mission.”

“I want to humbly thank City & State New York for this recognition and acknowledge my colleagues who also made the list for their tremendous work in public health care,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Board Chair José A. Pagán, PhD. “I am proud of the work we are doing at NYC Health + Hospitals to ensure that all New Yorkers can access the high-quality, comprehensive, and compassionate care they need.”

Dr. Schwartz is ranked 23rd on the list, five spots up from last year, for leading NYC Health + Hospitals’ health plan MetroPlusHealth. She recently led a rebrand reflecting the insurance carrier’s commitment to providing New Yorkers affordable health care. Dr. Gounder is recognized by City & State for her work on President Biden’s COVID-19 task force. She’s also an internist, infectious disease specialist, and epidemiologist at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.

“New York has endless possibilities and opportunities for its residents, but living in this city also presents unique challenges. Health care should not be one of them,” said MetroPlusHealth President and CEO Talya Schwartz, MD. “I am proud of my team’s work and their ongoing commitment to being a health care plan for New Yorkers by New Yorkers. Thank you, City & State New York for naming me as one of the 2023 Health Care Power 100.”

“I am honored to be named among City & State New York’s Health Care Power 100. It is a privilege to work for NYC Health + Hospitals, the crown jewel of the public health care system not only in New York City and State, but in the nation,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Infectious Disease Specialist Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA. “I am fortunate to have such remarkable colleagues who, like me, are dedicated to serving marginalized communities and providing equitable health care for all New Yorkers.”

Dr. Katz was appointed President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals in January 2018. During this time, Dr. Katz has focused on advancing the transformation of the public health care system with numerous new initiatives to expand access to primary care services, reduce administrative costs, invest in more frontline clinical staff, and build financial stability. In September 2020, NYC Care, a healthcare access program for New Yorkers who are not eligible for or cannot afford health insurance, went live citywide four months ahead of schedule under Dr. Katz’s stewardship.

Dr. Katz’s initial transformation strategy helped set the groundwork for the public health care system to combat the challenges of the unprecedented global health crisis, COVID-19. During the pandemic, the system was able to more than triple its ICU capacity, stand up a COVID-19-dedicated hotline to help mitigate dangerous overcrowding in the system’s emergency departments, transition nearly all existing ambulatory care appointments to telemedicine, and help establish the city’s Test & Trace Corps. The public health care system is now also providing critical support to facilitate the City’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters to those who are eligible.

Mr. Pagán is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health Policy and Management in the College of Global Public Health at New York University. He is also Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars. Mr. Pagán is a health economist who has led research, implementation and evaluation projects on the redesign of health care delivery and payment systems. He is interested in population health management, health care payment and delivery system reform, and the social determinants of health. He is currently a member of the Committee on Systems Approaches to Improve Patient Care by Supporting Clinician Well-Being at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science and the American Society of Health Economists.

An experienced health plan management and operations leader, Dr. Schwartz was appointed President & CEO of MetroPlusHealth in 2019. During her tenure, MetroPlusHealth has achieved a 35 percent growth in membership, a five-star rating from New York State’s Consumer Guide, a four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and an increase in overall net worth. Dr. Schwartz’s ongoing commitment to addressing the social determinants of health among New York’s historically marginalized and underserved communities is the pinnacle of her leadership, actively ensuring that MetroPlusHealth remains at the forefront of supporting its members through holistic, field-based care. Internally, she has prioritized and implemented a tech-first approach to streamlining company operations, working closely with the executive team to transform the remote workforce ability and accelerate market growth by launching telehealth and other virtual platforms.

Prior to her appointment, Dr. Schwartz served as the Chief Medical Officer at MetroPlusHealth and in the private sector, where she was the founding member of a behavioral health technology startup company. She was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. A trained physician, Dr. Schwartz earned her medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine, completed her residency in Pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and practiced at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She holds a graduate Health Services Management and Leadership certificate from George Washington University.

Dr. Gounder is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. She cares for patients on the wards at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. From November 9, 2020 to January 20, 2021, Dr. Gounder served on the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. Dr. Gounder is a Senior Fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation and for Kaiser Health News. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, her Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her medical degree from the University of Washington.

Contact:212-788-3339 | [email protected]

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthandHospitals or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.