NYC Health + Hospitals Leadership Named to City & State’s “2023 Health Care Power 100” List
The infectious disease expert at Bellevue Hospital is also named
January 20, 2023
NYC Health + Hospitals announced today that President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD, Chairman of the Board, Jose A. Pagan, PhD, President and CEO of MetroPlusHealth Talya Schwartz, MD, infectious disease specialist Céline Gounder, MD, SCM, FIDSA is assigned to City & State New York’s “2023 Healthcare Power 100List. This year, the publication looks at legislative victories, labor battles, newly launched initiatives, and other noteworthy developments over the past 12 months. Dr. Katz and Mr. Pagan have risen three places from last year to sixth for their continued work protecting New Yorkers from COVID-19. Dr. Katz also works closely with Mayor Eric Adams’ team to treat homeless patients, and was Mr. Pagan last fall elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
“Thank you to the City & State of New York for this remarkable distinction along with my esteemed colleagues. The mission of NYC Health + Hospitals has always been to provide the city’s marginalized communities with the quality health care they deserve. This would not be possible without the hard work of our 43,000 employees ” President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals Mitchell Katz, MD. “Every day we get to serve New Yorkers is a privilege and I look forward to continuing our mission.”
“I would like to humbly thank City & State New York for this recognition and my colleagues who also made the list for their tremendous work in public health care,” Chairman of the Board of Hospitals of New York, Jose A. Bagan, Ph.D. “I am proud of the work we do at NYC Health + Hospitals to ensure that all New Yorkers get the high-quality, comprehensive, compassionate care they need.”
Dr. Schwartz ranked 23rdResearch and development On the list, Five Spots from last year, is for a leading health plan at NYC Health + Hospitals Metroplus Health. She recently led a brand that reflects the insurance company’s commitment to providing affordable health care to New Yorkers. Dr. Gunder was honored by City & State for her work on President Biden’s COVID-19 Task Force. She is 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,” he said MetroPlusHealth President and CEO Talia Schwartz, MD. “I am proud of my team’s work and their continued 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 their 2023 Health Care Power 100.”
“I am honored to be named to City & State New York’s Health Care 100 list. It is an honor to work for NYC Health + Hospitals, the crown jewel of the public health care system not only in the city and state of New York, but in the nation,” he said. NYC Health + Hospitals / Bellevue infectious disease specialist Celine Gunder, MD, SCM, FIDSA. “I am fortunate to have special colleagues, like myself, who are dedicated to serving marginalized communities and delivering equitable health care to 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 transformation of the public healthcare system through several new initiatives to expand access to primary care services, reduce administrative costs, and invest in More frontline medical staff, building financial stability. In September 2020, NYC Care, a health care access program for New Yorkers who do not qualify for or cannot afford health insurance, was launched citywide four months ahead of schedule under the direction of Dr. Katz.
Dr. Katz’s initial transformation strategy helped lay the foundation for the public health care system to meet the challenges of the unprecedented global health crisis, COVID-19. During the pandemic, the system was able to more than triple ICU capacity, stand by a dedicated COVID-19 hotline to help relieve dangerous overcrowding in the system’s emergency departments, move nearly all current ambulatory care appointments to telemedicine, and assist in setting up a test and trace corps in the city. The public healthcare system is also now providing critical support to facilitate the city’s deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters for those who qualify.
Mr. Pagan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health Policy and Management at New York University’s School of Global Public Health. He is also an adjunct senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the National Advisory Committee for Health Policy Research Scholars at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Mr. Pagan is a health economist who has led research, implementation and evaluation projects on redesigning healthcare delivery and payment systems. It is concerned with population health management, healthcare payments, delivery system reform, and social determinants of health. He is currently a member of the Committee on Systems Approaches to Improving Patient Care by Supporting the Well-Being of Clinicians at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Interdisciplinary Society for Population Health Sciences and the American Association of Health Economists.
An experienced health plan administrator and operations leader, Schwartz was named President and CEO of MetroPlusHealth in 2019. During her tenure, MetroPlusHealth achieved 35 percent growth in membership, a five-star rating from New York State’s Consumer Guide, and a four-star rating of centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, and an increase in overall net worth. Dr. Schwartz’s continued commitment to addressing the social determinants of health among New York’s historically marginalized and underserved communities is the pinnacle of her leadership, as she actively ensures that MetroPlusHealth remains at the forefront of supporting its members through comprehensive field care. Internally, it prioritized and implemented a technology-first approach to streamlining company operations, working closely with the executive team to transform the ability of the remote workforce and accelerate market growth through the launch of telehealth and other virtual platforms.
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Schwartz served as Chief Medical Officer at MetroPlusHealth and in the private sector, where she was the founding member of a behavioral health technology startup. She was a postdoctoral 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 Sackler College of Medicine, completed her pediatrics residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and practiced at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Health Services Administration and Leadership from George Washington University.
Dr. Gounder is a prof Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University 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. Gunder worked at Biden Harris COVID-19 Transmission Advisory Board. Dr. Gunder He is a senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health Kaiser Family Foundation And for Kaiser Health News. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology from Princeton UniversityMaster of Science in Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healthand her medical certificate from Washington University.
Contact: 212-788-3339; PressOffice@nychhc.org
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation, serving more than 1 million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A strong network of outpatient clinics, primary care and neighborhood specialty centers supports care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, the Home Care Agency and the MetroPlus Health Plan – all supported by 11 primary hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on enabling New Yorkers, without exception, to live the best lives possible. For more information visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org And keep in touch on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/New York Hospitals or Twitter at @tweet.