NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD, ranked fourth on City and State’s “Pride Power 100” list.
Dr. Katz is recognized for leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding access to health care, and for leading the financial recovery of the nation’s largest municipal health system.
New York, New York
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mitchell Katz, MD has been listed on the City and New York State “Pride Power 100” list of 2022. In fourth place, Dr. Katz is recognized for leading the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding access to healthcare by launching NYC Care for New Yorkers who are ineligible or unable to afford other health coverage options, and for stabilizing the system health by closing a structural deficit of about 2 billion dollars. In March, the board of directors of NYC Health + Hospitals unanimously confirmed its support for Dr. Katz to continue to serve as president and CEO following the appointment of Mayor Eric Adams.
“It is an honor to be recognized among so many amazing LGBTQ + supporters,” he said Dr. Katz. “But I want to use this opportunity to put the spotlight on the truly inspiring health heroes of NYC Health + hospitals who provide responsive, compassionate and respectful care to thousands of LGBTQ + New Yorkers. Health care is a human right, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity “.
City & State’s “Pride Power 100” list honors LGBTQ + leaders in New York who serve in local and state government, as well as lead the organizations, nonprofits, businesses and other institutions shaping the landscape of the region in the LGBTQ + community and beyond. This is the second consecutive year that Dr. Katz has made the list and ranked in the top ten.
Since Dr. Katz’s appointment in 2018, the healthcare system has greatly expanded access to healthcare, including the creation of NYC Care, a universal healthcare access program that provides care to more than 100,000 uninsured New Yorkers. He oversaw the creation of a modern electronic health record system, increased the number of nurses working in the system, developed a modern ambulance transport system, and launched new roadside assistance programs to improve the health of homeless New Yorkers. He also spearheaded NYC Health + Hospitals’ financial breakthrough by eliminating the deficit by signing more New Yorkers into health insurance and properly billing insurance plans.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Katz provided strategic guidance to Mayor Bill de Blasio, directing the municipal health system’s response to the surge in patients that peaked to a maximum of 3,700 patients, calling for tripling of ICU capacity to 11 hospitals to save New Yorkers. As the epicenter of the epicenter, NYC Health + Hospitals has become the trusted care provider for thousands of New Yorkers, led the city’s Test & Trace operation, and administered over 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccines.
Previously, Dr. Katz was Director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, which combines the departments of health services, public health and mental health into a single entity to provide integrated care and planning within Los Angeles. Angeles. The agency has a budget of $ 7 billion, 28,000 employees and a large number of community partners. Dr. Katz was Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS), the second largest public safety net system in the United States. During this time, he created the outpatient care network and transferred more than 350,000 patients to a primary care home. He eliminated the DHS deficit through increased revenue and decreased administrative expenses and used ACA funding to pay for a new integrated electronic health system. He has transferred more than 4,000 clinically complex patients from hospitals and emergency wards to independent housing, thus eliminating costly unnecessary hospital care and giving patients the dignity of their own home.
Prior to coming to Los Angeles, Dr. Katz served for 13 years as the Director and Health Officer of the San Francisco Department of Health. He is known for funding the needle exchange, creating San Francisco San Francisco, outlawing the sale of tobacco in pharmacies, and winning electoral measures for the rebuilding of Laguna Honda Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital.
He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School. He completed a major in internal medicine from UCSF Medical School and was RWJ Clinical Scholar. Dr. Katz continues to practice as a general practitioner and assists patients at NYC Health + Hospitals / Gouverneur on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
He is the deputy director of JAMA Internal Medicine, an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (formerly Institute of Medicine) and the recipient of the 2015 Los Angeles County Medical Association Health Champion of the Year.