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Hochul appoints Dr. Mary T. Bassett as Department of Health commissioner

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Wed, Sep 29th 2021 02:40 pm

Gov. Kathy on Wednesday announced Mary T. Bassett, M.D., M.P.H., was appointed commissioner of the Department of Health. With more than 30 years of experience devoted to promoting health equity and social justice, both in the U.S. and abroad, Bassett's career has spanned academia, government, and not-for-profit work. Her appointment is effective Dec. 1.

"Our recovery from this pandemic requires tested leadership and experience to improve health equity and access across the state, and Dr. Bassett is perfectly equipped to lead the New York State Department of Health during this critical moment," Hochul said. "When I was sworn in as governor, I pledged to build a talented team with the skills, knowledge and expertise to stop the spread of COVID-19, return our lives to normalcy, and move our state forward. Dr. Bassett is both a highly regarded public health expert and an exemplary public servant, and I look forward to working with her to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy."

Bassett said, "I am humbled and honored to return to my home state of New York to lead the Department of Health at this pivotal time. The pandemic underscored the importance of public health, while also revealing inequities driven by structural racism. As we move to end the pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to create a state that is more equitable for all New Yorkers. I look forward to working toward this with Gov. Hochul and the team at the Department of Health."

Bassett currently serves as director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

From 2014 through summer 2018, she served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she made racial justice a priority and worked to address the structural racism at the root of the city's persistent gaps in health between white New Yorkers and communities of color. Bassett also led the department's response to Ebola, Legionnaires' disease and other disease outbreaks.

In 2002, Bassett was appointed deputy commissioner of health promotion and disease prevention at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In this role, she led the division responsible for New York City's tobacco control interventions and food policy, including the nation's first calorie posting requirements and trans-fat restrictions. Her signature program was the launch of district public health offices in several neighborhoods long harmed by racial/ethnic and economic health inequities. These offices now lead targeted, multisectoral, multiagency strategies to reduce excess burden of disease. From 2009-14, Bassett served as program director for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's African Health Initiative and Child Well-Being Prevention Program.

Early in her career, she served on the medical faculty at the University of Zimbabwe for 17 years, during which time she developed a range of AIDS prevention interventions. Building on this experience, she went on to serve as associate director of health equity at the Rockefeller Foundation's Southern Africa office, overseeing its Africa AIDS portfolio. After returning to the U.S., she served on the faculty of Columbia University, including as associate professor of clinical epidemiology in its Mailman School of Public Health.

Bassett's many awards and honors include the prestigious Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health, a Kenneth A. Forde Lifetime Achievement Award from Columbia University, a Victoria J. Mastrobuono Award for Women's Health, and the National Organization for Women's Champion of Public Health Award. She has also been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. For many years, she served as an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health. Her recent publications include articles in The Lancet and in the New England Journal of Medicine addressing structural racism and health inequities in the U.S.

Bassett grew up in New York City. She received a B.A. in history and science from Harvard University, an M.D. from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons (serving her residency at Harlem Hospital), and an M.P.H. from the University of Washington.

"We are thrilled that Mary will be bringing her strong leadership, fierce commitment to equity, and deep understanding of public health policy to this new role as New York state health commissioner," said Michelle A. Williams, dean of the faculty at Harvard Chan School. "While we will greatly miss her presence here, we are proud that she will be in a position to advance evidence-based policies, firmly grounded in science, to protect and improve the health of every New York resident. We know she will be a champion for all people across the state."

Lilliam Barrios Paoli, former New York City deputy mayor for health and human services, said, "I congratulate Gov. Hochul on her appointment of Dr. Mary Bassett as New York state's health commissioner. I cannot think of anyone more qualified or better suited to head public health in our state at this time. Dr. Bassett is a superb crisis manager. Working with her during both the Ebola and the Legionnaires' disease crises was a lesson on how to manage effectively and gracefully under enormous pressure. I can state unequivocally that it was her leadership that enabled New York City to successfully navigate those difficult situations. Her commitment to end health disparities is unquestionable, as is her belief that good public health goes hand in hand with social, racial and gender equity. I firmly believe that with this appointment, Gov. Hochul is putting public health in New York state in the best possible hands."

1199SEIU President George Gresham said, "Gov. Hochul has made a great choice with the appointment of Dr. Mary Bassett as New York state's health commissioner. As New York City's health commissioner, Dr. Bassett led our health care heroes through unprecedented challenges, including Ebola. As we face another unprecedented challenge, Dr. Bassett's public health expertise, knowledge of health care systems, and commitment to health equity will be a tremendous asset to the state. We look forward to working with her again."

Aletha Maybank, M.D., M.P.H., senior vice president and chief health equity officer for the American Medical Association, said, "New York will be in extremely competent hands with Dr. Bassett. She is an internationally recognized trailblazer known for building better systems to protect and promote the people's health and advance equity and justice. Having the privilege to launch the Center for Health Equity at the New York City Department of Health under her leadership set a national high bar for how government can hold themselves accountable to embedding equity and racial justice in the culture, practices and policies of the institution and beyond. These efforts were recognized by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Core to her being and her equity strategy is centering the voices and ideas of the most marginalized to help uplift all New Yorkers. One of the greatest gifts I learned from Dr. Bassett is advocacy – unabashedly standing up for people and for what is right, healthy and equitable. I am truly excited for New York, and the country, to have her back in public service at this critical time."

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