2022 Power Players in Health Care

Sarah Ravenhall is executive director at the New York State Association of County Health Officials, a nonprofit membership association representing all 58 local health departments in New York. With over 10 years of experience in the field, she has led a diverse array of initiatives in hospital, population health-based and nonprofit membership association settings. In 2022, Sarah led the public health advocacy community in its successful effort to secure a $51.4M increase in state funding in 2022 for local public health services.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of seven, so I grew up around health professionals and health care advocates, and I greatly respected their desire to empower people to take care of their personal health. I also witnessed inequities in access to care when speaking with people growing up and wanted to be a part of hearing people’s challenges and stories, and then finding a way to improve systems and bridge gaps.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Public health agencies are experiencing alarming gaps in position vacancies due to uncompetitive salaries, inability to find qualified candidates, and the length of time it takes to hire staff. Of particular challenge is our ability to hire public health nurses, environmental sanitarians, and administrative staff. These professionals provide vaccines, education, restaurant inspections, and manage the various grant funding that maintains our ability to provide services. Addressing post-pandemic workforce shortages will be crucial.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
Our State can ensure access to affordable health care by recognizing and leveraging the value in its local public health infrastructure. Local health departments deliver evidence-based prevention strategies that are underpinned in health equity and bridging gaps in care. These services often go unnoticed yet are critical to reducing avoidable hospital admissions and improving the health outcomes of communities. Stronger foundational funding for prevention and local health agencies is key to reducing health care costs.

What does the future of health care look like?
My dream for the future of our health landscape is for public health agencies to be recognized as distinctly separate and equally as valuable when compared to clinical health care. After supporting local health departments 24/7 during the COVID pandemic, I worry that we are not fully equipped for future public health emergencies due to understaffing, limited and inflexible funding structures, and a fatigued, underappreciated workforce. The time is now to implement lessons learned.

Wayne J. Riley, MD, is president of the State University of New York, Downstate Health Sciences University. Dr. Riley is a distinguished physician, academician, clinician-educator, and administrator; the institution that he leads is the only academic medical center serving Brooklyn. In February 2021, New York City Mayor Eric Adams appointed Dr. Riley as one of four co-chairs of the New York City Covid Recovery and Health Equity Task Force. He is also chair of the Board of Trustees of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
As a second-generation physician, I chose to follow in the footsteps of my late physician father who was a terrific role model and servant leader. I love the intellectual rigor, high expectations, and sense of duty that those of us who are engaged in health care feel on a daily basis to serve our patients and communities.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
This uncertain “post-covid” era is proving to be very challenging for our various health care and public health systems. Workforce development will continue to be one of the most critical components of how we provide care and develop public health capacity to address future disease threats. Accordingly, there must be consistent investments and funding on the part of state, local, and the federal governments to serve New Yorkers.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
Consistent and sustained support for providing patients with high quality affordable care will, in part, be realized with more efforts at population health, move towards more value-based payment and reimbursement schemes and more effective use of technology to lower costs and improve patient experience.

What does the future of health care look like?
I often tell our students that health care will continue to be “dynamic” and characterized by innovation, enhanced technology, increasing genomic therapies, and future pandemics. I encourage them to remain engaged and passionate about health equity and providing culturally competent and excellent care to the diverse populations of New York and beyond.

State Senator Gustavo Rivera represents the 33rd District in the Bronx. Since taking office, he has focused on addressing health inequity. In 2018, Senator Rivera became chair of the Senate Health Committee. In his role, he collaborates with colleagues, stakeholders, and constituents to improve health outcomes, increase access to care, and ensure a viable health care system. He is the sponsor of the New York Health Act to establish a single-payer statewide health care system.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
I believe that healthy communities lead the way to thriving communities. The Bronx has ranked as the unhealthiest county in the state for over a decade as we grapple with poverty, injustice, and underinvestment. As a legislator and a neighbor, I work tirelessly on changing laws and delivering resources to achieve the health equity my fellow Bronxites deserve.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the deep-rooted flaws of our health care system. We need to change how health care is delivered, especially for low-income New Yorkers and communities of color. We must transform a health care system that centers profit to one that treats all patients regardless of their income or insurance plan. We must invest in guaranteeing care for every New Yorker and supporting all of our health care providers.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
The pandemic revealed how egregiously unequal our health care system is. I sponsor the New York Health Act to create the most comprehensive, progressive, and advanced health care system in the country. It will guarantee New Yorkers high-quality care no matter their employment, age, income, race, or immigration status. We must invest health care dollars into guaranteeing care for every New Yorker, not making profits for health insurance companies.

What does the future of health care look like?
Treating health care as a human right is the future. By addressing systemic barriers to care and ensuring providers offer quality care to everyone, a single-payer system would improve our State’s health through universally accessible primary and preventive care; it would equip health care providers with adequate resources for all patients, and would end the struggle of delaying or avoiding care because of its cost.

Ramon Rodriguez has served as president and CEO of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center since January 2012. His dedicated service and leadership have been invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the first reported COVID death occur at the community hospital. Mr. Rodriguez attended the City College of New York for his bachelor’s degree before earning a JD at DePaul University College of Law.

David Sandman, PhD, is president and chief executive officer of the New York Health Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers. Since 2006, NYHealth has invested more than $177 million in initiatives to improve health care and public health in New York State. Equally important, the Foundation is committed to sharing the results and lessons of its grantmaking; informing policy and practice through timely, credible analysis and commentary; and serving as a convener of health care leaders and stakeholders throughout the state.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
I loved the idea that systems-level health policy changes can make a real difference in people’s lives. And that’s what I get to do every day: work to make New York a healthier place where people have what they need to lead healthy lives and get excellent care when they’re sick.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
A lack of investment in primary care. Primary care is a rare “win-win” for health care: it’s associated with both better health and lower costs. We know from other states’ experience that dedicating a larger share of health care dollars to primary care can increase access to care, address health care workforce shortages, and improve health equity. Yet we chronically underinvest in primary care; it accounts for only 5–7% of total health care spending.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
Ultimately, an emphasis on preventive and primary care will save money in our health care system. Making health care affordable for New Yorkers also requires addressing medical debt. More than 52,000 lawsuits were filed against patients by New York hospitals between 2015 and 2020. Low-income communities and communities of color have been particularly hard hit by unfair billing practices. Getting sick and needing health care should not be financially ruinous for patients and their families.

What does the future of health care look like?
My hope is that New York’s health care system is one where patients are always the north star. That means a system that emphasizes prevention, primary care, and equity. One that recognizes that healthy food is medicine. One where everyone — regardless of their income, where they live, or what they look like — gets the high-quality care they need and deserve without having to worry it might bankrupt them.

As president and CEO of VNS Health, Dan Savitt leads one of the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organizations in the nation. VNS Health programs and health plans meet the diverse health care needs of the more than 43,000 New York residents the organization touches on any given day. For nearly 130 years, VNS Health has been embedded in the community, working to ensure that the most vulnerable have access to the care and services they need.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
Helping to make health care simple to understand, easy to access, and meaningful in outcomes has been a vision for me from the start. As VNS Health’s CEO, every day brings opportunities to improve health care access and quality for vulnerable New Yorkers. Working with our talented clinicians and supporting teams is not only rewarding — it’s a chance to support the critical role of home- and community-based services in today’s changing health care landscape.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Many in our rapidly aging population struggle to get the care that they need. Home-based long-term personal care, skilled home health services, and critical behavioral health interventions help bridge that gap and keep seniors safe, healthy, and out of hospitals and nursing homes. A tremendous workforce shortage however, coupled with inadequate payment mechanisms, undermines these programs and puts seniors at risk. We are working with our federal, state, and local partners to solve this crisis.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
To ensure that vulnerable seniors and communities of color have access to care, NYS needs to act now on payment and policy reform to solve the workforce crisis. We need Medicaid incentives for innovative care models — especially behavioral health, and, by integrating Medicaid and Medicare services, we can improve health outcomes, while controlling health care costs. NYS should also work with CMS to share Medicare savings that come from Medicaid long-term care investment.

What does the future of health care look like?
The future of health care is in the home. With hospital and nursing home capacity highly constrained, more people with more complex health care challenges will be having those needs addressed at home instead of in an institutional setting. This will require more than payment policy changes and value-based incentives. We need more robust care models that leverage both technology and in-home direct care, coupled with information sharing and close partnerships across providers and payers.

District 29 Councilmember Lynn Schulman has an extensive background in the field of health. With decades of experience in health care advocacy and leadership born out of her early work during the HIV epidemic, she now sits on the New York City Council as the chair of the Health Committee. In this seat, she is devoted to continuing her work in health by helping marginalized communities such as her own LGBTQIA+ community with legislation and hearings regarding the Monkeypox virus, and her Queens community with the push for increased hospital capacity in the borough.

Nancy Sciocchetti serves as managing director at Mercury Public Affairs, working with corporate and nonprofit health care providers on operational issues, licensure, corporate strategy, and government regulations. She is a regular speaker and writer on compliance, board relations, and health law. Nancy has received numerous awards, including Upstate New York Super Lawyer, the Kimberly A. Triosi-Paton Leadership Award from the Capital District Women’s Bar Association, and the Legal Aid Society Distinguished Service Award.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
It sort of found me! I got a job as a second year law student working at a firm that represented health care providers, back before attorneys really specialized in health law. And I have worked in the field — and loved it — ever since.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Access. In my opinion, we have some of the best health care providers in the world right here in New York. But the byzantine system of access to those providers, whether due to inability to pay, difficulty in obtaining health insurance coverage, lack of awareness of what and who to see, inability to physically get to locations offering services — these are very real obstacles to folks’ ability to get the care our providers offer.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
It often seems providers and regulators are at odds, when in fact we are all working on the same side, and all want the same thing — high quality health care services that are accessible and affordable, for all New Yorkers. I would love to see a more cooperative, collaborative process unfold where providers and those who regulate them all feel they are working to the same goal.

What does the future of health care look like?
Over the last couple of decades, small community providers have been subsumed by large health care networks. But I think as our regulators work on the issue of access to affordable health care, they will find that smaller local providers, if given the right resources, can often better serve their communities. Localized health care systems will be where it’s at.

Louis Shapiro has led HSS since 2006, overseeing all strategic and operational aspects of fulfilling its mission: to advance the field of musculoskeletal medicine through world-class patient care, research, innovation, and education. Under his leadership, HSS has experienced significant growth, expansion, and recognition as the world leader in its field, consecutively ranking as the number one hospital for orthopedics worldwide and in the nation. He is leading HSS toward a bold vision for transforming musculoskeletal health through a one-of-a-kind ecosystem of knowledge, innovation, wellness, injury prevention, and clinical care excellence.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
We need to recognize our capabilities are among the best in the world and work together to sustain and build upon that. People make our health system strong. We need to make sure our doctors, nurses, therapists, technologists, scientists, and other contributors have what they need to do their jobs with excellence. We also need to help consumers make informed decisions about quality and value in health care; those vary widely and matter a lot.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
The first step is to determine the needs of the community and identify ways to meet those needs with excellence. To help with this, HSS conducts a robust Community Health Needs Assessment every three years to determine the health care, educational, and support needs of the diverse communities we serve in relation to muscle, bone and joint health. We also partner with Federally Qualified Health Centers to increase access to orthopedic care in underserved communities.

Dan Sheppard joined Brown & Weinraub’s health care practice after serving as a senior vice president with the Mount Sinai Health System and following a 32-year career in New York State government, where Dan served as deputy commissioner of the Department of Health’s Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management, deputy budget director, as well as in other senior-level positions with the New York State Division of the Budget and the State University of New York.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in health care?
The first 15 years of my career in government afforded me an opportunity to participate in budget and policymaking in a broad variety of program and issue areas. While I enjoyed being a generalist, I felt a particular connection to health care due to the complexity of the issues and the direct impact that decisions at the governmental level have on patients/clients, workers and organizations.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
The rate of change in the external factors impacting how health care is delivered and funded is outpacing the legal, regulatory, and political frameworks which govern both how and how quickly the system can evolve.

How can New York State ensure access to affordable health care?
By ensuring that Medicaid payment rates align more closely with Medicare and commercial rates, combined with better aligning incentives between providers and payers to keep people as healthy as possible, increase quality, and reduce costs.

What does the future of health care look like?
It will be: more ambulatory; more disaggregated; and more technology-driven. It should be: more patient-centered in both how the delivery system is organized and funded, thereby enabling plans of care that elevate social determinants of health such as nutrition, housing, transportation, and physical activity with necessary medical services.