2023 Power Players in Health Care

Gary G. Terrinoni was named president and CEO of The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC) in 2015, a 464-bed hospital with a network of family health centers, ambulatory care sites and practices. During the nearly 10 years of his leadership, TBHC has been resolute in honoring its more than 175 years in Downtown Brooklyn, while working to position itself as a modern, community hospital for the one million people in North Central Brooklyn and beyond.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
I wanted to advance my career in a way that would tangibly and immediately help people and communities. There were few better paths than to be a part of improving health care service, delivery and cost.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Without question, the biggest challenge is the inequitable distribution of reimbursement throughout the state, which allows disparities to continue to exist in our more health-challenged communities.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
My position gives me an opportunity to help communities by providing quality health care regardless of a patient’s income or zip code.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Create a structure to allow all hospitals, but especially safety-net hospitals, the ability to provide world-class and advanced care using the best technology available to all their patients.

Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh is a dynamic leader transforming dementia care and senior living. Beyond her operational achievements, Eleonora has been a trailblazer in early-stage care. Her tenacious drive led to the creation of a statewide early-stage group while also securing much-needed funding for the state. Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh continues to break new ground in dementia caregiving. Her unwavering commitment to championing quality care, advancing education, and driving innovation make her a true leader and visionary in her field.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
When I was in high school and college it became apparent that ageism was at its all-time high and people over the age of 65 needed advocates and health care reform was needed.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Health care access to all communities and equal care.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
I advocate, educate and create programs that improve the quality of life for those affected with Alzheimer’s Disease. 

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Continue to include diversity and create programs that meet the needs of all families impacted by disease.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is a primary care physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert with nearly 20 years of experience working to improve physical and mental health, social welfare and public policy for marginalized populations in New York City, nationally, and globally. Dr. Vasan began his career in global health, working at Partners in Health and the WHO, and most recently served as the president and CEO of Fountain House. He serves as public health and clinical faculty at Columbia University.

Miriam Y. Vega, Ph.D., CEO of the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center, leads groundbreaking initiatives in community health. With a wealth of experience in health care, she developed the CHANGE model, fostering culturally responsive programming nationwide. Spearheading Addabbo’s COVID-19 response, her team established the first at-large testing site in the Rockaways. Committed to equitable health care, her team tackles health inequities, from cancer screenings to remote hypertension monitoring. Dr.Vega is dedicated to greater community-service and expansion.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
My early experiences in the South Bronx, witnessing health disparities and receiving vital care for asthma from a community health center, deeply influenced me. These firsthand encounters instilled a passion for addressing community health issues. As a trained social psychologist, I’ve dedicated my career to ensuring equality in health care for all. The belief that preventive measures at a community level can alleviate such disparities has been a guiding force in my journey within the health care field.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
New York’s health care system faces a critical dual challenge. Post-pandemic, a surge in demand for health care services is met with a severe shortage of staff. The workforce grapples with burnout amid this increased pressure. Shifting towards value-based and whole-person care is essential. Interoperable systems and cohesive care teams across networks are crucial to address this demand efficiently, ensuring timely communication and a more integrated approach to meeting community health care needs.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
As CEO of a community health center, my role is akin to a conductor orchestrating a symphony. I navigate daily challenges, making critical decisions impacting both our staff and the care we provide. Constantly balancing between crisis management and strategic planning, I stay updated on new technology and community needs. My primary focus is assembling and leading a highly functional, culturally responsive team, ensuring we systematically and efficiently address our community’s diverse health needs.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Policymakers can foster equitable access to quality health care by investing in new training programs, particularly for culturally aware providers, addressing the shortage. Establishing new pipelines and incentivizing health care professionals to serve underserved communities is crucial. Better reimbursement rates for the vital work done in these areas are essential. These measures collectively bridge the gaps, ensuring comprehensive, culturally sensitive care and bolstering accessibility to quality health care for all.

Pat Wang has dedicated her career to championing the health care needs of vulnerable New Yorkers. In 1993, Ms.Wang helped create Healthfirst based on a pioneering value-based model. Today it is one of the largest and highest quality not-for-profit health insurers in the United States. As president and CEO, Ms. Wang leads more than 5,000 employees focused on providing excellent health insurance coverage to more than 1.8 million New Yorkers.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Healthfirst is focused on keeping the uninsured rate as low as possible as New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid need to recertify their eligibility after three pandemic years when these requirements were suspended. Loss of coverage would greatly exacerbate existing challenges, which are already daunting. The need to recertify Medicaid eligibility has become the single largest health coverage transition event since the first open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
I lead a health insurance organization dedicated to making health care access easier and more equitable for New Yorkers. We work deeply in our local communities and align with providers to make sure our members have access to high quality and affordable care.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
There is no equity without quality, and that is why we treat the quality roadmap as our North Star for greater health equity. Policymakers should embrace this approach as the core tenet of their health equity goals. As the largest Medicaid managed care plan in downstate New York, we believe the Medicaid quality incentive program for Medicaid plans is a lynchpin for health equity and that it should be strengthened and broadened.

Kimberly Williams is the president and CEO of Vibrant Emotional Health, one of the nation’s leading mental health organizations that reaches millions of people each year to help them achieve emotional well-being through high-quality, innovative programs. In 2019, and under her leadership, the 50+ year-old organization rebranded to be better positioned for the future of mental health in our society and to communicate a positive vision for all who are impacted by mental health challenges.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
I believe that mental health care is a human right. Therefore, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that everyone can get access to the quality, affirming mental health support they need and deserve.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Our state and nation are facing a mental health crisis among all generations, particularly among young people. This long standing crisis was compounded by the effects of the pandemic and further exacerbated by economic, racial, and climate injustices, hindering their ability to thrive. Despite the high demand for care, many people are not able to get the support they need due to limited resources.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
I describe my role as leading a mental health not-for-profit that helps people who are in emotional distress or suicidal crisis receive life-changing and life-saving support and services.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
To meet this critical need, New York’s policymakers must build on previous investments made by expanding funding for a comprehensive, integrated and expansive mental health system, including investing in a workforce that has been chronically underfunded and overworked. Our communities desperately need and deserve mental health support, resources, and tools to heal and recover so that they can thrive in every part of their lives.

Anne Williams-Isom is NYC deputy mayor for health and human services overseeing numerous agencies and offices with a total budget of around $22 billion. She has decades of executive and leadership experience including serving as CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, serving as a leader at the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, and as a professor at Fordham University. She holds a bachelor’s degree, a law degree, and a doctorate in divinity.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
Coming from a human services perspective I see so much related to people’s social determinants of health and that has driven me to ensure that policies touch the whole-person and address each area of their life for themselves and their families. We must continue to address the environments and drivers of health around where people live, learn, work, and play in order to help every New Yorker live their fullest life.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Our health care system has been built to manage disease after it occurs. In NYC, we are changing that through the opening of Lifestyle Medicine Programs in every borough where individuals with diet-related chronic disease such as heart-disease and Type 2 diabetes can get the support they need to not just manage their conditions but bring them into remission. Ultimately, we are fighting to categorically shift health care to be more preventative by design.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
My job is to represent the voices of all those kids, families, and individuals touched by the city’s policies in the health and human services areas. Every day, I think: what would we want that policy to be if it were our mom, our partner, or our child? My job is to think about what we want our city to be and do for New Yorkers.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
We must look through an equity lens with every decision we make and policy we implement. In NYC, we have a task force on racial equity and inclusion and an equity office where we work to identify neighborhoods that have historically or are currently facing equity issues; we then act to surge resources into those areas and that includes health care services. Policymakers must act with this focus so we can all rise together.

Doug Wirth is the president and CEO at Amida Care, a nonprofit Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan (SNP) that specializes in providing comprehensive health coverage and coordinated care to New Yorkers affected by HIV. Under Doug’s leadership, Amida Care’s innovative model of care has yielded impressive health outcomes that have improved the quality of health care delivery, helped members get and stay healthy, and produced significant Medicaid cost savings. Amida Care is the largest SNP in New York.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
At age 7 while volunteering, I met neighbors experiencing homelessness, who were unemployed, or were struggling with drug use, trauma and hopelessness. This inspired my passion for serving others and also informs the work I do today. When friends in their twenties died of AIDS during the early days of the epidemic, and after experiencing family tragedy from suicide, I shifted from the performing arts and fashion into social justice, behavioral health and HIV work.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
Separate health care systems and the demands of profit overall population health are among the biggest challenges. Millions of Americans are losing Medicaid coverage. Access to early treatment and preventative care will go down. While New York is among the country’s top-performing states in its Medicaid recertification work, we must ensure that Medicaid is adequately funded. We cannot begin to address health inequity or end the HIV epidemic without strengthening Medicaid.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
As Amida Care president and CEO, I oversee the largest Medicaid managed care special needs health Plan in New York. We serve nearly 10,000 New Yorkers, including people living with HIV; people who are experiencing homelessness; and people of transgender experience, regardless of HIV status. My job is to support access to lifesaving care to empower thousands of New Yorkers impacted by HIV to take control of their health and get about the business of living their lives.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Policymakers must advance health care transformation that meets underserved communities where they are and fund critical activities that address racism as a public health crisis. This includes ensuring Medicaid is adequately funded. N.Y. must lead in addressing health-related needs that reduce inequities amongst people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. N.Y. should also support initiatives like the Loren Borjas Transgender & Gender Non-Binary Wellness and Equity Fund to make sure that TGNC-led organizations can thrive in every region of the state.

Ken Zimmerman is CEO of Fountain House, a national mental health nonprofit that transforms how people living with serious mental illness recover and thrive. A civil rights lawyer, Ken has served in leadership positions in the Obama and Clinton administrations and in philanthropy as the director of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Foundations. Prior to Fountain House, Ken co-led the Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative (S2i) to catalyze change in mental health policy.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
While mental health has always aligned with my housing and criminal justice reform work, it became the focus when my son died due to his mental illness. Drawing on my experience in other complex social policy arenas, I spent a year traveling the country and saw how flawed our current approach is, but also the immensely promising avenues for change. This potential to advance solutions, alongside the most impacted people, motivates me every day.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
The intersection of homelessness and mental illness will continue to be an issue with devastating fiscal and moral consequences until we’re willing to address people’s most basic, holistic needs with dignity, compassion, and common sense. We can do so but it requires leadership, vision, humility and commitment that can motivate diverse system actors, the public, and community leaders to align their efforts and ambitions.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
As CEO, I help Fountain House fully realize its potential to make dignity and agency for people with serious mental health conditions central to our city’s approach. We’re building upon our 75 years of pioneering direct services and advancing policy, research, and innovation that expand it. This includes scaling our operations, identifying new economic models, establishing new partnerships, and leveraging the leadership of our 2,000 members as we advocate for change.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Simply put, the starting point is to listen, to respond, to assess, and to act. In the mental health field, this starts with putting incentives in the health care system to drive recovery and thriving, recognizing how community-driven approaches, including clubhouses, not only improve the lives of those historically excluded but address the social drivers of health in cost-effective and politically popular ways that also strengthen adjacent systems and programs.

Sam Rivera has 31 years of progressive experience in criminal justice/reentry, HIV/AIDS, harm reduction, and mental health and currently serves as the executive director of OnPoint NYC. As an Afro-Taino, he has dedicated his professional career to ameliorating the harms associated with the War on Drug Users, racism, sexism, structural inequality, and mass incarceration and will continue to work to end systemic as well as systematic barriers to populations that are most vulnerable.

What influenced you to pursue a career in the health care field?
My mother, who was a nurse in NYC for over 40 years, taught me how to lead with love and compassion and ingrained in me a belief that all people have the right to quality care.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing New York’s health care system?
The fact that we have politicians making decisions around public health and wellness is a shame, especially when those politicians don’t reference evidence-based research that clearly demonstrates the steps we need to take to improve their constituents’ quality of life.

How do you describe your position to people outside of the health care industry?
Given the stigma around our participant population, I’d like folks to know that I get to work with beautiful, smart, and kind participants who deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity at all stages of their lives. By treating marginalized and underserved populations with dignity and respect, and in building programs that directly address participants’ unique and most pressing needs, OnPoint’s programs and services promote the safety, health, and well-being of its community.

What can policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality health care?
Look at the data. Evidence-based interventions exist and are widely used in other parts of the world.