2024 Power Players in Health Care

Under Matt Kudish’s leadership, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC) has more than doubled its budget, staff, and impact. Matt is a respected industry leader on issues of mental health, mental illness, caregiving, and peer support. Notable media coverage includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Thrive Global, CNN, NY-1, CBS-2, ABC-7, and more. Matt received his MSW from Columbia University and his MPA from NYU. 

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
There can be no health care without self-care. To do this work – in a meaningful way, day after day, year after year – you must take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Pouring into your own cup and prioritizing your well-being isn’t selfish. It’s the only way you can truly be there for others. Like they say on the plane, “Put your mask on first!” 

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
We need more investments in mental health family support and educational programs to assist New Yorkers caring for loved ones with mental health challenges. Research shows that when family members are involved, we see a decrease in emergency room visits and psychiatric hospitalizations and greater engagement with community-based mental health care. This is a win-win for individuals, families, and the health care system. We need preventive mental health care, not simply to respond to crises. 

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Wherever you work and whatever you do, at the end of the day, it’s all about your people. Developing a strong culture takes a lot of work, and it is so worth it.  Hire the best people you can, treat them well, balance compassion and accountability. Trust them, laugh with them, and give them opportunities to develop and grow. Remind them we control the things we can, and the rest we respond to together. 

Kurth learned about health inequity when her clinician parents volunteered in underserved communities, while seeing others benefitting from public health and biomedical research advances. As president of The New York Academy of Medicine, Dr. Kurth brings her epidemiologist and nurse-midwife training to bear towards promoting a longer healthspan for everyone. She helped set screening guidelines on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, was dean of Yale’s School of Nursing, and co-chairs Global Health at NASEM.

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
Humans need competency, connection and purpose, and being a health care professional can provide all of that. It’s not easy work but it is crucial. As we go into the coming years of climate crisis,  health professionals can address the threats to health, and uniquely help patients and communities get better prepared for, and through, what’s coming. Health workers are trusted for a reason and that’s a powerful charge that we must always use in partnership.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
New York has an opportunity to lead towards a health care system that better integrates prevention, public health, and health care delivery across the spectrum from safe birth, to reduced chronic diseases including mental health, to healthy aging. If we don’t do this strategically and with better outcomes for all  – no matter what borough or county they live in – the vitality in our beloved city and state’s DNA will suffer. We can always do better.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Being engaged in health means never stopping learning. One fundamental thread may be the power of science in partnership with people. We saw this when people with HIV changed how we do clinical trials and made life-saving medications available globally. We saw it with Covid-19 where basic science investment allowed rapid creation of effective vaccines that needed partnership with communities to reduce anti-science disinformation. Science has to work in service of people’s health and well-being.

Edward Lai is the SVP of business development for a group of SNF that includes Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation. Highly accomplished in Asian health care business development, Ed is considered one of the top health care marketers in the multicultural space in NYC and has been recognized as a health care innovator who has demonstrated his ability to drive growth and create unique opportunities for his brands. 

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
Health care offers an opportunity for us to serve people and feel good about ourselves on a daily basis! It offers stable and recession-proof opportunities for all.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
Create payment models that make sense so quality services can be offered by medical providers.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Be a team player, superstars need to play with the right role players to win championships. 

Sean Lally is executive vice president and chief strategy officer of St. Mary’s, the only center for pediatric long-term and rehabilitative care in New York City. Lally oversees operations management and is responsible for leading the organization’s strategic planning initiatives, managing and implementing fundraising programs, and overseeing external relations activities for the Healthcare System. Lally previously held leadership positions at MSK Cancer Center, the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Historical Society.

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
Commit early to being a lifelong learner and draw deeply from books, mentors, and anyone you can find who knows more than you do on a given subject. The health care landscape changes daily, and constantly educating yourself is your best asset to effect change.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
Engagement, engagement, and more engagement. The New York health care ecosystem is extraordinarily complicated and our best policymakers engage with the broadest possible cross-section of stakeholders.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
I’ve learned the importance of giving your team room to make mistakes and learn from them – within reason. I believe that any increase in their wisdom and perspective is a double increase in yours.

Council Member Linda Lee represents the 23rd Council District in Eastern Queens. She was elected to the Council in November 2021, becoming the first Korean-American ever elected to the City Council, and the first woman to hold the seat. She currently chairs the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addictions in the City Council.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
Policymakers should continue to serve as advocates to help those most in need. We serve as intermediaries who influence policies –  guided by valuable community and stakeholder input – for the betterment of patients in the health care and mental health care sector.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
As a social worker, and now as chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addictions, I’ve seen firsthand some of the difficulties in providing quality care due to a lack of accessible services and poor agency coordination. Our City must continue the impactful work to ensure life-saving services are linguistically and culturally accessible to assist our society’s most vulnerable.

Glenn has been the CEO of Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) over the past 20 years. MHANYS has been a leader on issues of workforce, mental health instruction in school and anti-stigma efforts.  MHANYS also has a robust training portfolio. Prior to that, Glenn worked for the NYS Office of Mental Health and Department of Health and was also the director of NAMI. He lives in Albany with his wife, son and cute little dog. 

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
I know it is cliche but I would urge anyone seeking careers in health care to start with internships. Some of the most talented people we have hired over the years are former interns in the behavioral health field. Many of them possess the qualities necessary to be successful in our work. If you want to make a true difference in someone’s life then the health care field is well-suited for you

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
There is a funding crisis in the behavioral health system that is reflected in the inability to recruit and retain quality staff. Salaries and retirement systems must be updated to reflect the vital role that not-for-profit employees play in often challenging positions. We lose staff to the state government and to for-profit businesses that can pay more and offer better benefits. Bottom Line: The State has to pay people in our sector higher wages

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
That even after all these years – the stigma of mental health issues remains the biggest factor in public policy around mental health. Some people have evolved during COVID and the younger generation understands but for all the work that has been done, the general public still has huge misconceptions about mental health. This has resulted in greater homelessness and increased incarceration. NYS must develop a full-scale public awareness campaign to help minimize this issue. 

Dr. Michael A. Lindsey is dean and Paulette Goddard professor of social work at NYU Silver School of Social Work, and an Aspen Health Innovators fellow. A noted scholar of youth mental health, he led the working group of experts supporting the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health. He is an NYC Board of Health member and president of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

Do you have advice for those interested in joining the health care field?
If you share my passion for addressing the growing mental health crisis, then know that your skills and talents are needed now, more than ever. Social work, in particular, enables you to directly impact the life trajectories of people, whether you open a therapy practice, work with hospital patients, help K-12 students, engage with families in a social service agency, manage a nonprofit or pursue any number of roles where helping people is your passion.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
The demand for social workers to address mental and behavioral health is skyrocketing. Yet, the federal government projected that by 2025, the supply of U.S. social workers who focus on mental health and substance abuse would fall short of demand by as much as 31%. More public and private funding is needed to train social workers and pay them according to their worth. Otherwise, the shortfall in social workers will continue to grow.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Mentorship can take you a long way — both in terms of finding the right mentor for your career and also in how you pay it forward to the next generation in your profession. When you find yourself in the position to mentor others, be generous with your guidance and willingness to facilitate opportunities. It will benefit your mentees and reflect well on you.

In January 2018, Eric Linzer became president and CEO of the New York Health Plan Association, whose members provide comprehensive health care coverage to more than eight million New Yorkers. Previously, he spent 15 years at the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans in a wide range of positions.  He holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, a master’s degree in political science from Suffolk University and earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

How can policymakers support New York’s health care system?
New York’s health care costs are among the highest in the country.  Greater focus on addressing affordability and the prices driving the increases in the cost of care is needed to ensure that high-quality health care is available for every New Yorker.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Don’t be afraid to jump in a little over your head. It might be scary but will force you to work harder and probably make you stronger for the experience. 

Svetlana Lipyanskaya, MPA, FACHE, is the trailblazing first woman to lead the executive team at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health. She has expertly navigated the hospital through the challenges of COVID-19 and its recovery while launching a state-of-the-art inpatient facility. By securing essential funding for critical infrastructure projects, she is reshaping access to health care in the community. Her bold strategic vision prioritizes the development of comprehensive medical and behavioral ambulatory services.

Christopher Mastromano is CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx, and holds over 35 years of progressive experience in hospital operations and patient care administration. Mr. Mastromano oversees a budget of over $950m and a staff of more than 4,000. Under his leadership, both facilities were merged into a single hospital- two-campus model, improving the North Bronx with high-quality health care. He previously served as COO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur.