Power Players in Health Care

Kathy Febraio, C.A.E., is the president and CEO of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers, a statewide association representing the full continuum of home care providers. She has more than 20 years of leadership experience in trade group management, primarily in the health care sector. Before joining HCP, she served as the executive director for the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York and as the executive director of the NYS Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The best part of my job is applying out of the box approaches to challenges in health care and seeing the impact it can have on providers and patients.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
Walking.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
Poached salmon.

Virginia Fields is the president and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on Health, Inc., whose mission is to champion the promotion of health and prevention of diseases to reduce disparities and achieve equity for the Black community. Her expertise in government and politics has led to the successful implementation of noteworthy public policy achievements, including HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. Ms. Fields is the recipient of numerous awards, citations, and honors of distinction for her leadership on health, education, civil rights and social justice issues.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Educating communities and civic groups about health matters to create awareness and engaging them in advocacy to understand their power in the fight for change.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
Walking on a (fairly) regular basis.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
Salmon, baked potato, vegetables and mixed green salad.

Dean Linda P. Fried, M.D., M.P.H., is a leader in epidemiology and geriatric medicine. Trained in cardiovascular and chronic disease epidemiology and geriatrics, she has dedicated her career to the science of healthy aging and prevention of frailty, disability and cardiovascular disease. A renowned scientist, she has led seminal work in defining frailty as a new clinical syndrome and has led major population-based studies to determine the causes and consequences of chronic diseases, multimorbidity, loneliness and disability in aging.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Working with all my colleagues on science and solutions to raise the floor and the ceiling of health for everyone.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
It used to be aikido and running. Now, long walks and hikes.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
Branzino with a Greek salad.

Sara Gardner has 30 years of experience as a director of public health programs. Currently, Sara is the executive director of the Fund for Public Health in New York City. Under her leadership, FPHNYC develops public-private partnerships that launch and expand programs promoting public health in New York City. Previously, Sara worked for 20 years in the international arena, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and later with EngenderHealth, managing programs in 20 countries. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Knowing that we are contributing to the health and wellness of our fellow New Yorkers.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
I love to run.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
My green smoothie in the morning!

As president and CEO, Kenneth Gibbs oversees the various services and specialized care centers of Maimonides Medical Center that cater to Brooklyn’s residents, including treatment facilities for heart and vascular care, cancer and breast care, and orthopedic care. Before being appointed to his current position, Mr. Gibbs served on the Board of Trustees and as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, where he facilitated a strategic partnership between Maimonides Medical Center and North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System.

Before joining Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration as executive deputy secretary, Robin served as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts. She previously served as vice president of corporate relations and government affairs for EmblemHealth, a nonprofit health plan in New York City. Robin also has an extensive political background, having worked as a political director under both Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Hillary R. Clinton and been part of numerous campaigns on the national, state and local level.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part is the opportunity to make government work better for the people it is meant to serve.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
My favorite and the one I don’t get the chance to do enough of is playing basketball.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
I am always in search of the best kale salad.

Richard Gottfried represents the 75th Assembly District in Manhattan. He has chaired the Health Committee since 1987 and is one of America’s leading state health policy-makers. He sponsored the Health Care Proxy Law, the Family Health Care Decision Act, the HIV Testing & Confidentiality Law, the Compassionate Care Act authorizing medical marijuana, the law decriminalizing syringes, the Hudson River Park Act, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, and the START Act to protect human trafficking survivors. He sponsors the N.Y. Health Act to create universal publicly-funded health coverage, and consistently fights to protect and increase health care funding.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Seeing my thoughts and progressive values show up in law.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
Walking.

Do you have a favorite healthy meal?
My wife’s noodle pudding.

In 2016, Bea Grause left her position as president and chief executive officer of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems to lead the Healthcare Association of New York State. In her current role as HANYS president, Ms. Grause brings together hospitals, continuing care facilities, clinics, and health care providers in order to cultivate a comprehensive system that is affordable and accessible to all. HANYS provides support to countless providers and institutions so that they may achieve better health care results at lower costs. 

Elected in 2007, President George Gresham has successfully fought for fair wages, affordable benefits, and child care support for the union’s 400,000+ members. Dr. Gresham leads the union in its pursuit of progressive policies by building coalitions with other organizations, and he seeks to improve the lives of health care workers through social justice work. Before being elected president, Dr. Gresham acquired experience in the union as a member-delegate, organizer, executive vice president, and secretary-treasurer.

Since 2007, Robert I. Grossman, M.D., has been chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU School of Medicine, which was renamed in his honor in 2019 as NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Early in his tenure, Dr. Grossman launched a major campus transformation that resulted in the addition of more than 10 million square feet of clinical, educational, and research space across campuses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Dr. Grossman also led the historic and unprecedented initiative of providing tuition-free medical education for all current and future M.D. students at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.