Elmhurst Hospital CEO Dr. Helen Arteaga speaks at a press convention in Elmhurst Hospital Tuesday. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has named Arteaga as his Deputy Mayor for Well being and Human Companies. Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has named NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst CEO Dr. Helen Arteaga as his Deputy Mayor for Well being and Human Companies.
Mamdani made the announcement at a press convention at Elmhurst Hospital Tuesday afternoon, citing Arteaga’s capacity to information the hospital by “success and adversity” since taking on as CEO in February 2021.
Arteaga, the primary Latina CEO of Elmhurst Hospital, oversaw a 545-bed Stage I Trauma and Educational Medical Middle that stood on the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mamdani stated Arteaga’s practically five-year tenure as CEO has been “transformative” for the power, crediting Arteaga for delivering “consistent improvements” in affected person care in addition to “making historic strides” to assist frontline staff.
Mamdani touted Arteaga’s roots in Elmhurst and stated she had introduced management “driven by empathy” to her function as CEO.
Mamdani speaks at Tuesday’s press convention. Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell.
A visibly emotional Arteaga described the businesses underneath her new portfolio because the “safety net” that many New Yorkers depend on to outlive. Arteaga, who succeeds the outgoing Deputy Mayor Suzanne Miles-Gustave, will probably be liable for overseeing the town’s well being providers, psychological well being providers, social providers and homelessness providers, amongst different businesses.
She pledged to supply “innovative solutions” with a purpose to develop entry to healthcare within the metropolis.
“It is the workforce and providers in this portfolio that work so hard to get New Yorkers through the hardest times in their lives,” Arteaga stated Tuesday. “I’m ready to work alongside you to provide innovative solutions so you can take advantage of every opportunity, every interaction to address the affordability crisis that brings so many through our doors.”
She additionally vowed to succeed in out to those that are “suffering in silence” as a result of they “do not know if the government will protect them.”
“I promise you today that I will work so hard to ensure that you are seen and that we are thinking big and courageous about solutions that will allow you to thrive in the city that you love,” she stated.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell.
Arteaga additionally praised Mamdani for asserting her appointment at Elmhurst Hospital, which she credited with saving her life through the pandemic. Arteaga’s father additionally died on the hospital, she stated at Tuesday’s press convention.
Arteaga confirmed on Tuesday that she is going to depart the hospital to function deputy mayor, stating that she would “not leave her home” until it was for “something important.”
“Working with the Mayor-elect and his team and his vision is something that I want to do because I see the impact,” Arteaga stated. “It’s going to take a lot of work, so I’m going to dedicate 100% to the vision.”
Mamdani additionally named longtime public curiosity legal professional Steven Banks as his decide for the town’s subsequent Company Counsel and named Ramzi Kassem because the mayor’s chief counsel for the brand new administration throughout Tuesday’s press convention.
Banks, a former attorney-in-chief for the Authorized Assist Society, beforehand served as the town’s “homelessness czar” underneath former Mayor Invoice de Blasio and would require Council affirmation. Kassem, in the meantime, is the founding father of the Creating Legislation Enforcement Accountability & Accountability, or CLEAR, Challenge on the Metropolis College of New York Faculty of Legislation.
On Monday, Mamdani introduced that he deliberate to renominate Dr. Mitchell Katz to proceed main NYC Well being + Hospitals, the nation’s largest municipal care system.
founding father of the Creating Legislation Enforcement Accountability & Accountability, or CLEAR, Challenge on the Metropolis College of New York Faculty of Legislation
