New York Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated Mitchell Katz, MD, to serve as president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health system in the nation. Dr. Katz, who is currently director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, will assume his new role once the health system's board votes on and approves the nomination.
Dr. Katz leads Los Angeles County Health Agency, a newly established agency that combines the county's departments of health services, public health and mental health into a single entity. Prior to the formation of the health agency, Dr. Katz was director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, where he spearheaded the creation of an ambulatory care network and eliminated the department's deficit.
Dr. Katz previously served as director and health officer for the San Francisco Department of Health. An internal medicine physician by training, he serves as deputy editor of JAMA Internal Medicine. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Katz will replace Stanley Brezenoff, who took over as interim president and CEO following the departure of Ramanathan "Ram" Raju, MD, in November 2016. Dr. Katz is inheriting a health system that recorded an operating loss of $673.3 million, for the three months that ended March 31. The health system cut 476 management positions in June, a move it hopes will yield $60 million in savings in fiscal year 2018.
The health system's board is expected to vote on the nomination this week or in early October, a spokesperson from New York City Hall told Becker's Hospital Review.