NYC Health + Hospitals
Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Public Meeting – Bronx
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Report by Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and CEO
Good evening, I’m Dr. Mitch Katz and I’m a practicing primary care doctor and the President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. This is my eighth year here at the health care system, and I am proud and honored to lead this institution. I don’t do this alone, of course. We have thousands of employees who ensure that New Yorkers received the high-quality care they deserve. Some of those folks are in the room today.
I want to thank our Board Members who are here, the staff who organized this meeting, and the team here tonight who will ensure that your words are captured for all our leadership to hear.
I want to thank those of you in the audience and those speaking this evening. Your presence here demonstrates how much you care about New York City’s public health care system, the quality of health care in your neighborhood, and the community both inside and outside of our facilities. I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing what you have to say.
My goal has always been to expand access to care for more New Yorkers regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status, offer the highest quality of care, and advance our mission and values. This remains core to what we do every day at NYC Health + Hospitals.
Before we begin tonight’s meeting, I do want to highlight some of our achievements from this past year.
- Our nursing team has had a phenomenal year. In addition to national recognition and awards, we have hired over 3,600 new union nurses since March 2023, replacing many agency nurses.
- In 2024 we housed over 375 of our patients through our Housing for Health initiative. The initiative has now housed over 1,200 patients since launch.
- US News & World Report, included all 11 of our hospitals in its “Best Hospitals 2024–2025” list, with a special nod to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Hospital as a “Best Regional Hospital for Equitable Access.” Additionally, Newsweek ranked Seaview the #1 nursing home in New York City.
- All of our hospitals have achieved at least three honors through the American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline quality programs.
- We continue to be a leader in LGBTQ+ care. All 18 eligible NYC Health + Hospitals facilities earned the “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” designation by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index.
- Four of our hospitals — Bellevue, Elmhurst, Lincoln and Woodhull — were ranked by US News and World Report magazine as high performing for Uncomplicated Pregnancies.
- Our ground-breaking Lifestyle Medicine Program completed its expansion this past year, opening new sites at Elmhurst Hospital; Gotham Health, Vanderbilt; and Lincoln Hospital, for a total of seven sites systemwide that together can serve 4,000 patients a year.
- In 2024 we launched a comprehensive three-year blueprint to strengthen and expand our behavioral health services, funded in part by $41 million from the state.
- We continue to provide services at our asylum seeker Arrival Center, which has welcomed more than 175,000 individuals from more than 160 countries.
- Our health insurance plan, MetroPlusHealth, continues to grow its membership across the five boroughs.
- NYC Health + Hospitals’ facilities and engineering teams are working hard to reduce our carbon footprint. In 2024 we installed the first solar panels on the roof of Elmhurst Hospital. This will supplement the power that the Level 1 trauma center uses every day.
- NYC Care, our health care access program for people who are ineligible or cannot afford health insurance, celebrated its five-year anniversary with over 125,000 members enrolled in the program.
- We performed over 10,000 scans for lung cancer in the first two years of the Lung Cancer Screening program. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women.
- The health care system opened 20 new wellness rooms where staff can decompress during the workday and participate in wellness activities.
- Our Arts in Medicine program continued to beautify our hospitals and create spaces for healing and reflection. Ten new murals were installed last year at our facilities, the newest one at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi.
- Our 250 Community Health Workers have worked with over 25,000 patients. CHWs meet regularly with patients to identify and address barriers to health and well-being, such as housing, financial, food, and legal needs, as well as helping them schedule health care appointments and coordinate transportation.
- Finally, the health care system launched a podcast called The Remedy. Episodes covered everything from the power of primary care to preparing for the next pandemic.
BRONX NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS
I would be remiss if I didn’t specifically highlight our Bronx facilities accomplishments. NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, North Central Bronx, Lincoln, and Gotham Health sites have contributed to our extraordinary year, too.
At NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, North Central Bronx
- The American College of Surgeons certified Jacobi as a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center. It’s the only accredited Pediatric Trauma Center in the borough.
- Jacobi was also one of only 25 hospitals verified in Surgical Quality and Patient Safety by the American College of Surgeons.
- The hospital was re-accreditation as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission.
- The Bariatric Program was also reaccredited.
- The Bronx Borough President is allocating $1 million in this upcoming budget for NCB to upgrade its Bone Density Scanner.
- Jacobi and NCB are working together to balance patient loads, increasing the use of NCB’s Emergency and Urgent Care departments. This enhances patient care at both facilities.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln has had a phenomenal year, too.
- The hospital has recruited a Chief Experience Officer to design and implement a comprehensive strategy to drive and foster a hospital-wide culture of patient and family centered care practices to improve patient experience.
- Lincoln has started a “Welcome Rounds” initiative with a goal to check-in with patients, address any concerns, and make sure the hospital is meeting their needs.
- Through different resource fairs, Lincoln has been engaging its community and inviting them into the hospital so that it can be viewed as a community resource.
- Lincoln was listed in U.S. News & World Report as a 2025 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care.
- The hospital was recognized by Healthgrades as a top 100 best hospital for prostate surgery.
- Lincoln’s Primary Care Services was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for delivering high-quality, patient-centered care.
- It received a 2024 Target: Blood Pressure Gold+ Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.
And finally, our NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health sites have also seen improvements and upgrades for patients.
- Gotham Health, Morrisania and Belvis received capital funding to enhance healthcare infrastructure and expand access to vital services. These investments will improve the quality of care and support the growing healthcare needs in the community.
- A state-of-the-art 3D mammography machine installed at Gotham Health, Belvis to enhance early detection and improve the accuracy of breast cancer screenings.
- Gotham Health, Morrisania installed a new bone density scanner and a cutting-edge 3D mammography machine in their radiology department.
- Belvis was recognized as Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion.
- The two Gotham Health sites were recognized by the American Heart Association for their efforts addressing hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol in patients.
Finally, I do want to address some issues that have come up previously, and I suspect will come up tonight.
As I mentioned earlier, nursing is the backbone of our work across the System and in the Bronx. We are so pleased to have done so much nurse hiring in the last year. Still, staffing can be a challenging issue and has been in recent months.
We have engaged in spirited discussions with our partner, NYSNA, over the handling of unscheduled nurse “callouts.” Nurses and all unionized staff are subject to the same longstanding policy at NYC Health + Hospitals that provides for pre-disciplinary counseling and warning sessions after multiple unscheduled callouts, and these take place well before discipline or penalties are contemplated.
Nothing in this policy stops nurses from using their ample sick time — everyone agrees that employees should not work when sick. Still, there are strong opinions on both sides about how to ensure appropriate use of leave time, which is why, once raised by NYSNA, we have offered to sit down and negotiate updates with our union partners together. In the last few days, our largest union, DC-37, as the Citywide bargaining representative for all unions covered by the Citywide Agreement, demanded bargaining with the health system on the pre-disciplinary process related to use of sick leave. Accordingly, we are pleased to work together with all of our unions over the coming months, including NYSNA, to discuss and negotiate aspects of this policy.
Also, we may hear tonight from Jacobi/NCB’s midwives, a mighty group who are employees of our affiliate, PAGNY, and who have been working under an expired contract for some time. We know that the pace of negotiations has intensified, and we are hopeful that with patience and understanding the parties will reach a resolution acceptable to all in the very near future.
Finally, we may also hear tonight about our Just Home project, which will create 58 permanent supportive apartments for former patients of our Correctional Health division whose medical needs can be met at Jacobi Hospital. The Fortune Society, which has a great track record for this kind of work, will operate this housing and provide the wrap-around services for the residents. You will recall that the Health + Hospitals Board unanimously approved the ground lease and service contract in January of last year. This is an exciting part of our Housing for Health initiative and we continue to work with the New York City Council to make this important project a reality.
As I have said, it takes all of us to make NYC Health + Hospitals succeed. And we could not do it without all of you – our patients and patient advocates, community-based organizations, elected officials, and other members of the communities we serve. Thank you for being here tonight and for your support of our essential public health care System.
Now let’s proceed to the main purpose of tonight’s meeting – to hear from you, members of our community. Your input is so important to the future success of NYC Health + Hospitals. We are ready to listen.
I will now turn to our General Counsel to outline the proceeding for tonight’s meeting.
