Mitchell Katz, MD Named a Fifty Over Fifty Icon by City & State and AARP New York
In an interview for City & State’s magazine, Dr. Katz discussed why he entered health care administration and leading New York City’s public health care system through the Covid crisis
Feb 17, 2026
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that its President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD was named a Fifty Over Fifty Icon by City & State and AARP New York. The awards honor leaders who have broken barriers, set the stage for future generations, and serve as an inspiration to anyone who wants to make a difference in the state. In an interview for City & State’s magazine, Dr. Katz discussed why he entered health care administration and leading New York City’s public health care system through the Covid crisis. City & State is a media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy, and AARP New York is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age.
“I never intended to be a hospital administrator, but I began doing this work to make it easier for my patients to access care,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “I am enormously proud of the work we have done at NYC Health + Hospitals to support our patients. I want to thank City & State and AARP New York for this honor and for shining a light on the importance of our public health care system.”
Since Dr. Katz’s appointment in 2018, NYC Health + Hospitals has significantly expanded access to care, including the creation of NYC Care, a health care access program that provides care to more than 100,000 uninsured New Yorkers. He oversaw the adoption of a modern electronic health record system, launched the Housing for Health program that has placed over 1,200 patients into permanent housing, launched the health system’s humanitarian response to the asylum seeker crisis, increased the number of permanent nurse positions, developed a modern ambulance transport system, expanded outreach for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, led the health system through the COVID-19 crisis, and turned around the financial health of the system by enrolling more patients into health insurance and appropriately billing insurance plans. Dr. Katz continues to practice as a primary care physician and sees patients at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Previously, Dr. Katz served as Director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, which combines the Departments of Health Services, Public Health, and Mental Health into a single entity to provide integrated care and programming within Los Angeles. The Agency has a budget of $7 billion, 28,000 employees, and a large number of community partners. Dr. Katz served as the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS), the second largest public safety net system in the United States. During this time, he created the ambulatory care network and empaneled more than 350,000 patients to a primary care home. He eliminated the deficit of DHS through increased revenues and decreased administrative expenses, and used ACA funding to pay for a new integrated electronic health system. He moved more than 4,000 medically complex patients from hospitals and emergency departments into independent housing, thereby eliminating unnecessary expensive hospital care and giving the patients the dignity of their own home.
Before he came to Los Angeles, Dr. Katz served as Director and Health Officer of the San Francisco Department of Health for 13 years. He is well known for funding needle exchange, creating Healthy San Francisco, outlawing the sale of tobacco at pharmacies, and winning ballot measures for rebuilding Laguna Honda Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital.
Dr. Katz is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School. He completed an internal medicine residency at UCSF Medical School and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. He is the Deputy Editor of JAMA Internal Medicine, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and the recipient of the Los Angeles County Medical Association 2015 Healthcare Champion of the year.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation, serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlusHealth—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
