NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Medical Officer Machelle Allen, MD Retires
Dr. Allen's accomplishments include launching a systemwide Office of Women's Health Services; the development of B-HEARD; and several clinical initiatives launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a telehealth ICU and wastewater surveillance Dr. Allen is retiring after nearly 50 years of service to the health care system
Mar 26, 2025
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Machelle Allen, MD is retiring after nearly 50 years of service to the health care system. Dr. Allen’s accomplishments include the launch of a systemwide Office of Women’s Health Services; the early development of B-HEARD, a joint response to 911 mental health calls with EMS and social workers; and several clinical initiatives launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a telehealth ICU and wastewater surveillance. A longstanding veteran of the health care system, Dr. Allen completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, worked as an attending physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, served as the Associate Medical Director at Bellevue Hospital, and transitioned to system Deputy CMO in 2013. She was appointed system CMO in 2017. Her last day is Monday, March 31.
“Dr. Machelle Allen has been a lifelong public servant and committed physician and advocate for her patients and underserved New Yorkers,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “NYC Health + Hospitals has benefitted enormously by her tenure, and we wish her the very best in her retirement. Her legacy of social and racial justice will remain long after she leaves.”
“When I was a medical student in San Francisco in the 70’s, it was difficult to find a female gynecologist at that time. I was looking for routine care for myself offered by a woman, but I couldn’t find it, so I realized I needed to offer it,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Machelle Allen, MD. “I’m happy that the road ended up here. I never presumed I would be the Chief Medical Officer of the largest municipal hospital system in the country. The biggest gift of my career is the people I’ve met, the patients I’ve met, the women I’ve met, the colleagues I’ve met.”
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Machelle for over 20 years!” said NYC Health + Hospitals Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Ambulatory Care Chief Andrew Wallach, MD, FACP. “I took over the Bellevue Hospital Ambulatory Care Chief position from her and even sit in her old office, which still has its good vibes. Over the years, we’ve engaged in intellectual discourse over many topics – from the most appropriate age to begin screening for breast cancer to the best Swedish crime novels – but always with respect and consideration. As a mentor, she has taught me so much – most importantly, to give ‘credit where credit is due,’ to carry oneself with dignity, and to remember that it’s the ‘patient’ that drives all that we do!”
“Thank you, Dr. Allen, for your invaluable contribution to patients in New York City Health + Hospitals and your impact on patients in New York City overall,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Women’s Health Officer Wendy Wilcox, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG. “Your long and illustrious career speaks for itself. You have been such an amazing, inspirational leader for physicians, nurses and allied health professionals. You have been an inspiration to women leaders overall. I thank you specifically on behalf of obstetricians/gynecologists and the women’s health teams. We have all learned from your calm, cool demeanor and your unwavering commitment to patients. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You will be missed.”
Dr. Allen has devoted her career to helping marginalized and underserved patients. Her early career was devoted to women who suffered from addiction or were at risk for HIV infection during their pregnancies, and in the mid-80s she served as the medical director for prenatal services for women with substance use disorder at Harlem Hospital. As CMO, with the goal of decreasing maternal morbidities and mortalities, Dr. Allen created a systemwide Office of Women’s Health Services. Under this aegis, in 2021 the NYC Health + Hospitals Maternal Home was “birthed”—one of the few in New York State. Last year, the Office of Women’s Health partnered with the Office of Behavioral Health to develop a substance use disorder treatment program for pregnant women and their families realizing that substance use disorder impacts the entire family across generations, including partners, children and grandparents.
Dr. Allen can also be credited with updating the health system’s clinical operations to the 21st century. In 2019, she oversaw the centralization and standardization of medical staff credentialing, moving it from a paper process to a digital one, enabling the system to more efficiently and quickly leverage economies of scale—hugely beneficial during the Covid-19 pandemic, emergency situations, and for other initiatives like shared services. Most recently, she has shepherded the development of an enterprise-wide teleradiology service and the implementation of robotic surgery across all of the health care system’s acute care hospitals.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Allen developed the clinical service line structure which has resulted in the implementation of several systemwide clinical initiatives, including the underpinnings of the critical care pandemic response: level-setting critically ill patients, the tele-ICU, point-of-care imaging, early ICU mobility, Artificial Intelligence-based EEG interpretations, and tele-neurology, among other initiatives.
Dr. Allen also established an Office of Clinical Operations, which among other things instituted surveillance of the health care system’s wastewater for emerging infections at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the focus on improving access, this office is currently implementing shared clinical services across the largest municipal hospital system in the nation, among other innovative initiatives.
Finally, in response to the mental health crisis seen in New York City as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Allen supported the launch of B-HEARD, the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division, which deploys social workers along with EMS personnel as first responders. The program has responded to thousands of mental health calls to 911.
Dr. Allen was recognized in Modern Healthcare’s list of 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives in 2023 and as one of Crain’s New York Business Notable Black Leaders in 2022. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
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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 MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 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.
