New York City health commissioner to resign

NEW YORK — City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan submitted his resignation Monday morning to City Hall, citing personal reasons as the impetus for his departure.

Vasan, a trained epidemiologist and practicing primary care doctor, has helmed the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since March 2022 after being appointed to the post by Mayor Eric Adams.

“As anyone with a family — or a chosen family — knows, you are never alone in service,” Vasan said in a statement. “My wife and three young children have served alongside me, bearing the brunt of my absence and shouldering so much. I’m grateful for their love and have chosen that now it is time to support them and their wellbeing. While this was a hard decision, it was the right one for me and my family.”

Under his leadership, the department spearheaded the launch of Adams’ three-pronged mental health agenda — which included the creation of a free virtual therapy platform for New York City high schoolers — and an initiative to extend New Yorkers’ average lifespan to over 83 years by 2030, called HealthyNYC .

But the department has also had to contend with diminishing resources after several rounds of budget cuts instituted by Adams’ administration, which has focused intensely on fiscal discipline . And in recent months, multiple federal probes have challenged Adams’ mantra of “stay focused, no distractions and grind.”

Vasan, nonetheless, managed to secure additional city funding for the department’s bureau of tuberculosis control, after POLITICO reported that a rise in TB cases was overwhelming the short-staffed unit . The Adams administration also committed millions of dollars annually for implementation of HealthyNYC.

Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health and a leading voice nationally on public health issues, said Vasan’s HealthyNYC initiative has been a game changer nationally in helping government officials reimagine their roles in public health.

“He’s managed to change the terms of discourse around what a healthy population looks like in a very short period of time,” Ranney said in an interview.

Before he became health commissioner, Vasan was chief executive of the mental health nonprofit Fountain House, which operates spaces called clubhouses where people with serious mental illnesses can socialize and get connected to resources. He previously served as executive director of the health department’s health access equity unit, now known as the Bureau of Health Promotion for Justice-Involved Populations.

Vasan is slated to step down in January.

“I appreciate Dr. Vasan’s decision to stay on through early next year as we transition to a new commissioner, and we are confident that because of his hard work putting into place critical public health initiatives New York City is and will continue to be a safer and healthier place for a long time to come,” Adams said in a statement. “I hope all New Yorkers join me in thanking Dr. Vasan and his entire family for their service.”

The health department employs about 7,000 people with an annual budget of $2.2 billion, about half of which is city-funded.