New York City

Ashwin Vasan takes over as NYC’s health commissioner

Dr. Dave Chokshi is leaving the post and taking his beloved TV presence with him.

Incoming NYC Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.

Incoming NYC Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. Saskia Kahn

As of Tuesday, New York City has a new health commissioner. Dr. Ashwin Vasan, a mental health nonprofit leader, took over from Dr. Dave Chokshi, who gained the trust of the city as he guided millions through the treacherous waters of vaccines, testing and new COVID-19 variants.

Vasan will be serving as the 44th commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in a time of cautious optimism about the pandemic’s potential departure from the public’s everyday life. He is expected to focus on mental health and what Chokshi has called the city’s “epidemic of loneliness.”

Vasan previously served as president and CEO of Fountain House, a nonprofit organization centered around assisting mentally ill New Yorkers with housing, hospitalization and therapy services. 

“Ashwin has been an inspirational leader for Fountain House, taking the organization to new heights in community-based mental health and public policy accomplishments,” said William Hilburn, the chair of Fountain House’s board of directors, in a statement released by the organization on Vasan’s resignation.

Prior to his work with Fountain House, Vasan was a member of the faculty at the Mailman School of Public Health where he worked in population and family health. He specialized in assisting low-income, underinsured patients in the city, according to a profile of the doctor on Columbia’s faculty website. 

The executive director of New York City’s National Alliance on Mental Illness, Matt Kudish, spoke to the experience that Vasan will be bringing to the role as a mental health professional. “We are thrilled to have a commissioner who values the lived experiences of the 1 in 5 New Yorkers affected by mental illness and the other four who are their families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.”

Chokshi had served as commissioner since August of 2020 after former commissioner Oxiris Barbot resigned from the role due to various disagreements with former Mayor Bill de Blasio on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in the city. Chokshi came from a background in public health with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and had previously served as chief population health officer at NYC Health and Hospitals. He is passing the baton to Vasan with COVID-19 cases on the decline in the city and a fresh administration under Mayor Eric Adams. 

Chokshi was a face that many New Yorkers had grown accustomed to seeing on their television screens every day since the fall of 2020 with a plethora of PSAs that became commonplace in so many city homes. 

In a thread posted to Chokshi’s professional Twitter account through the city, he reflected on the work still left to be done as the city seeks to recover from the pandemic that began just two years ago. 

“We have lived through a time filled with so many dark days, and so much suffering…This wasn’t just about tests, medicines or vaccines, but speaking to New Yorkers’ fears, anxieties and uncertainties – and offering a roadmap for navigating them, even when solutions were imperfect,” said Chokshi in his departing message. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.