New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan to step down this week

NEW YORK (WABC) — Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who submitted his resignation to the mayor last month, now plans to leave the office by the end of the week.

Vasan initially told Mayor Eric Adams he would resign by the end of the year, but has accelerated his departure to Oct. 18, citing family concerns.

Adams announced Tuesday that Dr. Michelle Morse, the city’s chief medical officer and deputy commissioner for the health department’s Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness, will step in as interim health commissioner while the city searches for a permanent replacement.

“While we are sorry to see him leave, we wholeheartedly respect his decision to prioritize the needs of his family and the greater urgency that those needs demand,” Adams said. “The department will not miss a beat as Dr. Michelle Morse steps in as interim commissioner as our national search for a permanent replacement continues.”

Vasan released a statement saying that despite his love for the job, “it is time for the needs of my family to take precedence.”

“When I stepped into this role nearly three years ago, the agency was navigating the closing stages of a once-in-a-century pandemic, and health departments around the country were losing staff and facing a crisis of morale and trust,” Vasan said.”Reinvigorating public health, strengthening our foundations, and pointing us in new directions, was the first order of business in my tenure. The course we set internally and externally leavesthe Health Department as strong, stable, and determinedto be aforce of good in our cityas it has ever been, and with its national and international reach as strong as it has been.”

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