17 Facts About Oxiris Barbot

Oxiris Barbot is an American pediatrician who served as the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2018 to 2020.

Oxiris Barbot was then appointed to public health positions with Columbia University and the JPB Foundation, and in 2022 became president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit United Hospital Fund.

Oxiris Barbot lived in the Patterson Houses in the Bronx, before moving with her mother to northern New Jersey.

Oxiris Barbot was a trailblazer from an early age when she was the starting pitcher for an all-boys baseball team in the 1970s.

Oxiris Barbot received a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and a medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Oxiris Barbot completed her pediatric residency at George Washington University's Children's National Medical Center.

Oxiris Barbot was the chief of pediatrics and community medicine at Unity Health Care, Inc.

Oxiris Barbot was recruited in 2010 to be commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, where she was the principal architect of Healthy Baltimore 2015, the city's roadmap for better health outcomes.

Oxiris Barbot's leadership was instrumental in Baltimore City being the first jurisdiction in the country to use the zoning code to amortize the number of alcohol outlets in residential communities as a remedy for oversaturation.

Oxiris Barbot served as the first deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, starting in 2014.

Oxiris Barbot led the agency's first public health deployment outside of NYC to Puerto Rico to provide public health support in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Oxiris Barbot returned to Puerto Rico with her team to provide mental health support for teachers struggling to provide stability for the island's public school students.

Oxiris Barbot was the first Latina to head the Health Department.

Oxiris Barbot led New York City through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, "when the state was seeing almost 1,000 daily deaths", in her role as the city's Health Commissioner.

In mid-March 2020, Oxiris Barbot denied a New York City Police Department request for 500,000 surgical masks.

Ultimately, citing her "deep disappointment" with the mayor's limited use of the health department's expertise, Oxiris Barbot resigned on August 4,2020.

In July 2021, Oxiris Barbot signed on to a letter opposing de Blasio's decision to move the city's homeless population out of city hotels, due to the risk of spreading COVID-19.