NYC Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan will step down from his Adams administration post in early January, he announced Monday.
Vasan submitted his resignation Monday, citing personal family reasons as the reason for his departure.
Vasan became the city’s top doctor in March 2022, leading the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The doctor, public health professor and practicing primary care doctor at Columbia University was previously the president and CEO of Fountain House, a national mental health nonprofit.
His resignation is the latest profile departure at City Hall and comes in the midst of a flurry of federal investigations around the Adams administration — although sources said Vasan’s departure was not related to the various probes.
“From day one, I have made focus, ambition, and integrity a key part of my leadership,” Vasan wrote in a statement. “The state of the department and of our public health system is strong. I’m deeply confident that we have put in place critical initiatives to benefit New Yorkers, and we have the right team to continue this important work and keep us safe and healthy for years and generations to come.
Citing a list of accomplishments, Vasan called his time as commissioner the “honor of my lifetime,” but wrote that he made the decision to support his wife and three children.
“I want to thank Dr. Vasan for his service to New York City since the start of our administration,” Mayor Adams said in a statement. “His expertise as a mental health expert, coupled with his training as a public health professional, have proven indispensable to our city over the past two-and-a-half years as we’ve handled rising COVID rates, Mpox outbreaks, and a mental health crisis both on our streets and in our schools.”
During his time at the department, Vasan launched the HealthyNYC initiative — a plan to raise the average life expectancy of New Yorkers to 83 years of age by 2030, among other measures.
“We are a healthier city for his tenure and thank him and his family for their service to the city. I look forward to working with Dr. Vasan through the end of the year for a smooth transition,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said in a statement.