Mitchell Katz, MD and president and CEO at NYC Health + Hospitals, the City’s public hospital system, announced on Friday, Feb. 26, that Cristina Contreras, executive director of NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx (NCB), located in Norwood, will be promoted to CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan based in East Harlem.

 

It was also announced that Christopher Roker, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in East Harlem, will serve as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln in Mott Haven. In these roles, Katz said Contreras and Roker will help lead the hospitals’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and support the public health system’s mission to guarantee affordable and high-quality care to Bronx and Manhattan residents. The new appointments will be effective April 1, 2021.

 

Roker will continue to serve as the health system’s chief growth officer. Meanwhile, Christopher Mastromano will remain chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx. Norwood News reported in 2019 that both hospitals were to begin operating under the same New York State Department of Health certificate, in efforts to improve overall efficiency. We reached out to NYC Health + Hospitals for a status update in February 2021 and we were informed that the project is “still in process but nearing completion.”

 

Announcing the appointments, Katz said he was proud that two such talented and committed NYC Health + Hospitals veterans would be taking the helms of what he described as two critical hospitals. “Cristina and Chris embody the health system’s mission of delivering care to any New Yorker who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay,” he said. “Finally, I want to thank outgoing NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln CEO, Milton Nuñez, for his years of service to the hospital, and the Bronx community. He will be missed,” he added.

 

Contreras, who was interviewed by the Norwood News at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, last year, said that as a longtime member of the NYC Health + Hospitals family, it was an honor to assume the leadership of one of East Harlem’s finest community hospitals. “The amazing health care heroes at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan have played a critical role in responding to the health care needs of this community before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I look forward to building on this success as we transition to a new normal,” she said.

 

Meanwhile, Roker said he was excited to transition to NYC Health + Hospital/Lincoln and continue the great work that his predecessor began. “Lincoln hospital is an essential public institution with a long history of providing equal access to quality health care services to the diverse community of the South Bronx,” he said.

 

“I look forward to working with the skilled and compassionate health care professionals there to continue the lifesaving work they do every day, and I am eager to work with community leaders and stakeholders to continue advancing the hospital’s essential mission,” he added.

 

According to the NYC Health + Hospitals press release, Contreras has broad experience in health care management of inpatient, ambulatory, clinical, and ancillary services. In September 2020, she was named Chief Strategy Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, while keeping her title as executive director for NCB. She earned a BA in social work from Herbert H. Lehman College in 1995, and that same year, began her career within NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island as a caseworker.

 

Contreras earned her Master’s degree in social work from Fordham University in 2001 and a second Master’s degree in Public Administration from Baruch College in 2008. She is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives, the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives, and the local Community Board 7, where she provides important health-related updates to the Health Committee.

 

According to the press release, Roker is an operational expert focused on building, growing, and improving the profitability, performance, and value in organizations with a leadership style that fosters teamwork and motivates staff. He has served as NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens CEO from 2016 to 2019.

 

In 2019, he became the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan. Prior to NYC Health + Hospitals, Roker held leadership positions at The MetroHealth System in Ohio, St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, and The Parkway Hospital in Queens. Roker holds a BA from the State University of New York at Oswego, an MBA from Pace University, certificate in Healthcare Leadership Advancement from Cornell University, and completed Lean Six Sigma Green Belt for Healthcare.