Oxiris Barbot

Barbot was born at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan in New York City, and refers to herself as a "Nuyorican," a term of pride used by New Yorkers who have deep Puerto Rican roots.{{cite web |first=Lisa L. |last=Colangelo |url=https://www.amny.com/news/nyc-health-commissioner-1-26066663/ |title=NYC's new Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot knows what it's like to be denied care |publisher=Amny.com |date=January 17, 2019 |access-date=April 5, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.manhattantimesnews.com/barbot-named-citys-new-health-commissionerbarbot-nombrada-nueva-comisionada-de-salud/ |title=Barbot named city's new Health Commissioner; Barbot nombrada nueva comisionada de salud |work=Manhattan Times News |date=December 27, 2018 |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228122706/https://www.manhattantimesnews.com/barbot-named-citys-new-health-commissionerbarbot-nombrada-nueva-comisionada-de-salud/ |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |url-status=live }} She lived in the Patterson Houses in the Bronx, before moving with her mother to northern New Jersey. Barbot was a trailblazer from an early age when she was the starting pitcher for an all-boys baseball team in the 1970s.

Barbot received a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University (graduating in 1987){{cite news |url=https://news.yale.edu/2009/04/17/graduates-gather-first-yale-latino-alumni-reunion |title=Graduates Gather for the First Yale Latino Alumni Reunion |publisher=Yale University |date=April 17, 2009 |access-date=February 27, 2022}} and a medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (graduating in 1991).Cohn, Meredith (July 7, 2010). [https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-xpm-2010-07-07-bs-hs-health-commissioner-20100707-story.html "N.Y. official to lead Baltimore's health department,"] The Baltimore Sun.{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/about-doh/the-commissioner.page |title=The Commissioner - NYC Health; Oxiris Barbot, MD |publisher=nyc.gov |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404034258/https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/about-doh/the-commissioner.page |archive-date=April 4, 2020 |url-status=unfit}}{{cite news |last=Mullan |first=Fitzhugh |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1998/10/27/bridging-gaps-of-language-and-culture/2bc2194c-c10e-4d33-bb91-780e817d4704/ |title=Bridging Gaps Of Language And Culture |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 27, 1998 |access-date=April 5, 2020}} She completed her pediatric residency at George Washington University's Children's National Medical Center.

Barbot was the chief of pediatrics and community medicine at Unity Health Care, Inc., a health center in Washington, DC. Starting in 2003, she served as medical director of the Office of School Health at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the NYC Department of Education.

It was during this early phase in her career as a community pediatrician that Barbot became more attuned to the ways in which policy at the federal and local level can dramatically affect the lives of everyday Americans.

She 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. It was Baltimore City's first health agenda with a racial equity lens that incorporated measures addressing the social determinants of health such as food access, oversaturation of liquor outlets in communities of color, and the built environment.{{Cite web|last=Vazquez|first=Jennifer|title=NYC Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot Resigns|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-health-chief-oxiris-barbot-resigns/2549978/|access-date=2021-11-16|website=NBC New York|date=4 August 2020 }} 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.{{Cite news|last=Cohn|first=Meredith|date=June 18, 2012|title=Baltimore to strip some liquor stores of licenses in rezoning effort|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-xpm-2012-06-18-bs-hs-liquor-store-zoning-20120618-story.html|access-date=November 15, 2021}}

Barbot served as the first deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, starting in 2014. 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.{{Cite web|date=2017-11-28|title=NYC Health Department Deploys Team to Help Puerto Rico Recover from Hurricane Maria|url=https://queenslatino.com/nyc-health-department-deploys-team-to-help-puerto-rico-recover-from-hurricane-maria/|access-date=2021-11-16|website=Queens Latino}} She 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.{{Cite web|title=.@nycHealthy end of week one |url=https://twitter.com/drobarbot/status/974734552697536512|access-date=2021-11-16|website=Twitter}} She has written and talked about the mental health impacts of climate change.{{Cite web|date=2018-08-07|title=Despair and anxiety: Puerto Rico's 'living emergency' as a mental health crisis unfolds|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/07/despair-and-anxiety-puerto-ricos-living-emergency-as-a-mental-health-crisis-unfolds|access-date=2021-11-16|website=The Guardian}}

Barbot was the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York, a position she was appointed to in December 2018 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, succeeding Mary T. Bassett.{{cite web |url=https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/about/board-overseers/member-profiles |title=Member Profiles; Oxiris Barbot |date=15 June 2015 |publisher=Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228025756/https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/about/board-overseers/member-profiles |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=Jennifer |last=Henderson |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-care/barbot-named-health-commissioner |title=Barbot named health commissioner |work=Crains New York |date=December 19, 2018 |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220141922/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-care/barbot-named-health-commissioner |archive-date=December 20, 2018 |url-status=live }} She was the first Latina to head the Health Department.{{cite web |url=https://msmagazine.com/2019/03/12/the-only-girl-on-the-yankees/ |title=The Only Girl On The Yankees |first=Oxiris |last=Barbot |work=Ms. Magazine |date=March 12, 2019 |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326201540/https://msmagazine.com/2019/03/12/the-only-girl-on-the-yankees/ |archive-date=March 26, 2020 |url-status=live }}Jorgensen, Jillian. [https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-oxiris-barbot-health-commissioner-20181219-story.html "Dr. Oxiris Barbot named New York City health commissioner,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410092833/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-oxiris-barbot-health-commissioner-20181219-story.html |date=2020-04-10 }} New York Daily News.

On April 9, 2019, Barbot, along with de Blasio, declared a public health emergency as the city faced the largest measles outbreak since 1991,{{Cite web|date=2019-04-10|title=Amid measles outbreak, NYC health officials strive to promote vaccination, dispel myths|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/amid-measles-outbreak-nyc-health-officials-strive-to-promote-vaccination-dispel-myths|access-date=2021-05-12|website=PBS NewsHour}} requiring residents and workers in the most-affected neighborhoods to be vaccinated against measles or face possible fines. In a press conference that day, Barbot stated that 21 people were hospitalized and five were admitted to an intensive care unit out of the 285 reported cases.{{Cite news|date=2019-04-09|title=New York measles emergency declared in Brooklyn|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47872952|access-date=2021-05-12}} Barbot and de Blasio announced the end to the measles public health emergency on September 3, 2019.{{Cite press release|date=September 3, 2019|title=Mayor de Blasio, Health Officials Declare End of Measles Outbreak in New York City|url=http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/409-19/mayor-de-blasio-health-officials-declare-end-measles-outbreak-new-york-city|access-date=2021-05-12|publisher=City of New York}}

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.{{Cite web|first1=Will |last1=Feuer|first2=Noah|last2=Higgins-Dunn|date=2021-03-16|title=A year later, Trump's '15 days to slow the spread' campaign shows how little we knew about Covid|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/covid-a-year-later-trumps-15-days-to-slow-the-spread-pledge-shows-how-little-we-knew.html|access-date=2021-05-12|website=CNBC}}

In mid-February 2020, as the disease was spreading from China but before any cases were confirmed in New York, Barbot joined city leaders in urging residents not to stigmatize New York's Chinatowns, saying: "There is no reason to avoid public settings, including subways and—most of all—our city's famous Chinese restaurants and small businesses."{{cite press release |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/079-20/mayor-de-blasio-speaker-johnson-queens-chamber-commerce-encourage-new-yorkers-visit/ |title=Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Johnson and Queens Chamber of Commerce Encourage New Yorkers to Visit Asian-American Owned Small Businesses |publisher=City of New York |date=February 13, 2020 |access-date=February 27, 2022}} Over the next two weeks, as superspreading events proliferated around the world with limited testing, she turned more cautious. As she later told CNBC: "It was apparent by late February that the coronavirus had the potential to become catastrophic." March 1 marked the first confirmation of the virus in the city and state.{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Joseph |last2=McKinley |first2=Jesse |title=Coronavirus in N.Y.: Manhattan Woman Is First Confirmed Case in State |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 1, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/nyregion/new-york-coronvirus-confirmed.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302012003/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/nyregion/new-york-coronvirus-confirmed.html |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live}}

In mid-March 2020, Barbot denied a New York City Police Department (NYPD) request for 500,000 surgical masks. In a "heated exchange" for which she soon apologized, she told NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan she could only provide 50,000, insisting "I need them for others", referring to the doctors and nurses on the front lines and then added “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops.” {{Cite web |last1=Marsh |first1=Julia |last2=Moore |first2=Tina |date=2020-05-18 |title=NYC health commissioner apologizes to cops for 'two rats asses' comment |url=https://nypost.com/2020/05/18/nyc-health-commissioner-apologizes-to-cops-for-two-rats-asses-comment/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |language=en-US}} The Detectives' Endowment Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association, and Police Benevolent Association called for her to be fired, as did Democratic Representative Max Rose.{{cite web|last=Russo|first=Melissa|title=Calls for NYC Health Chief Oxiris Barbot to Resign After Rejecting NYPD PPE Request|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/calls-for-nyc-health-chief-oxiris-barbot-to-resign-after-rejecting-nypd-ppe-request/2416244/|access-date=May 14, 2020|work=NBC New York|date=14 May 2020 }}

Ultimately, citing her "deep disappointment" with the mayor's limited use of the health department's expertise, Barbot resigned on August 4, 2020.{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=J. David |date=August 4, 2020 |title=N.Y.C. Health Commissioner Resigns After Clashes With Mayor Over Virus |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/nyregion/oxiris-barbot-health-commissioner-resigns.html |access-date=August 4, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}} In a BBC documentary released in March 2021, Barbot stated that her early warnings to de Blasio were largely ignored, and that New York City's delayed decisions to close schools and mandate lockdowns "cost thousands of lives."{{Cite web |first=Amanda |last=Eisenberg |title=Ex-health commissioner knocks pandemic response |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2021/03/09/ag-taps-lawyers-to-head-cuomo-probe-high-schools-to-reopen-ex-health-commissioner-knocks-pandemic-response-492043 |date=March 9, 2021 |access-date=February 27, 2022 |website=Politico}}

In July 2021, 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.{{Cite web |first=Chris |last=Sommerfeldt |title=NYC Mayor de Blasio's Ex-Health Czar Says He'd Put 'Entire City' at Risk of COVID by Booting Homeless from Hotels|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-de-blasio-ex-health-commissioner-dangerous-plan-homeless-hotels-20210726-ajitlcuzobednbrfoobt6p2ocy-story.html|access-date=2021-08-13|website=New York Daily News|date=26 July 2021 }} Barbot's predecessor as health commissioner, Mary T. Bassett, also signed on to the letter.{{Cite web |first=David |last=Brand |title=Judge Temporarily Bars NYC's Transfer of Homeless From Hotels to Shelters—Again|url=https://citylimits.org/2021/08/06/judge-temporarily-bars-nycs-transfer-of-homeless-from-hotels-to-shelters-again|access-date=2021-08-13|website=CityLimits|date=6 August 2021 }}

{{reflist}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-gov}}

{{Succession box|title=Commissioner of Health of the City of New York|before=Mary T. Bassett|years=2018–2020|after=Dave A. Chokshi}}

{{S-end}}

{{Bill de Blasio cabinet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbot, Oxiris}}

Category:Living people

Category:People from the Bronx

Category:American public health doctors

Category:Physicians from New York City

Category:Yale University alumni

Category:University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey alumni

Category:Commissioners of health of the City of New York

Category:American pediatricians

Category:American women pediatricians

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent

Category:21st-century American physicians

Category:21st-century American women physicians

Category:20th-century American physicians

Category:20th-century American women physicians

Category:American women public health doctors