City & State Names Two NYC Health + Hospitals Executives to its 2023 Manhattan Power 100 List
Cristina Contreras and William Hicks are among the influential people recognized for their leadership and service to New Yorkers
Aug 16, 2023
New York, NY
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that two executives from the health care system have been named to City & State’s 2023 Manhattan Power 100 list. NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan CEO Cristina Contreras and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue CEO William Hicks are recognized for their outstanding leadership, career accomplishments, and steadfast commitment to serving New Yorkers. City & State is a media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Ms. Contreras started her career as a caseworker and progressed through various positions of leadership with increasing responsibility, culminating with her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in April 2021. She has over 27 years of leadership experience in executive level management of inpatient, ambulatory, clinical, and ancillary services. Contreras has been recognized by Schneps Media, 100 Hispanic Women National, the NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and City & State New York for her extraordinary work. She also serves as the Chair of the National Dominican Day Parade and on the Board of Directors of R.A.I.N. Total Care, Inc. She holds a Bachelors in Social Work from Herbert H. Lehman College, a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Fordham University and a second Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Baruch College.
William Hicks, MS, RT, DHL, leads NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, the oldest public hospital in America. Under his leadership, recent innovations in patient care have included expanding access to lifesaving programs previously available only at private institutions, such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for cardiac care and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which was essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the procedures are available to New Yorkers regardless of ability to pay. Mr. Hicks has overseen Bellevue’s national recognitions for adult and pediatric trauma, stroke care, cardiology, diabetes, maternity care, neurology, physical rehabilitation, psychiatry, palliative care, and special pathogens. Bellevue provided direct care for patients with COVID-19 and operated a vaccine center, as well as a recently closed testing site that conducted more than 230,000 tests throughout the pandemic. With Mr. Hicks at the helm, the hospital recently opened five new inpatient units to support a growing number of complex medical cases, and expanded psychiatric emergency services for pediatric patients—the only program of its kind in New York State and one of only very few in the country. Hicks has been recognized by Schneps Media and City & State. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from the New York College of Health Professions in 2021.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.