NYC Health + Hospitals System Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Services and Population Health Dr. Ted Long Receives 2026 Sloan Public Service Award
Dr. Long is recognized for transforming public health care access, leading major crisis response initiatives, and advancing care for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers
The Sloan Public Service Awards, regarded as one of New York City’s highest honors for career public service, recognizes extraordinary public servants whose leadership, innovation, and commitment strengthen both the lives of New Yorkers and the effectiveness of government
May 28, 2026
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals and the Fund for the City of New York today announced that Ted Long, MD, MHS, Senior Vice President, System Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Clinical Services and Population Health and CEO for NYC Health + Hospitals Accountable Care Organization, has been selected as a recipient of the 2026 Sloan Public Service Award, regarded as one of New York City’s highest honors for career public service. Dr. Long is recognized for his transformative leadership expanding health care access and leading some of New York City’s most significant health care and humanitarian response efforts in recent history. Over the course of his tenure at NYC Health + Hospitals, he has played a central role in improving primary care access, strengthening population health systems, and developing large-scale crisis response initiatives serving millions of New Yorkers. Dr. Long and his fellow honorees will be recognized this evening at the 2026 Sloan Public Service Awards Citywide Reception and Ceremony at the New York Historical Society.
A video profile of Dr. Long, prepared by the Fund for the City of New York, can be viewed here.
“My north star is that health care is a human right,” said Dr. Long. “Through starting the NYC Care program, to providing health care to hundreds of thousands of newly arriving asylum seekers, NYC Health + Hospitals has proven what’s possible when we treat health care as a right in our city. As a primary care doctor, I have the privilege of seeing what that means for my patients every week, and it is lifechanging. I want to thank my team for their tireless work and constant commitment to our mission. You’ve proven that universal health care access can go from a dream to reality for hundreds of thousands of people, and set the bar that, if others follow the models we’ve created, it could be true for millions of people across the country”
“Whatever the issue is, no matter the size or difficulty of the request, Ted’s answer is always ‘Yes!” said Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals. “He’s always there to help. And to lead. He operates at an extremely high energy level, and he approaches everything he undertakes with care and with kindness. He’s incredibly optimistic. But then, he has reason to think things will succeed, because with him, they always do.”
“Congratulations to Dr. Ted Long, who has been an integral partner in building a healthier, more equitable New York City,” said Dr. Helen Arteaga, NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “As both a doctor and a public servant, Ted brings a unique, infectious enthusiasm to every task, and we thank him for bringing that energy every day as he works tirelessly to improve the lives of so many New Yorkers.”
“Ted is an extraordinary problem solver, and capable of dealing with immense problems,” said Anne Williams-Isom, former NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “But he is first of all a doctor, and that is evident in the way he approaches everything. He listens. He treats everyone with respect and dignity. He comes to his work with an open heart. And when he formulates a plan of action, you know he has considered the whole picture and everyone involved. He diagnoses every problem, and comes up with every solution, with the well-being of everyone as his aim. That’s why it’s so rewarding to work with him. That’s his secret sauce.”
“The Test + Trace plan that New York City developed to deal with the COVID epidemic set a standard for the rest of the nation,” said Dr. Andrew Wallach, NYC Health + Hospitals Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer. “That, and other initiatives that Ted launched and led, require so many different skills—analysis, problem-solving, imagination to think them up; management and leadership to execute them. But they also require something else to get buy-in and cooperation from an enormous range of government, corporate, nonprofit, research, faith-based, and community constituents. They require trust and respect. And Ted has earned that in the highest degree. Everyone in every organization and every community that works with him holds him in the highest regard and believes that he will get the job done in a way that is best for everyone.”
“Dr. Long has endless energy and enthusiasm, which he uses to respond to the needs of New Yorkers — new and living here — at their most critical times,” said Gail Brewer, New York City Council Member. “He delivers extraordinary service with ingenuity, energy, and compassion; has commitment beyond the call of duty; puts in an outstanding and reliable performance, both under the pressure of daily routine and in times of crisis; and is dedicated to upholding the public interest amidst competing interests, pressures, and demands. He brings the compassion and sensitivity of a primary care physician to thousands of NYC Health + Hospitals’ patients, as well as the 178,000 asylum seekers who come through the city’s Arrival Center.”
Dr. Long joined NYC Health + Hospitals in 2018 to lead a major transformation of NYC Health + Hospitals’ ambulatory care network at a time when the public health care system faced a $1.8 billion structural deficit, long wait times for primary care appointments, and declining patient retention. Under his leadership, the system has reduced wait times for new primary care appointments by 50 percent, expanded patient access, and contributed significantly to the elimination of the system’s structural deficit.
He also founded NYC Care, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive municipal health care access initiative for uninsured residents. The program guarantees low-cost or no-cost health care access for New Yorkers regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. Since launching in 2019, NYC Care grew to more than 145,000 active members and provided more than one million primary care appointments, along with hundreds of thousands of specialty, behavioral health, women’s health, and eye care visits.
Dr. Long’s leadership became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he served as executive director of the NYC Test & Trace Corps, the country’s largest municipal contact tracing initiative. The program reached more than 1.7 million New Yorkers diagnosed with COVID-19, identified approximately 1.8 million close contacts, and distributed and administered over 150 million COVID-19 tests and 2.2 million vaccines across New York City. As the city transitioned from pandemic response to recovery, Dr. Long expanded the initiative into the Test & Treat Corps, preserving critical public health infrastructure and community outreach systems that would later prove essential during the arrival of asylum seekers to New York City beginning in 2022.
Dr. Long led NYC Health + Hospitals’ humanitarian response infrastructure for migrants and asylum seekers, including the City’s Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs). Through these initiatives, NYC Health + Hospitals provided medical care, case management, legal assistance coordination, and social support services for hundreds of thousands of newly arriving migrants and asylum seekers. The system’s Arrival Center, widely regarded as the first operation of its kind in the nation, served approximately 178,000 individuals from over 160 countries.
While overseeing some of the city’s largest health care and emergency response systems, Dr. Long continues to practice each week as a primary care physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania in the Bronx, maintaining direct patient relationships that continue to shape his leadership philosophy and approach to public service.
Dr. Long previously served as senior medical officer for the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where he led more than 20 federal programs. Before coming to CMS, Dr. Long served as medical director at the Rhode Island State Department of Health, where he led health care planning for the State.
Dr. Long did his undergraduate work, residency training, and post-graduate master’s work in health services research at Yale University. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles that have been published in journals including JAMA, Nature Communications, and Lancet Public Health. Dr. Long is a Clinical Professor at NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health and on faculty at the Yale School of Medicine.
Presented by the Fund for the City of New York since 1973, the Sloan Public Service Awards recognize extraordinary public servants whose leadership, innovation, and commitment to strengthen both the lives of New Yorkers and the effectiveness of government. In honoring Dr. Long, the Sloan Public Service Awards also recognize the critical role public health care systems and career public servants play in advancing equity, strengthening public trust, and responding to complex challenges facing New York City communities.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public 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 MetroPlusHealth—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 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.
About the Fund for the City of New York
Since 1968, the Fund for the City of New York has advanced innovation, effectiveness, and opportunity in government and civic life. Through initiatives such as the Sloan Public Service Awards, the Fund recognizes the public servants whose leadership strengthens New York City and improves the lives of its residents.