Oxiris Barbot

Oxiris Barbot (/ɔːkˈsiːdiːs/) is an American pediatrician who served as the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2018 to 2020.

Early life and education[]

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.^[1][2] Her father committed suicide with a handgun when she was nine years old.^[3] She lived in the Patterson Houses in the Bronx, before moving with her mother to northern New Jersey.^[1]

Barbot received a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University, and a medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (graduating in 1991).^[4][5][6] She completed her pediatric residency at George Washington University's Children's National Medical Center.^[5]

Early career[]

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. She then served as commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, starting in 2010. Barbot served as the first deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, starting in 2014.^[5][1]

Commissioner of Health of the City of New York[]

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.^[5][7][8] She was the first Latina to head the Health Department.^[1][9][10]

Measles outbreak[]

On April 9, 2019, Barbot, along with de Blasio, declared a public health emergency as the city faced the largest measles outbreak since 1991,^[11] requiring all residents 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.^[12] Barbot and de Blasio announced the end to the measles public health emergency on September 3, 2019.^[13]

Coronavirus pandemic[]

Barbot led New York City through the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic "when the state was seeing almost 1,000 daily deaths", in her role as the city's Health Commissioner.^[14] She told CNBC, "it was apparent by late February that the coronavirus had the potential to become catastrophic".^[14]

In a BBC documentary released in March 2021, Barbot stated that her early warnings to de Blasio were ignored, and that New York City's delayed decision to close schools and mandating lockdowns "cost thousands of lives."^[15]

Barbot denied a New York Police Department (NYPD) request for 500,000 surgical masks in mid-March.^[16] She told NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan she could only provide 50,000, saying "I need them for others" and “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops.” The Detectives' Endowment Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association, and Police Benevolent Association called for her to be fired, as did Democrat Representative Max Rose.^[16]

Ultimately, citing her deep distress with the mayor's actions and her disappointment that the health department's expertise was not properly leveraged, Barbot resigned on August 4, 2020.^[17]

In July 2021, Barbot signed on to a letter in opposition to de Blasio's decision to moving the city's homeless population out of city hotels due to the risk of spreading COVID–19.^[18] Barbot's predecessor as health commissioner, Mary T. Bassett, also signed on to the letter.^[19]

References[]