Big Apple doctor-in-chief seeks community approach
New York City’s new health boss doesn’t want to be your nanny. Think of her more as a tutor.
After years of pronouncements from on high, including the fight to limit big, sugary drinks, the city’s health department is shifting priorities under its newest commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett: less telling and more listening to people about what they need.
“It means getting out, talking to people and realizing that the health department is only part of the solution,” said Bassett, explaining a philosophy she developed as a resident in a Harlem hospital and in 17 years developing AIDS-prevention programs in Zimbabwe.