Health
Michelle McMacken to lead nutrition
for NYC Health + Hospitals
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such as vegetarian meals or mediterranean
meals. Studies show that
a plant-based diet can lower the risk
of heart disease and high blood pressure.
H+H is the largest public healthcare
system in the nation, and contains
a doctor who is willing to take
new approaches to being well and has
been in the system since 2004, leading
up to this moment in her career.
“Healthful lifestyle habits, especially
nutrition, can signifi cantly
reduce cardiovascular, metabolic,
cancer, and other health risks. The
science is clear, and I’ve seen the benefi
ts fi rsthand in my own practice,”
said Dr. McMacken. “It is my mission
to support our patients in adopting
the healthiest possible lifestyle,
particularly those who are the most
vulnerable and face the greatest barriers.”
Senior Vice President of Ambulatory
Care and Population Health at
NYC Health + Hospitals Dr. Ted Long
said the new position is all part of
ushering in an evolution for healthcare.
“As a primary care doctor myself,
I know well the critical impact
that a healthy lifestyle has on your
overall health. I am incredibly excited
to work with Dr. McMacken to
bring this new focus on lifestyle medicine
to New Yorkers across our City,
without exception.”
BY MORGAN C. MULLINGS
NYC Health + Hospitals has created
a new role to advance plant-based
nutrition and healthy lifestyle education
for New York City. Michelle Mc-
Macken, MD, will serve as executive
director of Nutrition and Lifestyle
Medicine for the H+H system, the
public hospital announced Jan. 13.
Mayor Eric Adams, who shares
some views on health with Mc-
Macken, said that her work is “innovative.”
“Dr. McMacken is a trailblazer
who knows how to get stuff done. She
knows the power of lifestyle medicine
to reverse chronic diseases, transform
lives, and combat generationslong
health inequities,” he said.
Currently practicing at the Bellevue
Adult Primary Care Center, Dr.
McMacken is the pioneer of the Bellevue
Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine
Program. It’s only right that the
vegan mayor of New York City supported
her in 2019 when she began it,
and applauds her new appointment
now.
“I am proud about the innovative
work she has been doing at Bellevue,
and it is truly exciting to see her expand
her mission to all our NYC
Health + Hospitals facilities in this
new role,” the mayor said.
H+H calls the Bellevue program a
fi rst-of-its-kind approach to reducing
health care risks through lifestyle
changes and plant-based based diet,
as well as social support and physical
activity. Plant-based diet does not
necessarily mean vegan diet (forgoing
meat and dairy). It is lifestyle,
rather than a fad diet, that incorporates
more food derived from plants,
Michelle McMacken.
Photo Courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals
‘Winning’ against COVID
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
COVID-19 infections continue to
remain high across the city, but the
number of cases are dropping sharply,
Mayor Eric Adams said Jan. 18.
Adams relayed that the city has
one of the highest vaccination rates in
the country currently, with 16 million
doses administered and at least 2.5
million booster shots. The mayor said
that this indicated that citizens were
doing their part in combating the virus,
which in turn would help get NYC
back on its pre-pandemic track.
“It is imperative that we show New
Yorkers that we are coming back,” said
Adams. “New Yorkers should be proud
of themselves. It is because of this
work that (…) you sent a clear message
that vaccines are successful.”
Also reported was the city’s most recent
seven-day average, which at 16,330
new cases was a decrease from the previous
two weeks. Despite the drop in
new cases in recent weeks, this number
is still considered incredibly high,
with the city itself still categorized as
a “highly transmissible” area.
Adams also urged everyone to go get
their vaccination as those who are still
unvaccinated remain eight times more
likely to be hospitalized if infected.
“We still have work to do,” Adams
said. “We’re nowhere near where we
ought to be and we need to move even
further to make sure that we get everyone
boosted and vaccinated.”
Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, the city’s
health commissioner, spoke to Omicron
being the “most formidable variant
yet” in addition to Mayor Adams’s
six-point COVID-19 winter plan. The
plan includes the private sector vaccine
mandate introduced by former
Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as improving
COVID safety in shelters, jails and
nursing homes among other steps.
As more and more people get vaccinated,
combined with people wearing
masks and social distancing in public,
the number of cases will hopefully
continue to decrease, allowing the city
to return to its normal.
“We have not won yet, but let’s be
clear on this: we are winning,” said
Adams.
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