Mary T. Bassett, MD, Zachary Iscol, and Literacy Partners to receive awards at UHF fundraising gala
NEW YORK, NY—October 2, 2023—United Hospital Fund will host its annual Gala tonight at Cipriani 42nd Street, bringing together 500 health care, community, and business leaders to support its work to build an effective and equitable health care system for every New Yorker and to honor three exceptional leaders for their efforts to improve health and health care. Mary T. Bassett, MD, former commissioner of the New York State Department of Health and of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will receive the Health Care Leadership Award; Zachary Iscol, co-founder of the Headstrong Project, will receive the Distinguished Community Service Award; and Literacy Partners will receive a Special Tribute, to be accepted by its CEO Anthony Tassi, for its work to help break the cycle of poverty through the development of literacy and language skills.
The event has raised more than $1 million to support United Hospital Fund.
“We are proud to bring together a large group this evening to pay tribute to three exceptional honorees, all dedicated to improving the health and the lives of New Yorkers, particularly those most in need,” said Oxiris Barbot, MD, president and CEO of United Hospital Fund. “Tonight’s honorees truly embody the core values of United Hospital Fund and the best of New York.”
The Health Care Leadership Award, to be presented to Dr. Bassett, recognizes extraordinary personal leadership and longstanding contributions to improving health and the health care system.
Over a more than four-decade career spanning academia, government, and nonprofit work, Dr. Bassett has used her medical expertise and leadership acumen to advance social justice in health care—and to lead both New York City and New York State through multiple health crises. After completing her medical degree, a residency at Harlem Hospital, and a master’s of public health, Dr. Bassett moved to Zimbabwe where she was on the medical faculty at the University of Zimbabwe, developed AIDS prevention programs, helped run a rural health program that trained doctors, and worked for the Rockefeller Foundation’s southern Africa office before returning to New York and ultimately taking on the role of New York City health commissioner. As commissioner, she is widely credited for leading successful responses to health crises involving Ebola, Legionnaires’ disease, and the Zika virus; for making health services more accessible to low-income New Yorkers; for building a culture of equity and racial justice in the health department; and tackling troubling gaps in health between white New Yorkers and communities of color. From late 2021 until the end of 2022, Dr. Bassett served as the health commissioner for New York State, leading the State’s response to the COVID omicron surge. She now serves as a professor and director of the FXB Center on Health and Human Rights at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The Distinguished Community Service Award, which will be presented to Zach Iscol, recognizes an individual whose exceptional voluntary leadership of a specific initiative is improving health and health care.
Mr. Iscol, a decorated combat veteran who served two tours in Iraq, co-founded The Headstrong Project in 2012 after several Marines from his unit died by suicide. Headstrong provides confidential, barrier-free, and stigma-free PTSD treatment to veterans, service members, and family connected to their care. Recent studies show that as many as 44 U.S. veterans die by suicide every day—and that four times as many U.S. service members have died by suicide than have been killed in combat since September 11, 2001. Headstrong focuses on removing the stigma of mental health care and reducing barriers to high-quality mental health care so that people can find and sustain the treatment they need. In his professional life, Mr. Iscol is the Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management, where he leads a 300-person department tasked with keeping New Yorkers safe during citywide emergencies.
Literacy Partners will receive the UHF’s Special Tribute for its work to help break the cycle of poverty and improve wellness through the development of literacy and language skills. Literacy Partners has been tackling literacy-related issues for 50 years, and today, under CEO Anthony Tassi, the organization uses a two-generational approach: their classes aim to break the cycle of poverty by focusing on the literacy and language skills of low-income and immigrant parents and caregivers, giving them the tools to create success for themselves and a better future for their children. The organization also does important work outside of the classroom, joining forces during the pandemic with family health centers to turn around the trend of declining well-child visits and immunizations and working with United Hospital Fund on its children’s health initiatives.
Proceeds from the Gala support UHF’s work to build an effective and equitable health care system for every New Yorker, one that is affordable and accessible, provides a better patient experience and the highest quality of care, and achieves optimal health outcomes, with a special focus on those facing the greatest barriers to good health and health care. John Simons, chair of United Hospital Fund, served as event chair.
About United Hospital Fund
United Hospital Fund works to build an effective and equitable health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we are a force for improvement, analyzing public policy to inform decision-makers, finding common ground among diverse stakeholders, and developing and supporting innovative programs that improve health and health care. We work to dismantle barriers in health policy and health care delivery that prevent equitable opportunities for health. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow us on X.
