Chair Schulman opening remarks on public health priorities
Chair Lynn Schulman delivers her opening statement, highlighting the $2.64B DOHMH executive budget and key priorities including Healthy NYC, Medicaid disruptions from essential plan changes, Legionnaires' disease response, TB prevention, mpox, and animal welfare. She thanks finance and committee staff.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
I am Councilmember Lynn Schulman, Chair of the New York City Council's Committee on Health.
Thank you all for joining us at the Fiscal 2027 Executive Budget Hearing for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
I want to thank our Finance Chair, Linda-Lee, for co-chairing this hearing, and I also want to thank Speaker...
Julie-Menin for attending as well.
I would also like to thank the Commissioner, Dr.
Alistair Martin, his staff, and everyone who is with us today.
DOHMH's fiscal 2027 executive budget totals $2.64 billion, which represents approximately 2.1% of the city's budget.
Funding for public health services totals $1.6 billion, a net increase of $116.6 million compared to last year's adopted budget.
Of this amount, $526 million is for personal services and $1.1 billion for other than personal services.
Today's hearing comes at a critical moment for public health in New York City.
While our city has made meaningful progress in improving health outcomes and strengthening disease prevention efforts, we continue to face serious challenges that require sustained investment, thoughtful planning, and strong public trust in our health institutions.
This hearing will examine how the department's fiscal 2027 executive budget aligns with the city's broader public health goals, including the Healthy NYC initiative to increase life expectancy, which the council codified into law.
Healthy NYC established ambitious targets to address the longstanding inequities that continue to shape health outcomes across our communities.
These goals cannot exist solely as aspirational benchmarks.
They must be reflected both in spirit and in funding decisions throughout this budget.
At the same time, the city is preparing for the impacts of significant federal health care policy changes.
Approximately 233,000 New York City residents are expected to lose health insurance coverage.
due to upcoming essential plan eligibility changes taking effect on July 1st.
These Medicaid-related disruptions could increase the number of uninsured New Yorkers and interrupt continuity of care.
We will discuss how the department plans to respond through the new Health and Affordability Corps to support vulnerable communities during this transition.
We will also examine investments in programs that directly address food insecurity, environmental health, infectious and chronic disease prevention, sexual health services, public health emergencies, and childhood asthma.
Apart from responding to crises, public health is also about preventing illness before it occurs and ensuring that all New Yorkers have equitable access to the resources they need to live healthy lives.
This hearing will also focus on the city's response to Legionnaire's disease following recent outbreaks and the implementation of strengthened cooling tower regulations, which I championed last year.
The 2025 Central Harlem Legionnaires Disease Cluster emphasized the devastating consequences of delayed detection and insufficient prevention measures.
As warmer temperatures increase the risk of Legionella growth, it is essential that the city fully supports inspection capacity, outbreak response, environmental monitoring, and community engagement efforts to protect public health.
We will also discuss investments in tuberculosis prevention through Stop TB NYC, the city's ongoing MPOX response, and the growing importance of combating health misinformation through effective public health communications.
Additionally, we will examine the department's role in animal welfare, zoonotic disease preparedness, and pest mitigation efforts as emerging public health threats continue to evolve.
Before we would begin, I would like to thank the finance staff, Valeria Lazaro-Rodriguez, Florentine Cabor, and Isha Wright for their work on this hearing, and committee staff Chris Pepe, Elizabeth Arts, and Joshua Newman for their support.
Finally, I would also like to thank my staff, Jonathan Boucher, Kevin McAleer, and Sammy New.
With that, I will now pass it to Chair Lee.