Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams issued the following statement after Dr. Oxiris Barbot resigned from her role as New York City Health Commissioner on Tuesday morning.
"I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Barbot for her service to New York City in an unparalleled time of public health crisis. Her resignation is a great loss for a city in need. Even in moments when we did not agree, I have always recognized, respected, and been deeply appreciative of her commitment to the health and well-being of New Yorkers.
"The circumstances of her departure during the city's health crisis are troubling. Dr. Barbot has for months faced immense pressures internally and externally as she led efforts to combat this pandemic and save lives, often seemingly without necessary support, with what appeared to be inordinate resistance, and while being held to impossible double standards. Recent outside attacks on Dr. Barbot as a woman of more color have been far out of line, misogynist, and demonstrated a toxic attitude by many toward her and her leadership, one where she has been forced to apologize even as those who attacked her have not. Many are still struggling to understand the re-assigning of contact tracing to another agency without articulable reasoning. "This is not a time to be without strong, medically guided leadership on public health matters, especially as concerns grow about reopening schools. To that end I am encouraged that Dr. Dave A. Chokshi will immediately fill the role. As Dr. Barbot knew, this is an area where we need an independent thinker who can meet these immense challenges, guided by science and public good and supported by the agencies most responsible for public health and safety."
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