PoliticsNY and amNY Metro Names Machelle Allen, MD, to its “2024 Black Power Players” List
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer recognized by prominent news publications for her commitment to helping the health system's patients
Feb 02, 2024
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Machelle Allen, MD, has been recognized by PoliticsNY and amNY Metro on its annual “Black Power Players” list. Released in honor of Black History Month, the list honors community leaders, innovators, and politicians from different industries and organizations across the five boroughs who each contribute to the vibrancy of New York City. Dr. Allen is recognized for her unwavering commitment to helping the health system’s patients, and for her pioneering work to advance women’s health and birth outcomes.
A veteran of NYC Health + Hospitals, Dr. Allen completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, worked as an attending physician at Harlem and Bellevue hospitals, and served as the Associate Medical Director at Bellevue until 2013 when she transitioned to system Deputy CMO. She was subsequently promoted to system CMO in 2017.
Dr. Allen has devoted her career to helping her patients. Her early career was devoted to women who suffered from addiction or were at risk for HIV infection during their pregnancies. While women’s health and birth outcomes remain a passion, in her role as system CMO Dr. Allen developed the clinical service line structure which has resulted in the implementation of systemwide clinical initiatives, including the underpinnings of the critical care pandemic response: Level setting of the critically ill patient, tele-ICU, point of care imaging, early ICU mobility, Artificial Intelligence-based EEG interpretations, and tele-neurology, among other initiatives. The Behavioral Health service line, in response to the mental health crisis seen in New York City as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, launched the B-HEARD (Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division) program which deploys social workers along with EMS personnel as first responders, in lieu of police officers.
Dr. Allen established an Office of Clinical Operations. It is this office which instituted surveillance of the health care system’s wastewater for emerging infections. Dr. Allen also created a systemwide Office of Women’s Health Services. Under this aegis, the NYC Health + Hospitals Maternal Home was “birthed” – one of the few in New York State.
Dr. Allen is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to more than one million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city’s five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.