Career
Bassett lived in Zimbabwe from 1985 to 2002,during which time she served on the medical faculty of the University of Zimbabwe. She was appointed deputy commissioner of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2002. [9] Beginning in 2009,she served as the program director for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's African Health Initiative. [9]
In January 2014,she was appointed by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as New York City Health Commissioner. Since being appointed to this position,which was the largest she had ever held, [12] she helped lead the city's response to the Ebola virus cases in the United States that were first reported in the fall of 2014. [13] [14] She also addressed New Yorkers regarding outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease in their city. [15] In February 2015,she wrote a perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the adverse health effects of racial discrimination against African Americans. [13]
In November 2015,Bassett gave a TEDMED talk,"Why your doctor should care about social justice." In this talk,Bassett spoke about witnessing the AIDS epidemic firsthand in Zimbabwe and setting up a clinic to treat and educate people about the virus. However,Bassett said she regrets not speaking out against structural inequities during her time in Zimbabwe. Bassett said these same structural problems exist in the United States today,and as New York City's Health Commissioner,she would use every chance she had to rally support for health equity and speak out against racism. [16]
In October 2016,Bassett was awarded the Frank A. Calderone Prize by the Mailman School of Public Health. This prize was established in 1986,and is the most prestigious honor in the field of public health in the United States. [17]
In 2017,Bassett was elected to become a member of the National Academy of Medicine. [18]
She was succeeded as New York City Health Commissioner by Oxiris Barbot in 2018.
On December 27,2021,Bassett issued a controversial Memo advising health professionals to treat race as a factor in determining access to COVID-19 therapeutics. She was sued by Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson on the basis of racial discrimination. [19] The case was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing,as the court found the Jacobson did not demonstrate that "a provider...delayed [or] denied their COVID-19 treatment because of the guidance." [20] However,the Court added:"In reaching our conclusion,we emphasize that we have not considered the merits of Plaintiffs’appeals," noting that a patient with standing may have successfully challenged the Memo.
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