Dr. Michael A. Stocker, Chair, HHC Board of Directors

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today appointed Dr. Michael Stocker as the new Chair of the Board of Directors for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). Dr. Stocker will replace Charlynn Goins who announced her plans to step down earlier this year. The Mayor made the announcement at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Jacobi Medical Center Ambulatory Care Pavilion in the Bronx. The Mayor was joined by HHC President Alan D. Aviles, and Dr. Stocker, who will work closely to ensure that the Corporation continues to provide quality health care to all New Yorkers.

"Dr. Stocker’s appointment as Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Health and Hospitals Corporation is a big plus for our city," said Mayor Bloomberg. "His extensive background and experience as a healthcare executive, health policy advisor and family practice physician will help ensure that HHC’s hospitals and health centers continue to deliver high-quality, affordable healthcare for years to come. I’d also like to thank Charlynn Goins for her outstanding service, and Nat Leventhal and his team for leading and completing a successful and competitive search."

"We are grateful to Charlynn Goins for her service; she has been a truly exceptional Board Chair and is a hard act to follow," said HHC President Alan Aviles. "Now, we are privileged to have Dr. Stocker, who is an accomplished healthcare leader, and who believes deeply in our mission. I look forward to working with him to make our first-rate public hospital system even better."

"I am honored to be able to serve and to have the opportunity to help lead our City’s public hospital system. I look forward to working with the Board and Mr. Aviles and his staff who are making essential healthcare services available to 1.3 million New Yorkers each year," said Dr. Michael Stocker, whose term becomes effective on October 1.

As Board Chair, Dr. Stocker will work with HHC’s Board of Directors to oversee quality of care, ensure broad access to services, and to formulate system-wide policy and direction for HHC’s strategic initiatives. He will also have a significant role in HHC’s operating and capital budget process, and the approval of major system expenditures and investments.

Dr. Stocker has more than three decades of healthcare experience, first as a practicing physician in Chicago, and later as healthcare executive in New York. He began his career as a family health practitioner and worked for five years at Cook County Hospital, Chicago’s major public hospital. Most recently, he was President and CEO of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, the health insurer, where he was responsible for bringing financial stability to the organization and overseeing a successful conversion to for-profit status. After Empire Blue Cross was acquired by WellChoice in 2005, Dr. Stocker served as President and CEO of its Eastern Region. He was also President of CIGNA Health Plans, and served as Medical Director and Executive Vice President and General Manager for the Greater New York Region of U.S. Health Care.

Dr. Stocker, who retired almost two years ago, is active in a number of philanthropic and volunteer organizations. He sits on the Boards of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health and the United Hospital Fund. He is also a member of the New York State Stem Cell Research Funding Committee.

Born in Minnesota and raised in Montana and eastern Washington State, Dr. Stocker received his M.D. degree from Medical College of Wisconsin and completed a fellowship in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. He received a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Family Practice. He lives in Manhattan with Louise, his wife, and son Luke.