Women Leaders of NYC Health + Hospitals Named to Becker Healthcare’s List of Women CEOs

Women Leaders of NYC Health + Hospitals Named to Becker Healthcare's List of Women CEOs

National recognition highlights the leadership of hospital CEOs advancing equitable, high-quality care across the nation's largest public health system

Jul 15, 2026

Becker's Healthcare has named eight women CEOs from NYC Health + Hospitals to its 2026 list of "236 Women Hospital and Health System Presidents and CEOs to Know," highlighting their leadership in advancing equitable, high-quality care across New York City's public health system. The leaders named in the list are NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln CEO Cristina Contreras, LMSW, MPA, FABC; NYC Health + Hospitals/McKinney CEO Daveth Forbes-Thomas, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, CPHQ, LNHA; NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health CEO Michelle Lewis; incoming NYC Health + Hospitals/Maimonides Health and Maimonides Midwood CEO Svetlana Lipyanskaya, MPA, FACHE; NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst CEO Alina Moran, FACHE, FAB; NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur CEO Susan Sales, MPA, FACHE, LNHA; NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull CEO Sandra Sneed, MBA, FACHE; and NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler CEO Nataliya Yakovleva, LNHA, LMSW. The honorees reflect NYC Health + Hospitals' continued commitment to cultivating exceptional women leaders who are transforming healthcare for the diverse communities they serve.

"At NYC Health + Hospitals, we are proud to have extraordinary women leading hospitals across our system, driving innovation, expanding access to care, and improving the health of New Yorkers every day," said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. "This national recognition reflects not only their exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to our patients and communities, but also our organization's dedication to developing leaders who embody our mission of providing high - quality, equitable care for all. I congratulate each of these remarkable CEOs on this well-deserved honor."

Cristina Contreras, LMSW, MPA, FABC serves as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, a level 1 trauma center with one of the busiest emergency departments in the nation, within the country's largest municipal healthcare system. She began her career as a caseworker and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility before her appointment as CEO in 2024. Across more than 30 years of leadership in public healthcare, Contreras has delivered financial turnarounds, measurable quality and safety improvements, expanded access in high-need communities and national recognition for equity and excellence. She is recognized for creating an organizational culture grounded in authenticity, kindness and transparency, and as a champion of her team's wellbeing. Under her leadership, the hospital earned the American College of Surgeons "National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Meritorious Award" in 2024 as one of only 76 hospitals in the nation to receive the distinction, along with full Joint Commission accreditation including specialized programs for palliative care and advanced perinatal care. Contreras previously served as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in East Harlem and held progressive leadership roles at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx. She serves on the NYU School of Public Service advisory board and presented at the 2025 American College of Healthcare Executives Annual Congress.

Daveth Forbes-Thomas, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, CPHQ, LNHA is CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/McKinney, New York City's only nursing home to receive 5-star ratings across all four CMS metrics, including quality measures, staffing, health inspections and overall rating. She entered the role after nearly six years at McKinney, most recently as deputy executive director and previously as director of quality management and patient experience officer. During her tenure, Forbes-Thomas developed a formal environment of care and life safety program to support the comfort and safety of residents, their representatives, visitors and staff. She also built a robust quality assurance performance improvement program.

Michelle Lewis, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, is a healthcare leader driving expansive growth at Gotham Health while ensuring the organization continues to provide high-quality, equitable care to all New Yorkers regardless of ability to pay or immigration status. Working closely with the city, she helped develop three advanced ambulatory sites in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, with a fourth facility under construction in Far Rockaway. These state-of-the-art sites offer both specialty and primary care services, expanding access to healthcare in under-resourced areas. Lewis has led the introduction of essential clinical services across the enterprise, including dermatology and advanced radiology offerings such as MRI, CT scans and 3D mammography, significantly improving access to early detection, screening and specialized care. She has also guided the growth of telehealth, which especially impacts patients with transportation or mobility challenges. With more than 20 years of experience, she has built a reputation for leading transformative initiatives, optimizing patient care and fostering mission-driven teams.

Svetlana Lipyanskaya, MPA, FACHE was the first woman to lead the executive team at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health, navigating the hospital through the Covid-19 pandemic and its recovery while launching a state-of-the-art inpatient facility. She is also in the incoming CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Maimonides Health and Maimonides Midwood. While at South Brooklyn Health, she developed and implemented a campus wide strategic master plan based on a community needs assessment, designed to make the hospital the healthcare destination of choice for approximately 875,000 residents from South Brooklyn and beyond. Lipyanskaya lead a facility name change and rebranding campaign, the completion of a new 11-story hospital, and the development of a health and wellness institute to elevate primary and specialty care. She shepherded the creation of several life-saving services, including a new cardiac catheterization lab and the certification of a percutaneous coronary intervention program. The hospital also earned designation as an advanced primary stroke center by the Joint Commission, adding life-saving clinical services in a borough where heart disease is the second leading cause of premature death. Lipyanskaya has been featured in City and State's "Brooklyn Power 100" and recognized on the New York State Assembly floor for her impact on healthcare.

Alina Moran, FACHE, FAB leads more than 6,000 healthcare professionals as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, one of New York City's largest and busiest hospitals, serving a culturally diverse community that speaks more than 160 languages. She built her career over more than two decades at NYC Health + Hospitals, beginning as finance director for managed care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, rising to assistant vice president for managed care for the system, and later serving as CFO at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, where she improved cash flow by $30 million and spearheaded the implementation of the Epic EHR. She spent four years as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, the hospital where she was born, and improved patient experience scores, reduced primary care wait times and boosted staff engagement. There, as the system's chief patient growth officer, she expanded patient census and established referral partnerships. She later served as CEO of California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she managed care for more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases while keeping all services operational and completed a $215 million campus expansion that increased access in underserved communities. More recently, Moran worked as a strategic advisor at digital health service Samaritan in California, overseeing initiatives for people experiencing homelessness. She serves as national board chair of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement and holds positions with the Central City Association and CORO Southern California. The National Association of Healthcare Executives recognized her with its 2019 "Healthcare Executive of the Year" award.

Susan Sales, MPA, FACHE, LNHA serves as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur, where she is responsible for administering the operations and activities of the 255-bed nursing home. She successfully managed a $28 million operating budget and oversaw a successful accreditation survey by the Joint Commission. Under her leadership, the nursing facility returned more than 300 patients to the community following rehabilitation. Sales had served as associate executive director since February 2016 before her appointment as CEO in 2017. She brings more than 25 years of experience working in healthcare in the Greater New York area. Her earlier positions include roles at Bronx, NY-based Montefiore Health System and Schaffer Extended Care Center, Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester in New Rochelle, NY, Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and The New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

Sandra Sneed, MBA, FACHE serves as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, where she is charged with assembling an exceptional clinical team to deliver high-quality care for the patients of Williamsburg and surrounding communities. She brings more than 20 years of senior leadership experience overseeing operations for hospitals across the country, with a strong record of expanding access to services while reducing wait times for patients. Her priorities include building strong teams, innovating, and supporting longtime staff in doing their jobs even better. Before joining Woodhull, Sneed served as COO of Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., a 700-bed level 1 trauma center. Earlier, she was vice president of operations and support services officer at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. She also served as interim COO at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and vice president of operations at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio.

Nataliya Yakovleva, LNHA, LMSW is CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler, where her responsibilities span long-term care settings serving geriatric, sub-acute and memory care populations. She is the first female CEO at Coler in more than 40 years. Yakovleva brings nearly 25 years of experience in long-term care, including 15 years in leadership roles at large-scale nursing home organizations such as Metropolitan Jewish Health System's Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care in Brooklyn, NY and Clove Lakes Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Staten Island, NY. In her previous role as executive director at Clove Lakes, she achieved a 5-star rating for quality measures from CMS, implemented a new EHR and increased the overall census by more than 100 residents. Under her leadership, the hospital has earned 5-star ratings from the agency in quality, staffing and overall performance.

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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city's five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system's trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlusHealth-all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 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.