Howard Zucker

Howard A. Zucker
Commissioner of the
New York State Department of Health
In office
2015–2021
GovernorAndrew Cuomo
Kathy Hochul
Preceded byNirav R. Shah
Succeeded byMary T. Bassett
Personal details
Born (1959-09-06) September 6, 1959 (age 65)
Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma materMcGill University (B.S.)
George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences (M.D.)
Fordham University Law School (J.D.)
Columbia University Law School (LL.M)
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
OccupationMedical administrator
ProfessionPhysician

Howard A. Zucker (born September 6, 1959) served as the 16th commissioner of the New York State Department of Health from 2015-2021. He was appointed to the position by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2015 and had served as Acting Commissioner the prior year after the abrupt resignation of Nirav Shah.[1][2]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he appeared frequently in media as the ultimate expert on the status of the pandemic in the State of New York.[3]

In January 2021, the New York Attorney General’s office released a report showing that the New York Department of Health under-counted statewide nursing home deaths by as much as 50%.[4] Both Governor Cuomo and Zucker were blamed for the under-count.[5]

During the presidency of George W. Bush, Zucker was a White House Fellow and latter Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health in the Department of Health and Human Services under Tommy Thompson. Afterwards, he served as the assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization.[6]

  1. ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Administration Appointments". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  2. ^ Campbell, Jon (January 13, 2015). "Cuomo taps Zucker for health commissioner". The Journal News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  3. ^ Gormley, Michael. "Zucker finds himself at the center of the coronavirus storm". Newsday.
  4. ^ McKinley, Jesse; Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (January 28, 2021). "N.Y. Severely Undercounted Virus Deaths in Nursing Homes, Report Says". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Supreme Court rules against Gov. Cuomo on COVID-19 nursing home data". February 3, 2021.
  6. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (August 26, 2019). "The Message of Measles". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 4, 2021.