Vasan cited personal reasons for leaving, and not the ongoing investigations into the Adams administration.
Vasan has led the health department since March 2022.
"As anyone with a family-or a chosen family-knows, you are never alone in service," Vasan said. "My wife and three young children have served alongside me, bearing the brunt of my absence and shouldering so much. I'm grateful for their love and have chosen that now it is time to support them and their wellbeing. While this was a hard decision, it was the right one for me and my family. I also look forward to continuing my clinical work and teaching, while supporting initiatives to advance health, equity, and access across this city and this nation."
Vasan went on to say that he is confident the public health system is strong and there are critical initiatives in place to benefit New Yorkers to keep everyone safe and healthy for generations to come.
"When I was appointed as New York City Health Commissioner in December 2021, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was raging, infecting tens of thousands, taking the lives of New Yorkers, and it was not clear what 2022 had in store for us, including an mpox outbreak followed by New York's first case of polio in a decade, and all while COVID-19 continued to linger and embed itself in our city," Vasan said. "At the Department of Health, we took those challenges-and so many others-head on, even diseases that many haven't heard of, because that is the work of preventing public health issues before they occur. We have accomplished so much in the past few years, from leading the city out of the pandemic and a period of crisis, to heralding a new era of public health."
Vasan went on to thank Mayor Eric Adams and the nearly 7,000 staff at the Department of Health.
Adams praised Vasan for his service and said he was integral to the city's response to COVID and Mpox.
"His expertise as a mental health expert, coupled with his training as a public health professional, have proven indispensable to our city over the past two-and-a-half years as we've handled rising COVID rates, Mpox outbreaks, and a mental health crisis both on our streets and in our schools," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. "But despite all of these events, Dr. Vasan has helped implement new programs that will have a generational impact on New Yorkers - creating programs that will absolve working-class New Yorkers of their medical debt, tackle the teen mental health crisis head on, and aim to increase life expectancy for all New Yorkers. I appreciate Dr. Vasan's decision to stay on through early next year as we transition to a new commissioner, and we are confident that because of his hard work putting into place critical public health initiatives New York City is and will continue to be a safer and healthier place for a long time to come. I hope all New Yorkers join me in thanking Dr. Vasan and his entire family for their service."
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