Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tapped Dr. Thomas Farley to fill the role of city health commissioner in place of Dr. Thomas Frieden, who will switch gears and head up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at President Barack Obama's behest.
Farley, an infectious disease specialist at Tulane University, has served as an adviser to Frieden for a year in 2007 and 2008 on issues such as restaurant regulations, HIV and swine flu. The two also co-authored a paper, “Public Health in New York City, 2002-2007: Confronting Epidemics of the Modern Era,” that was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology last year, according to the New York Times.
The swift appointment highlights the important of the position, especially as the city continues to battle the swine flu outbreak.
Frieden has served as commissioner for the past seven years, where he led a campaign to ban smoking in restaurants and bars, boosted the number of New Yorkers getting HIV tests and helped to distribute millions of free condoms.
In a statement announcing Frieden's appointment, Obama said the new CDC chief had been a "leader in the fight for health care reform, and his experiences confronting public health challenges in our country and abroad will be essential in this new role."
Frieden will inherit a looming decision on how best to manage a swine flu outbreak, including whether or how to produce a swine flu vaccine. The virus has infected 6,673 people in 35 countries. He leaves office a day after the city announced the emergency closure of three Queens public schools following an explosion in student flu cases and the hospitalization of an assistant principal with confirmed swine flu.
Bloomberg lauded the decision as great for the country even if it was the city's loss.
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“When it comes to aggressive, innovative and effective approaches to help people live better, longer lives, our Health Commissioner Tom Frieden really stands in a class by himself," Bloomberg said. "That’s why it’s no surprise that President Obama has decided to appoint Dr. Frieden to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Frieden is expected to take office next month. His appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
