John J. Donnellan, director of VA New York Harbor Health Care System, has been named to the newly established Robert Derzon Chair in Health & Public Service at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. His selection as the Robert Derzon Professor of Practice in Health and Public Service provides a new research lens at NYU Wagner on veterans and VA issues as well as medical management and ethics issues.
Donnellan, of Staten Island, N.Y., became the director of VA New York Harbor Health Care System in January, 1999 and officially retired on June 1 2009, a day before he joined Derzon and donors for a celebration marking the establishment of the chair. The system is a multi-divisional urban hospital complex providing a full continuum of medical care to veterans in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, affiliated with the New York University School of Medicine (New York Campus) and the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn (Brooklyn and St. Albans Campuses).
The Robert Derzon Chair in Health & Public Service is a new endowed position that will honor Robert Derzons stellar career as a healthcare leader while supporting its new holders work of scholarship within NYU Wagners top-ranked program in health management and policy. Derzon, during his extensive career, helped create and lead organizations that have dramatically improved the health of American children, adults, and communities, including the Federal Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA), the UCSF Hospitals & Clinics, where he was the CEO, the NYU Medical Center, and the NYC Health & Hospitals Corp. In addition, Derzon played leadership roles in the Association of American Colleges and the American Hospital Association, and published important research on hospitals engagement with their communities, health professionals training, and the effectiveness of hospital financial structures, among other critical issues.
Mr. Donnellans involvement with veterans healthcare is extensive. He serves the Department of Veterans Affairs as a member of several national work groups and committees on VA Healthcare Policy, and chairs the NY/NJ Veterans Healthcare Network Council for Geriatrics and Extended Care Services. In 1998 he was recognized by the Veterans Health Administration with the Outstanding Preceptor Award for his contributions to administrative residents and fellows at to the VAs Graduate Healthcare Administration Training Program. Mr. Donnellan received his Master of Public Affairs in health policy and administration from the Wagner School, and is an adjunct faculty member there. He received his BA from St. Francis College.
About the Health Policy and Management program at NYU Wagner
The Health Policy and Management program at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University has been recognized as the best in the country. Located in a school of public service rather than in a medical or public health school, the program crosses traditional boundaries, linking management, finance, and policy, and provides students with the cutting-edge concepts and skills needed to shape the future of health policy and management. http://wagner.nyu.edu/health/.