Helen Arteaga is the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, where she will help lead the hospitals’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the ongoing public health challenges some of the City’s hardest hit communities in Queens still face. In addition to addressing the pandemic, Helen will also continue to grow innovative programs and re-engineer processes to increase access to affordable and comprehensive health care for all patients. In her most recent position, she served as Assistant Vice President, Queens Network and Executive Initiatives at Urban Health Plan, a network of community health centers located in three boroughs in New York City. Helen is Ecuadorian and a long-time resident of Corona, Queens. Helen grew up understanding the role that health care had on a community. She dreamed of establishing a community health center that would provide quality health care to local residents. Following the death of her community activist father, she set out to build that health center in her beloved Corona. Working with Our Lady of Sorrows Church and other community leaders, she sought out Paloma Hernandez, the President and CEO of Urban Health Plan, Inc., to make her dream a reality. Together, they opened Plaza del Sol Family Health Center in June, 2009. Last year, Plaza Del Sol provided care to more than 27,000 patients regardless of their ability to pay. The health center was dedicated in her father’s memory in 2014.
Helen has a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She was a White House Intern in 1998 during the Clinton Administration and completed a fellowship with the National Hispana Leadership Institute in September 2010. In March 2016, she was appointed to the NYC Health + Hospitals Board of Directors and to the NYU Alumni Board of Directors. She was one of 31 women selected by the New York City Commission on Women’s Issues to be featured in “NYC Women: Make it Here, Make it Happen,” a series highlighting women who made a difference in their communities. She also received the Community Impact Award, Humanitarian Award and City of New York American Dreamer Award. Recently nominated by Governor Cuomo and confirmed by the NYS Senate to the New York State Minority Health Council.
She is married to Victor Landaverde and is the proud mother of 3 amazing children: VictorLuis, Moses, and Victoria. She continues to reside in her beloved Corona, Queens.