Chris Cells is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Administration at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Chris is an Assistant Vice President of Clinical Operations at Catholic Health, working principally in the growth and development of clinical service lines, private/public grant procurement, and clinical oversight over large scale capital projects. He has over 10 years in the healthcare arena, principally working with vulnerable communities. In his current role Chris focuses primarily on underserved and marginalized communities which include illegal immigrants, the uninsured, persons with behavioral health disorders, and those afflicted by drug and alcohol abuse. He was also a professor at the Long Island Equal Opportunity Center, part of Farmingdale State College, where he provided vocational training to at-risk youth.
As a community partner, Chris has worked with state and local legislators to reduce health outcome disparities. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had fundraised over $1M to provide free food, transportation, medications, cleaning supplies, and personal protective equipment to individuals and small businesses in the community. As part of the vaccination rollout, Chris set-up vaccination clinics at community centers in high-risk communities, vaccinating over 1,000 difficult to reach individuals. Working with the Governor’s Office, he launched a vaccination “super site” in Suffolk County, New York where several thousand community members were vaccinated daily.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology & Chemistry from Marist College, a Master of Science in Nursing Informatics from New York University and a Master of Science in Healthcare Leadership from Brown University. He is board certified in Nursing Informatics and Healthcare Quality and is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, American College of Healthcare Executives, American Nurses Association, and the American Nursing Informatics Association. As a twice recipient of the Hospital Association of New York State (HANYS) Pinnacle Award, he has been recognized for his commitment to improving access to care and enhancing clinical quality outcomes.
