
Helen Arteaga Landaverde, MPH
Chief Executive Officer, New York City Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
Helen Arteaga Landaverde is Chief Executive Officer at New York City Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, a Level-1 Trauma Center and community hospital serving over 1.2 million people in the Borough of Queens. She is the former 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 29,000 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 of Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She completed a fellowship with the National Hispana Leadership Institute and Harvard Kennedy School of Government 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 is currently completing her doctoral degree at CUNY-School of Public Health. 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. Helen is a recipient of the Community Impact Award, Humanitarian Award and City of New York American Dreamer Award. In 2021 she was named as one of City and State’s Queens Power 100 and as one of Crain’s New York Business’s Notable Hispanic Leaders and Executives. She was also honored by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz during Hispanic Heritage Month for her contributions to the community.