Kenney names former NYC health commissioner Philly's top doctor

The pediatrician who led New York City's health department through major campaigns against tobacco and sugary soda was named by Mayor Kenney on Monday to head Philadelphia's Department of Public Health.

Thomas A. Farley, 59, replaces acting Health Commissioner Jane Baker. He will start Feb. 16.

Farley, who served under Mayor Michael Bloomberg from 2009 to 2014, is often credited with helping to make the city one of the healthiest in America.

Life expectancy for New Yorkers during the Bloomberg administration grew by three years, while across the nation it rose by 1.7 years.

During his tenure in New York City, Farley took on Big Tobacco and Big Soda by making the city's parks and beaches smoke-free, leading an effort to cap the portion size of sodas at 16 ounces, and launching graphic ad campaigns that targeted smoking, sugary drinks, and alcohol.

Most recently, Farley served as chief executive officer of the Public Good Projects, a nonprofit organization that uses marketing to address the nation's health problems.

The Inquirer spoke with Farley on Monday about his accomplishments in New York and his plans for Philadelphia.

What do you consider your most important accomplishments in New York?

Nothing I did was by myself. There was a lot done under my predecessor Tom Frieden (who now leads the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and a lot of credit goes to Mayor Bloomberg. The biggest achievements were in reducing smoking. That included making bars and restaurants smoke-free, big tax increases, raising the age to buy cigarettes to 21, and increasing the number of ads warning people of the risk of smoking. Because of that we had a big decline. People smoking in the city dropped from 21 percent to under 14 percent. The number of smokers fell from 1.3 million to 900,000. That's 400,000 fewer smokers. During my time, the three policy changes we made were making the parks smoke-free, raising the legal age of sales of cigarettes to 21, and prohibiting the discounting of cigarettes. No more offers for buy one, get one free, or coupons for $2 off a pack.

What are the biggest health challenges facing Philadelphia?

I've looked at the numbers, but I can't give you specifics yet. I can't give you the biggest problem. In general, across the country today, there are a few behaviors and exposures that are responsible for an awful lot of deaths. Those include smoking, unhealthy diets, and air pollution. Those are the sort of things we'll be working on because I assume they're also big problems in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's health department has a smaller budget than New York's and lacks authority for moves like raising cigarette taxes. How will you deal with those limitations?

The New York City Health Department is larger, so we had more expertise. But the Philadelphia Health Department has done some very good things in the past. They've worked on obesity, they've worked on smoking, and there are a lot of other things I don't know the details of. I've always had a great deal of respect for the people there.

In New York, to raise taxes on cigarettes required an act by the state legislature. That wasn't something we could do on our own. And the soda container size wasn't actually enacted.

You spearheaded the effort in New York to give restaurants inspection letter grades. Would that work here?

I have not had that conversation with Mayor Kenney. It's too early to say if it would make sense in Philadelphia. The consumers in New York liked it, and the inspections seemed to be getting better than when we first instituted the letter grades.

I understand that you're an avid marathoner. I'm still running marathons. But I've lost track of how many. Probably about 20. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 1976. That was early in the days of marathoning. The big Bicentennial race had about 500 runners and went back and forth along the Schuylkill. I haven't run the Philadelphia marathon since.

You grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Haverford College in 1977. Have you stayed connected with the region?

My family was in New Jersey but is now mostly in New York. I've stayed connected intermittently with Haverford but not so much with Philadelphia. There's a lot I'll have to learn about the city.

What do you like most about Philadelphia?

It's a wonderful city. It's easy to get around it, like cities ought to be. It's got good public transit and it's walkable. And because it's not as crowded and large, it's easier to get around in than New York. I'm going to be living in the city, and I really look forward to being a Philadelphian and working with the professionals at the Philly health department.

What else should we know about you?

I believe in using the best scientific evidence and enlisting community leaders to combat the health problems facing the city.

I believe very much in prevention. We don't often do as much as we should. I'll stress that.

I believe we need to address the health of everyone in the city, not just those who are committed to improving their health, and that is consistent with Mayor Kenney's vision. No one should be left out.

I also believe in communicating clearly to community leaders in order to make Philadelphia the healthiest place it can be.

samwood@phillynews.com

215-854-2796 @samwoodiii