Tina Rivera selected as Sonoma County’s new health services director

Tina Rivera, Sonoma County’s top acting health and homelessness services administrator, is set to be named director of the county’s Department of Health Services after leading the department for nine months on an interim basis.

Rivera, 57, joined the county health department in January 2020 as assistant director and stepped in to lead it in May 2021, when Barbie Robinson left to become public health director for Houston-based Harris County, Texas.

As one of the county’s top leaders during the pandemic, Rivera is now poised to fully steer a department with responsibilities ranging from coronavirus testing to vaccine rollout and providing of emergency shelter and quarantine spaces.

“I know we have a lot of challenges that still sit in front of us, but I am not afraid of those, I meet those head on,” Rivera said. “I am encouraged and I look forward to developing a collaborative relationship with the board. And one that is productive and where we can work together to move the needle on all of the things that have impacted this county and the work that we’re doing.”

The county health department has more than 580 employees across four divisions and a budget of $330 million, mostly supported by state and federal dollars.

Rivera has also led the county’s Community Development Commission, the chief housing and homeless services agency, responsible for funding permanent supportive housing, short- and long-term homeless shelters and residential treatment programs.

During her tenure there, the county cleared one of its largest-ever homeless camps— on the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa — while setting up a semi-permanent tiny-home village for homeless people on the Los Guilicos campus east of Oakmont. The county also purchased two hotels, in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, to serve as housing for at-risk homeless people.

Rivera said the pandemic and homelessness will remain top priorities. Bolstering funding for the department and working with the Office of Equity to improve the inclusivity, equity and mentorship are other key goals.

“I just feel that this is an opportunity to improve upon our organizational culture,” Rivera said.

She is the second Black woman set to lead the department after Robinson. The county’s attempts to fill the post last year triggered a reckoning with racism and mistreatment reported by Black officials in county government.

“I’ve been a victim of racial discrimination and microagressions here in this county and even within my own workplace,” Rivera said. “I’ve always been one to confront the challenges. I’ve always been of the mindset that I want to be part of the change and change can’t happen if I’m not here, I can’t be a part of it if I’m not here.”

Rivera acknowledged the strain of a demanding job like hers, especially amid the pandemic, has made work-life-balance elusive. She finds relief in meditation, time with her three adult children and walks with her Yorkshire terrier, Milo.

Sonoma County quickly felt like home when she first interviewed with the county in 2018. She took the job as the administrative services director in the county’s Human Services Department, working there until 2020.

“When I drove into Sonoma County I thought, ‘I think this is it, I just feel good about being here,’” Rivera said.

The county conducted a nationwide search for Robinson’s replacement at the health department and selected Rivera for her deep experience and expertise on local health care and social service administration.

“Tina has repeatedly forged creative, collaborative and cost-effective solutions to difficult problems, making real differences in the lives of real people,” said James Gore, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “She is not just a sharp financial administrator, but she brings optimism and heart to even the most intractable situations. We are lucky to have her lead the Department of Health Services.”

Rivera was the lone internal candidate among three finalists for the position in October 2020, when the board offered the director post to Derrick Neal, a county health administrator in Austin, Texas.

Later that month Neal declined the job, citing the experiences with racism and bias of other Black leaders in Sonoma County, including Robinson and Sheba Person-Whitley, the county’s former economic development board director, who stepped down at the end of last year.

Rivera said she wants to “help elevate the voices of those who feel they are being erased in this county in respect to race.”

Rivera added that having a final decision from the county will provide some much needed stability for the department after months of uncertainty.

“This concrete decision and direction of moving forward really help bring that cohesion that’s needed here for our staff internally and just really helps to bring that needed critical piece of stabilization,” Rivera said. “So I’m really excited about that and staff is excited about that.”

A native of Louisiana, Rivera previously served as northwest region chief financial officer and administrative services director for the State of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. She also served as federal grants administrator for the City of Shreveport, Louisiana, and executive director at Compassion Center, a Shreveport nonprofit.

She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwestern State University and studied finance at Louisiana State University.

Her salary as director will be set at $240,312 annually.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote to confirm her appointment for a three-year term at its March 1 meeting.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.