Tina Rivera — an administrator with over 25 years of experience in government and nonprofit work — has been named the interim director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services following the departure of Barbie Robinson, the former county health services director.
Robinson left the county position after being named the public health director for Harris County, Texas. She worked with Sonoma County for four years.
Rivera will serve as the interim director of the county’s department of health services while a nationwide recruitment process for a permanent health services director gets underway.
Rivera has worked with the county since 2018 and most recently served as assistant director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. She also served as assistant director of the Community Development Commission.
According to a county press release, the county administrator plans to appoint an interim executive director to oversee the development commission in the coming weeks so Rivera can focus more of her time on the health department.
In the same county press release, Sonoma County Administrator Sheryl Bratton said Rivera’s “steady” leadership is well-suited to facing Sonoma County’s biggest challenges.
“Tina is a capable administrator, and the Department of Health Services will be in good hands under her leadership,” Bratton said in the press release. “She has intimate knowledge of the department as the assistant director, and she was the natural choice to take on the interim director role.”
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services currently has a staff of approximately 580 with a budget of around $275 million.
“I am honored to step into this role and tackle some of Sonoma County’s most pressing challenges,” Rivera said in a statement. “I believe this position will take advantage of my broad, diverse skill set while affording me the opportunity to assume increased levels of responsibility, providing cohesion and stability to staff. It is my goal to successfully lead our incredibly hard-working teams and continue to achieve our goals and objectives with a high level of performance.”
