Sonoma County Seal
Tina Rivera, an experienced administrator for more than 25 years in government and nonprofit work, has been named interim director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services by the County Administrator. A native of Louisiana, Rivera has worked for the County of Sonoma since 2018, most recently serving as assistant director of the Department of Health Services.
She takes over a County department that has played a major role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and homelessness emergency. 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. “She has intimate knowledge of the department as the assistant director, and she was the natural choice to take on the interim director role.”
Rivera succeeds Barbie Robinson, the department’s previous director, who was named public health director for Harris County, Texas, after more than four years in Sonoma County. She will serve as interim director while the Board of Supervisors undergoes a nationwide search for a permanent Health Services director.
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services has a staff of approximately 580 with a budget of approximately $275 million. Rivera has also been serving as assistant director of the Community Development Commission. The County Administrator plans to appoint an interim executive director to oversee the Commission in the coming weeks so that Rivera can focus more of her time and attention on the Health Department.
“I am honored to step into this role and tackle some of Sonoma County’s most pressing challenges,” Rivera said. “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.”
Rivera has Bachelor’s degrees from Northwestern State University and Louisiana State University. She served as the administrative services director for the County of Sonoma Human Services Department from 2018 to 2020. Before that, she was the chief financial officer for the State of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
