Santa Barbara County’s Public Health Director Stepping Down in August
After Leading Charge Against COVID for More than Two Years, Van Do-Reynoso Gets New Gig with CenCal
Van Do-Reynoso, who presided over Santa Barbara County’s Public Health Department through nearly two and a half grueling years of COVID, will be stepping down to take a new gig with CenCal as its chief customer experience officer effective August 1.
Do-Reynoso started as the county’s Public Health Director when her predecessor, Dr. Takashi Wada, stepped down to take a post with CenCal as deputy director. Do-Reynoso has served in her current position five years, and before that, she served as Madera County’s Public Health Director.
As Santa Barbara County’s Public Health Director, Do-Reynoso found herself leading the county’s charge in response to the COVID pandemic and communicating the many twists and turns along the way to a fractious and frightened public, not to mention elected officials. More fundamentally, it was her department’s role to procure the necessary vaccinations, test kits, and protective gear for public clinics and oversee the massive public outreach required to ensure it all got where it needed to go.
CenCal is a public health network designed to get Medi-Cal dollars into the hands of 275 primary care physicians and 1,250 medical specialists operating in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. It functions as insurance provider for one in four Santa Barbara County residents.
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