Recruitment agency Baker Tilly has reposted the job advertisement for El Paso public health director, a position the city has struggled to fill for more than a year.
One of the applicants, pediatrician and city-county health authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza, has served as the temporary director since May 2022.
The director oversees the city’s Department of Public Health, which will have a budget of $18.6 million and more than 350 full-time employees in the next fiscal year. El Paso has also hired two deputy directors of public health, a new position, from within the department, according to an email from city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta.
When asked why the city was hiring two deputy directors of public health, Cruz-Acosta answered “succession planning,” but did not elaborate.
The public health department is responsible for planning and executing education campaigns, monitoring and investigating local cases of disease, and identifying sources of funding, such as federal grants.
Baker Tilly first posted the job vacancy for the health director in September 2022. The recruitment brochure, updated in late November 2023, lists a starting salary of $108,740 to $201,600, which is a $3,120 shift up from the previously posted range.
“While we have had several interviews for the position, we have not found a candidate to lead our Public Health Department,” Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino told El Paso Matters in September.
The city did not disclose the number of candidates who’ve applied for the position since the job listing was updated.
Ocaranza extends role as interim health director
Ocaranza, a pediatrician who practices in Anthony, New Mexico, was appointed the interim health director in spring of 2022. He entered a formal contract in August 2023 with an annual salary of $160,000, according to records obtained by El Paso Matters. His contract runs for one year, or less if the city manager appoints a new public health director.
The doctor, who has a medical license in Texas, has also served as the El Paso city-county health authority since 2007. Meeting agendas show the City Council renewed his appointment every two years. Ocaranza makes an additional $50,000 in this role, Cruz-Acosta wrote in an email.
The health authority requires a medical license in Texas. As an officer of the state, they can implement and enforce state and local laws to protect public health, according to the Texas Health and Safety Code.
The health director oversees day-to-day operations of the public health department. Qualifications include experience in management or administration in health care, according to El Paso’s job listing.
Ocaranza replaced Angela Mora, who was the top health official for two years before she retired. Mora replaced longtime director Robert Resendes, who resigned in May 2020 just months after El Paso reported its first COVID-19 case.
Resendes and Mora joined the wave of public health officials who resigned or retired during the politicized pandemic. During the public health crisis, health workers across the country experienced burnout compounded by personal threats, harassment and blowback from local governments – leading to what some experts claim is the largest exodus of public health officials in American history.
El Paso Matters reached out to D’Agostino and Ocaranza for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
