Thursday afternoon, the City of El Paso announced the selection of borderland native, Angela Mora, as the Public Health Department Director effective immediately.
“I am honored to be entrusted to lead the Public Health Department and look forward to collaborating with my colleagues and the public to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mora said. “These are trying times, but together we can tackle the challenges. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, my goal is to obtain health equity throughout our community.”
In her role as Public Health Director, Mora will continue to represent the community’s interest within the EOC during the COVID-19 response.
As the Director of Public Health, Mora will oversee all public health programs including: the 211 Texas Rio Grande Region Area Information Center; Epidemiology; Food Inspection; Health Education & Promotion; HIV Prevention; Immunization Program; Laboratory; Medicaid Waiver Program; Preventive Medicine Clinic; Public Health Emergency Preparedness; Rawlings Pediatric Dental Clinic; Tuberculosis Program; and Women, Infants and Children.
“Over the 13 years that I’ve known Angela, she has worked to build strong partnerships and has been a forward thinking advocate for El Paso’s public health programs. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on numerous issues, to include COVID-19, and I have no doubt that she will work tirelessly to meet the growing needs of our community,” said Jacob Cintron, University Medical Center of El Paso President and CEO, who served on the selection panel for the Public Health Director’s position. “The El Paso County Hospital District stands ready to support Angela and the dedicated employees of the City’s Public Health Department in doing so.”
Mora joined the City’s Public Health Department in 2008 as an Deputy Director and has been responsible for reforming, enhancing and dramatically expanding public health emergency capacity; establishing an academic health department to mentor, increase and strengthen local public health workforce; and developing a quality improvement program to deliver high quality care to the El Paso community.
“An extensive, rigorous selection process that included a national search and two interview panels with various City leaders and members of our Communities of Excellence partners from the El Paso County’s University Medical Center was engaged to select our next Public Health Department Director,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “We’ve accepted the panels’ recommendation and are thrilled to also be able to capitalize on our own internal talent and professionals.”
Mora has over 30 years of public health experience serving in a variety of roles in the healthcare sector and has worked hand-in-hand with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) team for the past seven months addressing the community’s COVID-19 response.
“Ms. Mora becomes the first woman and second Latino/a to lead the Public Health Department,” said Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack. “Born in Juárez and a resident of El Paso for over four decades, her deep knowledge of the community’s needs and challenges elevated her candidacy above a field of highly qualified applicants. I look forward to working with Ms. Mora to continue to advance the well-being of the entire region.”
The City of El Paso announced a national search for a new Public Health Department director in August 2020.
A total of 37 candidates applied. The City adapted the recruitment process due to COVID-19 and then extensively vetted, interviewed and examined viable candidates.
