Rigoberto Vargas
VENTURA COUNTY — Rigoberto Vargas, 44, has been promoted to Public Health Director for the Ventura County Health Care Agency, the agency reported in a media release.
The announcement comes as the Ventura County Public Health Department celebrates National Public Health Week.
For the past 15 years, Vargas has worked for Ventura County Public Health, most recently serving as the department’s Community Health Division Manager in charge of Public Health clinics, Children and Adolescent Services, Laboratory, Communicable Disease office, HIV / AIDS services, Health Education and Vital Records. In this new role, he will oversee a staff of more than 300 employees and a budget of more than $39 million.
“In the 15 years that Rigo Vargas has been with Public Health, he has been a champion for the programs and services that serve Ventura County residents so well,” Health Care Agency Director Dr. Robert Gonzalez stated in the release. “He will take on this new role with the knowledge and enthusiasm he’s proven time and again at Public Health.”
Vargas, a native of Mexico, immigrated to the United States with his family at age 7, grew up in Santa Paula and attended local elementary and high schools. He received a B.A. in Chicano Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara and a Masters in Public Health from San Diego State University.
Vargas, also a part-time lecturer at Cal State University Channel Islands, will focus his efforts on obtaining public health accreditation, expanding service levels, strengthening the department’s work force, and forging new collaborative community partnership opportunities.
“I am dedicated to upholding Public Health’s mission of promoting individual, family and community wellness, preventing chronic diseases, controlling communicable diseases and protecting the public in the event of a public health emergency,” said Vargas. Vargas lives in Oxnard with his wife and two young sons.