Tarrant County taps former Fort Worth council member to lead public health department
Tarrant County hired former Fort Worth City Council member Dr. Brian Byrd as the new director of its public health department.
Byrd will be responsible for overseeing essential public health functions for the county’s 2.2 million residents, from providing tests for sexually transmitted infections to offering low-cost vaccines. Byrd will start the job July 1.
Commissioners voted to approve Byrd for the job Tuesday. Commissioners did not announce any other finalists for the job. All four commissioners present at Tuesday’s meeting voted to hire Byrd; Commissioner Manny Ramirez was not present for the vote. Because he is a licensed physician, Byrd will serve as both the director of the public health department and the county’s local health authority.
Byrd replaces Vinny Taneja, who led the health department from 2014 until earlier this year. Taneja oversaw the department during the beginning and various peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic, when department staff were working overtime to understand and attempt to contain the new virus.
In 2022, multiple staff members complained that the pressure of the pandemic combined with Taneja’s management style created a “toxic” workplace, and that it resulted in many employees leaving the department and low morale.
Taneja resigned in February after County Administrator Chandler Merritt placed Taneja on administrative leave and issued him a “notice of intent to terminate.” At the time, Taneja disputed the violations Merritt accused him of. He wrote in a letter to county administration that he had “worked diligently during COVID and went above and beyond what was reasonably expected.”
To address workplace morale, Byrd said he would communicate a clear vision and make sure staff felt supported.
“I sure get excited about what I’m doing if I know what the vision is,” Byrd said. “We’re going to apply those principles to everybody that works at public health.”
Byrd said he would continue to work as a family medicine physician with Palm Primary Care and would see patients on Friday mornings, in addition to his duties as public health director. Byrd was elected to represent Fort Worth’s District 3 on City Council in 2017 and also ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor.
The public health director is not a political position. Byrd has run his previous campaigns identifying himself as a “fiscal conservative,” and has written opinion pieces for the Star-Telegram opposing property tax increases in Fort Worth’s budget and in support of a state proposal to offer Texans parents vouchers that could be used to send their children to private schools.
Byrd will make an annual salary of $250,000, said county spokesperson Bill Hanna. Taneja made $233,000.
This story was originally published June 4, 2024 at 12:04 PM.
