Public Health Director Dr. Takashi Wada Announces January Departure
Taking CenCal Health's Newly Created Position of Deputy Medical Director
County Public Health Director Dr. Takashi Wada has spent the better part of the past six years dodging the political, fiscal, and bureaucratic equivalents of incoming meteors; this week, he announced he is stepping down in January to take a newly created post as deputy medical director of CenCal Health, which administers health insurance for 120,000 low-income Santa Barbara residents.
News of Wada’s imminent departure came as a surprise to some denizens of the fourth floor of the County Administration building, home to county supervisors and executive administrators. Only earlier this week did supervisors first officially hear Wada — highly regarded for the competence and quiet calm with which he addressed his department’s many challenges — was even exploring other job options. Wada’s departure comes at the same time two longtime supervisors — Salud Carbajal and Doreen Farr — are also about to step down, and two new ones — Das Williams and Joan Hartmann — are about to be sworn in. Wada denied the changing of the supervisorial guard influenced his decision. Instead, he said, the CenCal post provided a better opportunity to put his medical and clinical training to use.
As CenCal’s new deputy medical director, Wada will play a major role addressing issues of clinical care quality, care efficiency, and provider utilization — wonky labels that define how much care is available to low-income residents of both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with what kind of restrictions, and at what cost.
