Dr. Francisco Garcia, the Pima County Deputy County Administrator and Chief Medical Officer who successfully guided Pima County through the COVID-19 pandemic and currently oversees eight County health and human services departments, will leave his position in January 2025.
Dr. Francisco Garcia, Pima County Deputy County Administrator and Chief Medical Officer, will be leaving Pima County on Jan. 3, 2025. An acclaimed leader in public health, Garcia is responsible for eight County health and community service departments. Before working for the County, Garcia worked with the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH) at the University of Arizona with a focus on women’s health, obstetrics and gynecology, Latine health, US-Mexico Border health, cancer prevention, and family and child health. He remains an adjunct faculty member at the college.
Garcia was hired in 2013 as County Health Department Director, and was promoted to Assistant County Administrator in 2017, and Deputy County Administrator in 2019. As a deputy first to then County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and then to Administrator Jan Lesher, Garcia led many public health programs across multiple departments.
Garcia has been recognized for his innovative mitigation strategies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, improving health outcomes for Pima County residents and neighboring jurisdictions through robust testing and achieving one of the highest vaccination rates of populous counties in the country. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2023, described as “an internationally recognized expert in Border health, emergency preparedness, and women’s reproductive health with more than 24 years of experience in public health and human services administration.” In addition, Garcia’s leadership through the opioid settlement process has resulted in a reduction of addiction-related deaths last year after years of successive increases because of his advocacy for addiction treatment and prevention programs.
In his leadership role with the County, Garcia oversees multiple departments including animal care, detainee and crisis systems, community and workforce development, emergency management, environmental quality, health, justice services, medical examiner, and public libraries.
MEZCOPH thanks Dr. Francisco Garcia for his lasting impact on our college, on the health and wellness of our community, and on public health in Arizona. We wish him well in the next chapter of his career and look forward to ongoing collaboration!
Read the announcement from Pima County: Newsroom | Pima County, AZ
