Dr. Veerinder Taneja resigned as director of the El Paso Department of Public Health, leaving a gap once again in the city’s top health leadership. City officials confirmed Taneja’s last day was Sept. 4.
Prior to Taneja’s hiring in 2024, the public health department went more than two years without a permanent director. His departure marks the latest leadership shakeup in a city that has gone through three health directors since the COVID-19 pandemic.
El Paso Matters was unable to reach Taneja. City spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta said Taneja resigned for “personal and family reasons.” His LinkedIn profile shows he is now based in the Houston area.
Taneja made an annual salary of $204,000 at the time he left.
“The city appreciates Dr. Taneja’s service to the organization and the El Paso community and wishes him and his family well,” Cruz-Acosta said.
Taneja started his job in El Paso after his contentious resignation as public health director for Tarrant County.
During his time in El Paso, Taneja oversaw more than 260 full-time employees and shared leadership responsibilities with Dr. Hector Ocaranza, the city and county health authority.
In a 2025 interview, Taneja praised the health department’s immunization campaign. El Paso school children have high immunization rates compared with other large Texas counties.
Funding cuts remain a challenge for the team, however. Public health departments follow cyclical ups and downs in resources because they depend heavily on state and federal grants, Taneja told El Paso Matters in 2025.
Last year under the new Trump administration, the health department calculated a $3.5 million loss in federal funding, most of which came from unspent pandemic-era grants that had not yet expired.
Turnover remains another challenge as El Paso struggles to find and retain its top health official.
Longtime health director Robert Resendes resigned in May 2020 after butting heads with city leaders on the COVID-19 response and taking a leave of absence. Angela Mora, who planned to retire before the pandemic, took over as interim director until she was officially hired in October 2020. She retired at the end of May 2022. Dr. Hector Ocaranza, the city and county health authority, then led as the interim director until Taneja started his role in August 2024.
El Paso assistant health director Sara Cera, who has worked for the city since 2013, now serves as the department’s interim director. The city anticipates starting a national search for a permanent public health director in November, Cruz-Acosta said.
The post El Paso turns over third public health director since pandemic appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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