Press Releases
Dr. Rivera, Administrator of the Miami-Dade
County Health Department
named the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public
Health for 2008
Miami, FL. (April 4, 2008) – Miami-Dade County
Health Department Administrator Lillian Rivera, RN, MSN, PhD, has been
named the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health for 2008 by the University
of South Florida College of Public Health.
The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments
and leadership have contributed significantly to the field of public health
in Florida. Dr. Rivera was honored at an awards ceremony on April 2, 2008
at the USF College of Public Health Auditorium.
As head of the Miami-Dade County Health Department, Rivera manages more
than 1,000 employees and a $70-million annual budget. She joined the department
in 1990 as nursing director and has served as administrator since 2003,
except for a six-month period during 2007 when she served as Florida's
deputy health officer.
Rivera established an Office of Quality Management and introduced a management
model to improve the organization's operational effectiveness, customer
value and overall results. Under her tenure as administrator, the health
department in Miami-Dade has twice won the Governor's Sterling Award (2002
and 2006), the state's most prestigious award for performance excellence.
A public health leader with numerous awards, Rivera serves as president
of the Florida Sterling Council, an advisory group member for the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation's Pipeline to Practice: Nurse Leader on Boards program,
and a founding member of the Children's Trust of Miami-Dade County.
The Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award was initiated by
USF in 1988, and nominations are solicited from public health practitioners
across the state. Past honorees have included Lillian Stark, director
of virology at the Florida Department of Health Tampa Branch Laboratory;
Jean Malecki, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department; and
University of Miami epidemiologist Lora E. Fleming, MD.
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