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Mayor Bill White’s success formula for the health department—and city government—is clear: efficiency, effectiveness, and cooperation with other public and private sector partners.

Stephen L. Williams helped make that a reality in Travis County (Austin). Duplicating that success in Houston will be a challenge for the highly capable and eager administrator.

June 28 was his first day on the job as director of the Houston health department, where he replaces Dr. Mary des Vignes-Kendrick, who retired to take a job with the University of Texas system. For the past nine years, Williams served as executive manager of Travis County’s Health and Human Services and Veteran Services Department.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Stephen Williams’ caliber,” the mayor announced in April. “Williams understands the public health issues facing a large, diverse, and rapidly growing city like Houston. He also knows our mission is to provide Houstonians with more efficient and effective delivery of public health services in cooperation with Harris County and nonprofit organizations.”

I have always had the greatest respect for Dr. Kendrick as a public health physician. She is brilliant and dedicated. She labored under difficult conditions with continuous budget cuts despite a growing need for services. Administration and department advocacy, however, were not her strong suits.

Williams, 48, takes over a severely under-funded department recovering from embarrassing national publicity about its immunization program as well as staffing/salary deficiencies that have hampered clinic, animal control, and food inspector operations, known for their high turnover rate.

Cooperation has been a major problem, too. After fighting with the health department for years over the lack of general fund dollars for HIV/AIDS, competition, contracts, and reimbursements, local providers are ready for a new start. And Hepatitis C activists have finally received a much-needed local task force.

Stephen Williams may be just what the mayor ordered.

He has directed a county health department in which public health services have long been integrated with Austin services. That system includes 13 federally qualified health centers—a prize that seems within Houston’s grasp—as well an HIV/AIDS clinic, a women’s hospital, and EMS services. The city, for instance, manages clinics countywide, but the county maintains direct accountability and pays its share.

Williams also guided the 1997 integration of city and county human services (such as children’s services, family support, research and planning, and environmental health) and directly managed the divisions.

The consolidated structure required Williams to please not one but two sets of bosses—a city council and county commissioners—while fine-tuning his budget-tightening skills in the recent economic downturn. Such juggling acts may have suited this talented manager, who has apparently mastered the delicate art of balancing varied community interests and forging them into effective collaborations.

Highly recommended

“He raised the bar in that department and took it to the next level. He got us to places in health and human services that we hadn’t been before,” Travis County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner has commented. One former co-worker described Williams as a “visionary” who brings innovation to designing health programs.

Mayor White selected Williams with the help of a diverse advisory committee that included the city’s first health policy director, Elena Marks (a $1-per-year volunteer). Marks has noted that Williams has worked in virtually every area of human services from HIV/AIDS to after-school and senior programs.

HIV/AIDS

Lee Manford, director of AIDS Services of Austin, has praised Williams’ directness, inclusiveness, and willingness to identify issues and pull people together. Manford worked most closely with Williams as president of a coalition of human service organizations.

“He’s really good at getting people to put things on the table and work through them,” Manford said. “He’s very open and receptive to other points of view.”

Manford added that Williams was not directly involved in HIV/AIDS funding in Travis County, because the city (rather than the county) allocates Ryan White funds there. But he believes Williams understands the issues.

Although Williams has said that it’s too early to set specific goals for the Houston health department, he has acknowledged that HIV/AIDS is one critical issue, especially in communities of color.

Getting things done

As he surveys his new territory, Williams said he would love to go up 30,000 feet and see how all the Houston-area service organizations fit together.

In the meantime, Williams will live by one of his ground rules: “We have to agree to stay at the table and work things out. We need to be flexible. As public officials, we need to admit we don’t know everything. It’s critical to bring lots of perspectives to the table.”

Wealth of experience

Prior to leading the Travis County Health and Human Services and Veteran Services Department, Williams served as administrator of public health, then deputy director for programs and services for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department. From 1979 to 1991, he served in various public health capacities, including administrator of community health service in Maricopa County (Phoenix, Arizona) and in leadership roles with the Montgomery (Alabama) Area Mental Health Authority.

Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology/social work from Huntingdon College in Montgomery. He received a master’s in education from Auburn and a master’s in public administration from Baruch College at City University of New York. The Georgia native is married with a teenage daughter.

Annise Parker is city controller and the highest-ranking openly GLBT elected official in any of the 10 largest U.S. cities. Her city website is www.ci.houston.tx.us/citygovt/controller. Parker’s television program, Money Matters, airs every Monday on the Municipal Channel (Warner Cable 16) at 2 and 8 a.m. and 2 and 8 p.m.